Engaging Youth with Trail Building & Maintenance

Engagement on 2 Levels Engage parents and teens with trail work by providing a structure and help them find the right opportunities to participate in. Engage the teens with the experience by: Setting clear expectations Creating manageable goals Achieving a meaningful balance between work and fun Q & A

Appalachian Mountain Club Volunteer Teen Trail Crew Locations Appalachian Mountain Club Volunteer Teen Trail Crew Locations

AMC Teen Trail Crew Staff (among all locations) 4 Supervisors – White Mountains, Berkshires, Boston Bay Circuit Trail, Mohican 1 Program Coordinator 3 Field Coordinators 19 Trail Crew Leaders 4 Field Support Staff

AMC Teen Trail Crews Types of Programming One Week Spike and Base Camp Crews One Week Primitive Base Camping w/partners such as Land Trusts Ten-Day Maine Woods Base Camp Crews Two Week Spike Crews Four Week Leadership Crews - w/ WFA & LNT Education SPIKE = Camping at a Primitive Campsite near the work site, in the backcountry – backpacking required. BASE = Returning from Trail work each day to a pre-existing camp already set up. Ours range from full service camps with buildings, to Canvas tents on tent platforms, to Nylon tents in a campground, with access to water and toilets and either showers or swimming hole.

Planning the Experience What is Your Goal? – Education, Accomplish Work, Get kids outdoors? What Resources are Available to you? – Staff, Facilities, Training, Equipment, Transportation, Clean-up What will the Structure Be? – Length (1 Day, 2- Weeks?), Leader to Volunteer Ratio, Work vs. Playtime, Logistics

Planning the Experience Leaders working with minors will need: First Aid Certification w/ CPR Criminal Background Check Driving Record Check (if driving participants). Leadership Training Project Skills Tool Knowledge Group Management Skills

Getting the Word Out About Your Program Website Constituent List School Outdoor Clubs Fliers/Postcards Brochures Free On-Line Volunteer Forums – CraigsList.org – VolunteerNH.org – VolunteerMatch.org

In what format do you first interact? , Phone Call, In Person? How do you explain what youth will be doing at your program? How do you make it sound interesting? What are the benefits to volunteering with your organization? Communicating with Youth and Parents

Determining Fit Desire & Motivation Fitness Curiosity Perseverance Giving Back to the Community

Try to understand why the youth wants to participate. – Is the youth interested in conservation? – Are the parents requiring it? – Do they need community service hours for school? – Do they truly understand what the program entails? A short phone interview may be helpful for this. Reasons For Participating

Registration Form  Include what you need to know before admitting the volunteer into the program: 1.Age (to meet criteria) 2.Contact Info 3.Parent/Guardian’s Info 4.Why they want to volunteer 5.Do they need Community Service Hours?

Health Forms Trip Policies Form Photo Release Form – If you want to use their face in a picture for promotional materials. Assumption of Risk and Release Form Waivers from Landowners or Managers Gear Lists Important Documents

Arrival Day Time to Engage the teens in the experience… Start by making them feel comfortable and excited for project – Icebreakers & Games Set clear expectations – Safety, fun, good hard work – Where and what type of work there will be – Schedule of the week – Ensure everyone has necessary gear

Finding Balance on the Trail Remember Your Goal – Production Goal Simple projects, limited technical scope (i.e. brushing) Lot’s of work completed Less skilled oversight and direction needed – Experience Goal More complicated project, but still a manageable, reachable goal (i.e. simple structures like bog bridges) Develops trail skills Creates rewarding sense of accomplishment – (engaging!) – Too challenging a project, teens may become frustrated – Not mutually exclusive, but hard to achieve an equal balance with new, young trail workers – Our focus is on the experience first

Working on the Trail Structure of Day – Full day of work, 8 hours, hard to achieve – Take breaks Both for rest, but also give the teens opportunity to play a game, check out a cool view

Your Role as Crew Leader Leader’s As Teacher, Not Trail Boss – Take it slow, teach the skills – Add to experience by teaching about the local environment – Like a teacher, monitoring behavior is responsibility of leader – As experienced trail worker, you are there to direct and review teens’ work first, not do the work yourself

Debrief and Assessing Satisfaction Gauging how the Experience was – Group Check-in on the last day – Participant Evaluation – Leader Evaluations – And remember a big thanks is in order!

Pro’s: – More about production when you have volunteers for one day – Better avenue of volunteering for kids with behavioral or medical concerns – Requires considerably less infrastructure than Camp Dodge programming does 1-Day Project Considerations Con’s: – Harder to develop personal relationship with teens and encourage long term commitment – A single day event may be all about production, but a long term project still often results in more work completed – Less likely to see teen develop skills and that all important engagement

Thank You!!