Another summer of Teen Corps is in the books! Now in its fourth year with the same staff leadership, Teen Corps brings together teens for hands-on environmental education and stewardship, giving them a chance to learn about the Park while also building skills they can carry forward.
This year, 19 teens, including two Teen Mentors, from the West Harlem community spent their summer learning, working, and exploring Riverside Park, as well as parts of Fort Washington Park. Each of our Teen Corps Mentors has served in the program for at least two years, bringing their own experience and knowledge back to the program. This year’s Teen Corps ran from June 29 to August 27, Monday through Thursday.
This summer, we continued to expand the curriculum to help teens build both hard and soft skills. One highlight was the group’s first-ever planting day. Each year, teens have expressed an interest in learning how to plant in their post-participation surveys, and this summer we were able to make it happen. During a directed planting session, teens planted Carex vulpinoidea and Penstemon hirsutus along the 119th Street pathway. The experience was well received, and the teens expressed interest in doing more planting in the future.
Their favorite parts of the program included working with the goats, weeding and gardening, and volunteering in Maggie’s Garden during one of our community partner days.
From plant identification and birding to composting, urban agriculture, and environmental design, the Teen Corps curriculum gave participants plenty of opportunities to learn about the Park by getting out into it and getting their hands dirty. Teens worked in pollinator meadows and gardens, cared for tree beds, picked up trash, removed invasive plants, and explored different parts of Riverside and Fort Washington Parks.
Here’s a look at their summer schedule:
| Date | Lessons | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| July 7, 2026 | Orientation in office | Review curriculum and expectations |
| July 9, 2026 | Plant Identification | Pollinator Meadow weeding |
| July 14, 2026 | Birding/Plant Identification | Continuation of Pollinator meadow work, with a focus on mugwort and birding |
| July 16, 2026 | Planting Plugs Day | Planting plugs along the 119th pathway – our first time planting with Teen Corps! |
| July 21, 2026 | Introduced vs. Native Species | Bike Path weeding |
| July 23, 2026 | Public Land vs. Private Land | Bike Path weeding essential for the Conservancy’s MeadowLab project |
| July 28, 2026 | Community Partner Day – Brotherhood Sister Sol | Frank White Memorial Garden composting and harvesting |
| July 30, 2026 | Maggie’s Garden | Maggie’s Garden (149th & Bdwy) weed and space cleanup |
| August 4, 2026 | Compost | Compost Compound – taking care of tree beds |
| August 6, 2026 | Urban Agriculture and Stewardship | Jenny’s Garden – compost sifting and garbage pickup – while one of our Gardener’s saved a baby squirrel! |
| August 11, 2026 | Goats/Heat walk with Professor from Pratt | Trash clean up in the goat enclosure and a Heat Walk with Professor Yuliya Dzyuban |
| August 13, 2026 | Environmental Design | West Harlem Forest trash pickup/SYEP & Teen Corps collaboration |
| August 18, 2026 | Fort Washington | Discovery Playground |
| August 20, 2026 | Fort Washington | Pine Bluff |
| August 25, 2026 | Professional Development Day | Liaise with Riverside Park Conservancy staff and West Harlem Development Corporation funders |
| August 27, 2026 | Field Day and Trivia | Fun and Conclusion |
One of the most rewarding parts of Teen Corps is seeing how hands-on experiences can change the way young people think about the environment. Teen Mentor, Jeremy, began a blog this summer to document his experience with Teen Corps. After three years with the Conservancy, he reflected on how his perspective on environmental science has changed:
“My name is Jeremy and I have been working with Riverside Park [Conservancy] for 3 years now. First two years I worked here as an intern. Prior to joining Teen Corps, I wasn’t too fond of environmental science. I was always more interested in anatomy and health sciences more than environmental. But after my first year Teen Corps, my perspective changed. I realized how cool and human like plants really are. The way they interact with other organisms, the way they try to protect themselves, the way they grow and prosper is very similar to us humans. I thank this program for making me appreciate the environmental science aspect of biology and making me more open to new information.”
The teens worked hard this summer while gaining valuable knowledge about plants, sustainability, and the issues and challenges facing our natural environments. They also built camaraderie and teamwork with their Mentors and fellow participants, becoming an important part of the Park community along the way.
We’re grateful for another summer spent learning and working alongside this group of curious, enthusiastic, and hardworking young people. From planting and gardening to birding, composting, caring for the Park, and exploring new places, this year’s Teen Corps participants brought their energy and curiosity to every part of the program. We’re excited to see where they take what they learned next!
