James Higgins

Youth Summit

Lowell Spindle City Corps and the Student Career Intake Program Hosted the Lowell Youth Summit

On Friday, August 21, 2009 members of the Lowell Spindle City Corps hosted a youth summit with the Mass Area Parks Student Career Intake Program as a celebration and gathering of over 100 members and team leaders of youth environmental programs from throughout New England. The Lowell Spindle City Corps is a partnership among Lowell National Historical Park and Community Teamwork, Inc. The Corps program benefits from National Park Service Youth Conservation Corps. The array of team members at the Summit are participants in summer programs with a hands-on focus toward completing environmental projects in urban settings as well as incorporating environmental education and leadership development into the curriculum.

Programs represented at the Summit include: The Lowell Spindle City Corps including the maintenance, youth theater and Artship teams, the Boston African American National Historic Site Trailblazers, Thompson Island Green Corps, Boston Harbor Islands NRA Island Ambassadors, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation "Branching Out", and the Groundwork Trust Green Teams of, Lawrence and Somerville, MA and the Mass Area Parks Student Career Intake Program.

The event was held at Boarding House Park, French Street, Lowell at Lowell National Historical Park. Attendees were invited to participate in an essay contest sharing their experiences from the summer. Kristin Turner from the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation “Branching Out” won first prize. Sarah Park from the Island Ambassadors-and the Student Conservation Association won second prize. Winnie Medrano from the Groundwork Lawrence Green Team won third prize and Uyhor Eav from the Lowell Spindle City Corps maintenance team received an honorable mention.

Attendees also included: Mike Reynolds, Deputy Regional Director, Linda Canzanelli Associate Regional Director for Park Operations and Robin Snyder, Volunteer and Youth Programs Coordinator from the Northeast Regional Office of the National Park Service.