Jasmine has been hard at work in the Greencorps Summer Youth Extension program through Alternatives, Inc. In her time with Green Corps she has dedicated the most effort to the North Park Village Nature Center, an educational center that provides wonderment for tots and elders alike. The Nature Center preserves urban woodlands and hosts a variety of fun, educational opportunities throughout the year. Included in the festivities are the annual Harvest Festival and Solstice celebrations, among a plethora of regularly occurring programs.
In her time there with guidance from Nature Center employee Bob Porter, Jasmine has gathered and shelled seeds of Virginia Rye and Senna, a native grass and a shrub the Nature Center plants to ward off an overpopulation of deer, respectively. She has also had experience mulching. “it’s just a nice place to be where you get to be outside and you get to interact with the environment— it’s just not something you would normally get to experience in the city,” she said.
For more information on the North Park Village Nature Center and all the programs and experiences they offer, go to http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/north-park-village-nature-center/.
Article by Toni Andreina, Greencorps Youth Coordinator
