Collins Academy’s internships have swelled to 12 students this summer thanks to a Community Outdoor Outreach Grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The goal of the project is to create more land stewardship and conservation leadership by providing opportunities for area high school students to learn and practice habitat improvement and maintenance by working gardens at Port Jefferson History & Nature Center, Caddo Lake State Park, and the various pollinator gardens located at public schools in Marion and Cass Counties.
As a result of the generosity of Jefferson ISD, the group is able to utilize the greenhouse at Jefferson High School as a nursery for growing up and transplanting milkweed seedlings previously started by the Horticulture Class of Mr. Randy Penny and for cultivating and transplanting cuttings recently taken from Port Jefferson History & Nature Center.
The seven-week project involves six students from Cass County and six from Marion County along with teacher mentors from Queen City ISD, Ms. Teresa McCulloch; and Linden-Kildare CISD, Ms. Cheryl Lockett-Heath and Ms. Sandra Ryan. Sara Griffin of Collins Academy is mentoring the Jefferson ISD students.
“The bulk of the funding will be applied to the salaries of the interns and their mentors,” said Gary Endsley of Collins Academy. This represents a good summer job for our students and teachers while maintaining and upgrading native plant gardens we have helped to install in the region. These activities also target Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills aligned learning objectives that are hard to teach inside the walls of a traditional classroom,” he added.