Interns Find Hot Weather Experiences "Cool!"
During last summer's sizzling temperatures, 13 interns in the Governor's Environmental
Corps (GEC) program at the Illinois EPA kept their "cool" by helping at several
youth camps in central Illinois. The interns gave hands-on environmental demonstrations as
part of the "Junior GEC" program for approximately 650 Springfield area students
at Girl Scout and Boy Scout camps, the Nelson Garden Ecology Camp, the YMCA Outreach
program and Lincoln Memorial Garden Ecology Camp.
Checking water quality at Lincoln Memorial Gardens. |
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Participants find they have their hands full with worm composting. |
The Junior GEC activities focus on protecting Illinois' air, water and land resources.
Not surprisingly, some of the most popular activities involved... WATER!
Water Critters, The Long Haul, Biodiversity Safari and several other activities had
students enthusiastically seining for crawdads and mayflies, hauling buckets of water,
going on a city park "safari," meeting an earthworm up-close and personal and
demonstrating the water treatment process. The goal of the Junior GEC is to instill a
sense of wonder and stewardship for the earth by involving students with their local
environment, and to have fun!
The Junior GEC camps allowed the GEC interns to expand and diversify their summer
internship experience at the Illinois EPA by working directly with students and enhancing
their own knowledge of environmental issues. Feedback indicated that, hot or not, Junior
GEC was a memorable experience for both interns and students.
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