Rohan Naik Photo
High school interns present their work to the crowd.
The first day of her summer job, Sadilka Lopez had “no idea what I was doing.”
Fast forward five weeks, and Lopez had taken charge, offering advice and instruction to other interns and transforming Fair Haven’s Grand Acres Community Garden.
In that very garden, Lopez and five other New Haven Land Trust high school interns Thursday night presented their summer work to the community. They prepared a home-cooked meal, mingled with community members, and took visitors on a tour of the refurbished space. They spoke about their newly learned carpentry and construction skills, which allowed them to create a new wooden fence and compost bins over the five-week program.
The Land Trust’s Youth Jobs Corp, now in its third year, partners with the city of New Haven’s Youth at Work program to give paid jobs to area high school students. Unlike in previous years, when Land Trust interns would work at a variety of gardens, this summer’s interns were stationed at the Grand Acres Community Garden, located at 47 Grand Ave.
Garden’s new fence.
There, they worked to restore garden beds and grow fresh vegetables to then sell to local restaurants and food trucks, including Miya’s and the Farm Belly Food Truck. They created a wooden, chain-link fence from scratch; their work enabled The Land Trust to avoid paying $15,000 for another company to install the fence. The compost bins too are economically efficient: They result in increased soil. Consequently, the amount of soil the Land Trust then has to buy decreases.
“The cost of soil is quite expensive, and that is something we can produce ourselves simply by composting,” said Sarah Gilbert, a Yale graduate who helped oversee the youth program. “The amount of soil is substantial, and it can really be a model for other sites.”
The program aims to teach high-schoolers entrepreneurial and craft skills as well as instill work skills beneficial for work and college. The students applied directly to the city’s Youth At Work program. From the list of students that were accepted into the program, the Land Trust picked five names.
The students, all of whom attend New Haven schools, come into the program with a range of interests. Not all are necessarily interested in environmentalism.
According to the Land Trust Operations Manager Lauren Bisio, this year the organization made more of an effort to choose students with some interest in working outdoors. As the program operated for around seven hours a day and four days a week, Land Trust wanted students to know what the job entailed beforehand.
Xavier Hernandez, one of the high school interns, noted that his work for Land Trust last summer informed his decision to again spend this summer with the organization.
Lopez talks about constructing the fence.
For Sadilka Lopez, this summer was her first time doing extensive work outdoors. The beginning was difficult, she said; the process got much easier over time. She said she wouldn’t mind spending another summer working outdoors.
The Land Trust is looking to expand its youth programs. In addition to its Youth Jobs Corp program, it has offered a summer program in conjunction with Schooner and the Boys and Girls Club this summer. For the upcoming school year, the Land Trust will hire two of its high-school summer interns for part-time jobs, around five hours a week for fifteen weeks.
“The gardens and nature preserves have been really successful and are doing well,” Bisio said. “The next frontier are educational programs and how we can make sure that he spaces are well utilized for the future.”
