CATCHING UP
Leading Change with the Support of the John T. and Jane A Wiederhold Foundation
“Giving back to the Earth and knowing that in 10 years that area we planted will be like a forest, and restores the ecosystem, gives me a lot of excitement,” says Karla E., a CatRock alumni and now first year college student at Vassar College.
Thanks to the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, CatRock is able to engage NYC youth in environmental stewardship and conservation projects that help them explore their interest in caring for the environment. A $25,000 award from the foundation helped CatRock enhance its outdoor environmental education curriculum for students who participate in the CatRock Youth Leadership Academy each year.
This past spring, our CatRock Youth Leadership Academy students completed a restoration project in Vermont. They planted 250 trees on a small tributary to the Mississippi River called Coburn Brook. This project was the culmination of a larger project to reforest 26 acres of land – about 8,000 trees – on private property in collaboration with farmers, local government, and other environmental agencies like the Vermont Land Trust.
In ten years, these trees will hold soil in place and soak up enough nutrients like phosphorus to help prevent algae blooms and harmful toxins downstream in Lake Champlain, according to Lindsey Wright, the executive director at the Missisquoi River Basin Association.
Lindsey was impressed with the ability of the CatRock staff, alumni and volunteers to engage a large group of students who had never planted trees before. “[The CatRock students] planted more trees than I anticipated and really enabled us to get the project done. We were pretty blown away. The CatRock team does a really good job of introducing a project and then doing the project and then doing a nice wrap up. And I think that's really effective.”
Conservation projects that address real-world environmental issues are only one aspect of our improved outdoor environmental education curriculum. Support from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation also enabled CatRock to develop our programming to help youth become aware of local environmental issues within their communities.
“We have completed the first phase of integrating local stewardship projects into our programming throughout the year. This will provide Bronx youth with the opportunity to discover the environmental assets within their neighborhoods and parks. In addition, we will be taking students outside the city to do stewardship projects on the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut. Taking care of these spaces, inside and outside the city, is a vital learning experience for our students, says Craig Meisner, CatRock’s co-founder and executive director.
Engaging more youth in local environmental stewardship projects provides meaningful developmental experiences and promotes lifelong environmental stewardship. The investment from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation underscores the importance of collaboration for ensuring an equitable, inclusive, and diverse environmental movement.
“At the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, we are pleased to support the CatRock Youth Leadership Academy. Inspired by young people who are eager to understand and protect our environment, we see their involvement as a pivotal step toward preserving our collective future,” states Chairman Leslie Harris.