Oh the Places We’ll Grow

Oh the Places We’ll Grow
by Bryce Tholen, ResilienceCorps NC Member
Environmental Educator and Volunteer Coordinator

If you have visited the Coastal Land Trust (CLT) table at a public event, such as an Earth Day Festival, or attended one of our environmental education events, then chances are you have met an AmeriCorps/Resilience Corps NC service member. These young men and women have been a big part of CLT’s outreach and education efforts and have made a notable impact on CLT’s mission.

Resilience Corps NC is a national service program of AmeriCorps offered through our partner the Conservation Trust of North Carolina. CLT has applied and been approved to be a host site for service members for the past 5 years.

Hosting a service member is a big responsibility but it also brings big rewards. Service members spend a year with the host organization, growing their professional skills while helping the organization achieve its mission. At CLT, service members work closely with our Stewardship team doing everything from monitoring conservation easements to leading volunteer trail-building days.

Service members have played a key role in CLT’s environmental education efforts. They have developed three interactive science programs for elementary school students: Longleaf Pine Habitat, Pollinators, and Carnivorous plants. They visit classrooms and even take students out to visit conservation projects, teaching the next generation about the amazing natural communities right outside their doors. The lessons are popular with students and teachers alike. Since 2017, more than 3,000 students from 13 schools across coastal North Carolina have spent time with one of CLT’s amazing Resilience Corps NC service members.

Teaching about the wonders of nature goes beyond visits to classrooms. Service members play a lead role in public education events including Flytrap Frolic and Pollinator Palooza. Through these events, more than 9,000 individuals have had the opportunity to learn about the role they can play in protecting the North Carolina coast. Service members also organize monthly volunteer projects and have supervised 374 volunteers who contributed more than 2,000 hours of service over the past five years.

Next time you see CLT’s logo on a table, be sure to stop by and say hello to our Resilience Corps NC service members.