Natural Leaders Week in NYC!

This Month in celebration of of Spring and Natural Leaders week, BBTO and NYC participated in outings to local green spaces, visits and workshops in community gardens and hikes in local and state parks.
In partnership with community organizations and BBTO affiliates, we were able to organize more than 7 outings and get over 500 youth outdoors and furthered our work to connect youth with nature.

One of the highlights of the week was a junior high school visit to a community garden in the South Bronx. Students participated in a service project in the garden where they learned about mulch and composting as well as the community garden movement in NYC. And to my delight, they learned how to build a no trace fire, and roasted marsh mellows-- brilliant!

Another highlight this week was a 5 hour hike up Bear Mountain State park; a real accomplishemnt for a city kid like me. Now 5 hours might not sound a lot to you experienced hikers, and it definitely wasn’t anything new for the high school students who participated in the outing-- but for me it was an eye opening revelation that I need to hike more. The exhaustion I felt for days was worth participating in this amazing outing. ... oh, and I saw a real 3ft black snake which energized me to move faster. :0)

Thank you to the all the partners who participated and to the Natural Leaders Network, who helped us get a lot of youth outside.

David Veliz - Sierra Club NYC