Education
Green Corps
Through Green Corps, Holden Forests & Gardens aims to inspire local teens to consider careers in the green industry.
Growing Futures, Growing Community
For the past 26 years, Green Corps has had the privilege of building relationships with high schoolers as they’ve been paid to gain work experience, learn about green jobs, explore sustainable practices, and investigate plants’ many benefits. Green Corps hosts various opportunities for teens to engage in experiential learning.
Our mission: Green Corps introduces youth to career paths in green industries, while inciting interest in trees’ many benefits through hands-on, place-based learning experiences.
While interns benefit from the mentorship of experts as they complete work- based learning in a variety of Holden’s departments, high school groups delve into the skills employed by green practitioners to cultivate healthy ecosystems.
In the end, learners emerge better equipped to employ environmentally friendly practices in their communities, future careers, and interests.
Career Exploration Activities
Paid Internships
Green Corps offers paid internships to 14-18 year old learners to introduce the skills of green practitioners, museum administrators, and non-profit professionals. Interns also enjoy nature- based recreation, delve into scientific investigations, create museum programming, participate in service- learning, and learn from experts in a variety of fields.
Past summer placements include:
Animal Care
Conservation – Forest Health
Development
Education – Academic Programs
Education – Libraries
Events
Guest Services
Horticulture
Research – Community Ecology
Research – Evolutionary Ecology
Research – Plant Physiology
Research – Soil Ecology
Career Fair Activities
Green Corps introduces career and STEM fair participants to hands- on learning that bolsters their understanding of skills used by those in plant- related jobs. Create floral designs! Compete to ID the most trees! Use a sounding hammer to assess a tree’s health! After encountering these activities, they’ll understand how different green jobs support our ecosystem.
Outreach Programming
Green Corps hosts field trips at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and visits classrooms, to provide place- based, interactive learning experiences that connect class content to real world applications and careers.
Sample Programs:
1) Canopies Contribute to Communities’ Health- Participants take on the task of green practitioners as they conduct air temperature investigations, assess water quality, and find trees’ carbon storage capabilities. Walking away, learners will be in will be in awe of how trees enhance city dwellers’ health.
2) Soil Ecology: Digging into Soil’s Properties- After conducting and comparing soil tests, students build Winogradsky columns that enable them to further their conversations and observations in the classroom for the rest of the year.
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Get in contact with us!
Whether you’re a teen interested in the internship program or a youth programmer hoping to collaborate, please call the Green Corps Program Coordinator at 216-707-2832 or email [email protected].
