A nonprofit organization based in East Palo Alto is training the next generation of environmentalists with a little help from Midpen’s grantmaking program.
Canopy works to grow the urban tree canopy in Midpeninsula communities. The organization received a $50,000 grant from Midpen last year to support Canopy’s Teen Urban Forester (TUF) program.
The TUF program is a paid internship program for high school students. The TUF’s, as they are referred to, learn about trees, care for them and take part in advocacy efforts to bolster the tree population in neighboring areas. The program prioritizes BIPOC students, and students from high schools in East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park.
The Midpen grant also provides TUFs the opportunity to explore Midpen preserves by supporting hikes, stewardship opportunities and other outdoor events. For some interns, it’s their first time going on a hike or visiting their local Midpen preserves.
“The grant is unique in that it puts mental health at the forefront,” Canopy Youth Programs Manager Juanita Ibarra said. “Many of the students have mentioned that just being outdoors, whether it’s under the trees or just walking on the trail, makes them feel better,” Ibarra continued.
The grant also supports outdoor education at Midpen’s Ravenswood Open Space Preserve, which is the preserve closest to the students’ homes. TUFs learn how tidal marshes, like trees, store carbon while also providing wildlife habitat and buffering communities from storms and climate change impacts.
On one recent TUFs workday, the students took a “pertencer” tour at Stanford University, meeting with scientists working in the environmental field. Students asked questions about the scientists’ day-to-day lives and the backstory that led them to the environmental field.
Ibarra said it was an opportunity for students to see themselves in those spaces.
“Hence the Spanish word pertencer – meaning you belong,” Ibarra said. “Since our program is BIPOC-focused, this really strengthens our hope to expose them to as many green careers as possible.”
On a different day, TUFs met in a neighborhood in East Palo Alto to knock on community members’ doors and ask if they wanted to plant a tree in their yard free of charge, courtesy of Canopy.
It’s days like these that inspired Bethzy Garcia, who has been a TUF for three years, to apply in the first place. She says she was attracted to the program because of its community-based mission.
“I feel like that’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Garcia said. “To give back to the community that I’ve grown up in, since I was four.”
Canopy is accepting the next round of applications for the Teen Urban Foresters Program by August 5th. Head to the TUFs webpage for more information on the program.