Below are job openings with the SCA, a group that has been instrumental in building and improving the bike/hike trails at Detroit’s Rouge Park:

Detroit Community Crew Programs

You can make a difference this summer! Here’s your chance to be part of a program that promotes youth leadership and conservation! The Student Conservation Association is a dynamic, nonprofit national organization which encourages and supports youth in service to the environment. The SCA is currently accepting applications for Crew Leader positions with our 2011 Detroit Community Program.

Responsibilities: Co-lead, mentor and coach a crew of 10 students, ages 15-18, while completing various conservation service projects designed to build an ethic of community and environmental stewardship. Projects include trail and park maintenance, habitat restoration, neighborhood green space revitalization and urban agriculture. In addition, leaders will facilitate pre and post-program planning which includes crew training, environmental education and reporting. Program dates are July 11 – August 19. Mandatory, all expenses paid, residential training dates are June 1-10 (possible alternate dates).

Compensation: up to $3795 total salary depending on experience and crew length.

Qualifications: Be at least 21 years old; able to legally work in the US; have a valid driver’s license and clean driving record; First Aid/CPR certification, experience working with youth or young adults (ages 14-18); experience as a teacher or leader in an educational environment; experience with conservation or related skills, familiarity with and passion for the Detroit community.

How to apply: Send a cover letter and resume to the Detroit Program Manager at scadetroit@thesca.org. Please direct questions to scadetroit@thesca.org or 313.285.1247. Crew leaders are hired on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.

Evan Major, the Detroit Program Manager for the Student Conservation Association (SCA) sent along this job opening. Major says this is  “an exciting job opportunity to work with some great people and facilitate green job readiness programming for/with Detroit youth.”

For the past couple years the SCA has led hike/bike trail construction efforts at Rouge Park on Detroit’s west side.

Here is more information on the job position and how to apply. Resumes and cover letters are due on February 10th. (more…)

SCA Detroit's Schcari Wade says making a difference for Detroit is "important because I live here." / Photo: Digging Detroit

The new hiking/biking trails at Rouge Park on Detroit’s west side began in 2004. Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMBA) members Harvey Santana (who just won the state representative Democratic primary for the 10th district) and Todd Scott (myself) helped kick off the project. REI gave a generous grant to the project and volunteers helped build the trail.

It wasn’t completed, and after a change in project leadership, everything stalled.

Detroiters Chris Frey and Jason Friedmann re-started this project and by partnering with the Student Conservation Association (SCA), have really taken this to the next level.

Digging Detroit posted an excerpt from the SCA’s Conservation Quarterly, The Green Way. It’s called SCA Crews Drive Motor City Makeover and here’s a portion of it.

Many SCA stories are about changing a student’s life.  Others focus on changing the fortunes of a national park.  This one is about changing the mindset of an entire city.

It’s August.  A blazing sun stokes the temperature into the 90s.  The heat index is well into the triple figures.  The mosquitoes are omnipresent and voracious.

Welcome to Detroit, where a crew of local high school students is cutting a new trail through Rouge Park.  The soil is dry and hard as a half dozen teens spread out, Pulaskis in hand, to grade a stretch they cleared the day before.

…

SCA Detroit is part of a nationwide, community-based SCA program that provides outdoor summer jobs to underrepresented youth.  Some 80 students participate in the Motor City alone, and they have much in common.   The majority are in their second or even third summer with SCA.  They constantly refer to the camaraderie spawned by their diligent teamwork.  And a common theme runs through their reasons for being there.

This is a clearly a great story on so many fronts.

It’s more than just building a trail.