2009 Green Team

The Conservancy would like to thank the wonderful donors that made this program possible: Annonymous, Action for Boston Community Development, Boston Youth Fund, Brookline Community Foundation, Inner Spark Foundation, and the Red Sox Foundation.

The second year of the Conservancy’s Summer Youth Green Team was even more successful than the first. This year, we had three crews with a total of 37 urban teens, ages 14-19. Our teens came to us from a variety of sources including the Boston Youth Fund (BYF), Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) and five students from Brookline due to a gracious grant from the Brookline Community Foundation.

Since the Conservancy was fortunate enough to have so much manpower this summer, each crew was assigned a different section of the Emerald Necklace with one crew focusing primarily on the Southwest Corridor. Crew 1 was assigned to Jamaica Pond and Olmsted Park, Crew 2 worked in the Riverway and the Back Bay Fens and Crew 3 worked all along the Southwest Corridor. Our crews began the summer with team building activities, invasive species identification and tool safety lessons. Once they had mastered how to find and remove Asiatic Bittersweet and how to use a pick mattock, the real fun began.

Crew 1 removing bittersweet at Wards Pond in Olmsted Park - more photos

Crew 1 spent a lot of time on historic granite steps throughout the parks. The crew restored the steps at Perkins Street and the Jamaica Way, at Perkins Street and Chestnut Street and the steps leading down to Jamaica Pond through the Sugar Bowl. Each set of steps was facing a different problem from being overtaken by brush to washout and erosion damage. The Team employed a variety of trail restoration techniques, including the 4’ x 8’ doorway, proper removal of unwanted plants and installing water bars. The crew also did a good amount of invasive species removal in Olmsted Park. Asiatic Bittersweet had to be removed from many trees around Wards Pond and Buckthorn has begun to take over areas of the park like Hawthorn Hill. Soil amendments were also administered in 14 plots on Hawthorn Hill, though the team had to brave the troves of pricker bushes in the process.

This crew also participated in several community based activities such as Sports Night in Franklin Park, Movies at Jamaica Pond and Culture Day on Bumpkin Island. On Thursdays, the Team would advertize for Sports Night by distributing fliers at local playgrounds and parks and would then head over to Franklin Park to help organize games for the local youth. They were also instrumental in setting up for both Movie Nights this summer, as they wheeled two giant generators from the Conservancy’s office to Jamaica Pond. The crew also spent a day on Bumpkin Island with the Harbor Island Ambassadors, greeting and assisting guests at their Culture Day event.

Crew 2 working in the SLUG Plot in the Back Bay Fens - more photos

Crew 2 spent a good chunk of their summer doing maintenance and restoration in the Victory Gardens in the Back Bay Fens. The crew took over care of Fenway High School’s SLUG Plot and did some remarkable work. The crew weeded and watered regularly, defined flower bed borders with beams and bricks, created new flower beds, transplanted and planted new plans and created a stone path. In the rest of the Victory Garden, the team weeded common area plantings, managed the compost sections and removed Japanese Knotweed from the Special Needs Garden. They also spent some time in the Riverway doing invasive species removal, weeding and pruning the shrub beds at the Roundhouse, and helped repair severe water damage to the path near the Chapel Street Bridge. After filling the trench created by water that was not flowing through the drainage pipe under the path, the crew lowered the pipe to make it the lowest point and thus the desired path for the water, covered over the pipe and leveled the path; the amount of dedication this crew showed was inspiring.

The crew worked at one of the Conservancy’s Movies at Jamaica Pond. They operated concessions, spoke to the community about their program at the Conservancy’s information table and organized children’s activities before the movie. This crew also did a cleanup at Higginson Circle, landscaped the shrub beds at the Gatehouse and dismantled bike jumps in the Riverway.

Crew 3 watering new plantings in the Southwest Corridor - more photos

Crew 3 was our first group in a new partnership with the Southwest Corridor Conservancy. The crew spent their summer doing maintenance at various orange line T stops that make up the Corridor. Their first week was spent doing maintenance at the Massachusetts Avenue stop such as, invasive plant removal and pruning roses. They also had the opportunity to plant rose bushes and other plants at West Newton Street and Harcourt Street. Between Ruggles and Roxbury Crossing the crew worked on shrub beds and weeded planters behind the Police Headquarters. Next they went to Jackson Square and planted flowers, strawberries and herbs at Bromley Heath. They did a variety of tasks at Stonybrook, including weeding and pruning and they also cleaned up the children’s sandbox by removing grass that was growing in the corners, sweeping paths and removing litter and downed limbs. Their last stop was Forest Hills where the crew did an amazing job removing vines that were overtaking the sidewalk in the Tot Lot at the end of Spaulding Street. The team cleared the sidewalk, cleaned the paths and removed all of the litter that had found its way into the playground.

This crew also had the opportunity to work at one of the Conservancy’s Movie Nights and participated in a weatherizing workshop in Hyde Park where they helped to weatherize an elderly community member’s home.

All of the crews participated in environmental education days once a week. This year the Green Team was able to go sailing with Courageous Sailing on Jamaica Pond, go kayaking on the Charles River, learn to rock climb behind the Chestnut Hill Mall, visit the Harbor Islands and participate in a scavenger hunt at the Arnold Arboretum. The Conservancy also provided the students with a banking workshop put on by Citizens Bank where the students learned about budgeting, savings, and credit and then opened bank accounts. Our camping trips were once again affected by rain; however, Crew 2 was able to go camping at Ponkapoag in the Blue Hills Reservation. The crew learned how to set up a campsite, cook over an open fire, and that there are no fans where there is no electricity. They also had a wonderful time swimming in Ponkapoag pond and making s’mores at 8 o’clock in the morning.

Once again, we had a wonderful summer with our teens. Preparations are under way for a Leadership Program during the school year and for the 2010 summer program. Thank you to everyone who made this program possible and thank you to our Green Team members; you were wonderful!

Green Team 2009 Pictures