FEATURE
Fostering Lasting Wonder:
Nurturing Teen Engagement with Nature through the Conservation Leader Program
Conservation Leader teens (from left) Norah Tempus, Mary Keller, Maya Holbrook, and Alex Baumann hold praying mantids found while exploring the prairie. Photo by Erin Rowekamp.
We’ve all heard of childlike wonder—that innocent amazement of the world around us. But as we grow older, where does that sense of wonder go? Outwardly, the experience of wonder may seem to fade as we grow older. However, I would argue that wonder is not lost—it simply evolves. As we accumulate knowledge and have new experiences, we start to view the world in new ways. The everyday sights and sounds that once evoked a sense of awe continue to do so, but through a more complex lens as we age. Wonder is evoked not just through innocence, but through experience, reflection, and curiosity.
For teens, this shift in wonder is particularly significant. Their wonder is no longer about being awestruck by the basic phenomenon of nature, but also grappling with its deeper mysteries. A young child might find wonder in the sight of a dragonfly swooping nearby, while a teenager might also marvel at the intricate, unexpected lifecycle of that same dragonfly.
Unfortunately, it became apparent to staff at Five Rivers MetroParks in Dayton Ohio, through conversations with youth program participants that were maturing into their teen years and their families, that teens and pre-teens are an underserved and often overlooked group when it comes to nature-based programming, despite their heightened interest. MetroParks quickly recognized the important role they could play in filling the gap between youth and adult opportunities by fostering a continued sense of wonder for program participants as they mature into their teen years.
In order to provide teens with opportunities to dive deeper into nature-based topics, while also exploring their own unique interests and inspiring others, the Conservation Leader program, for teens ages 10-17, was launched in the spring of 2022. The program is a collaboration between several departments of Five Rivers MetroParks: Outdoor Education, Conservation, and Volunteer Services as a means of providing teens with unique, robust, and all-encompassing experiences. The program strives to foster growing advocates for the protection of nature through exploration, discovery, and action leading to deepened connections with nature through a multi-pronged approach offering teens a range of opportunities.
Conservation Leader teens, Anna Sollinger (front right), Clare Sollinger (front left), Caroline Tempus (back right), & Norah Tempus (back left), work together to identify animal skulls at a Conservation Leader class. Photo by Erin Rowekamp.
Conservation Leader Classes
Wildflower Identification, Animal Skull Identification, Radio Telemetry, Accessing Biodiversity, and Nocturnal Amphibian Ecology are just a few of the teen classes offered to the public through the Conservation Leader program. Any teen can attend any of the classes at any time, and these classes are designed to spark teens' curiosity through purposeful exploration while growing their knowledge and skills in areas that can be applied to careers in the field. Teens are encouraged to step outside of their comfort zone and challenge themselves in new and exciting ways as they find wonder in new experiences and a deeper understanding of the complexity of the world around them. In a class evaluation, one teen shared: “By the end I was getting so much better at identifying trees, I surprised myself.”
Class topics focus on identification, skill building & equipment use, and topic exploration. They encompass a wide range of organisms and habitat types with the goal of exposing teens to new areas of interest while also fostering existing interests and passions. Additionally, classes introduce participants to research techniques, best practices, and technology used in the field. This provides teens with valuable insight into various conservation-based careers, while bolstering their experiences and skillsets.
Conservation Leader teens, Norah Tempus (left) and Maya Holbrook (right), practice using radio telemetry equipment at a Conservation Leader class. Photo by Joshua York.
Volunteerism with Conservation Staff
Interested teens can also choose to become official volunteers with Five Rivers MetroParks, opening up several other unique opportunities and welcoming them to a community of passionate like-minded teens. By becoming official MetroParks volunteers, teens are eligible to partake in many volunteer activities and to become a cohort who volunteers together and attends volunteer trainings together, while also still attending classes with other teen members of the public (who we hope will then be inspired, over time, to become volunteers too!). Conservation Leader teen volunteer, Henry Holbrook, shared that “Conservation Leaders has taught me that there are other kids that care about the environment just as much as I do.”
Conservation Leader teen volunteers can partake in Conservation in Action Volunteer Opportunities. The opportunities provide teens the chance to participate in various conservation projects, often focused on improving biodiversity across the parks, alongside our highly skilled conservation staff members. Opportunities involve teens in a wide range of conservation efforts, projects, and research taking place in the parks. Past volunteer opportunities have included invasive species removal, prairie seed collection, cattail removal, native plantings, bat emergence surveys, kestrel box checks, and much more! Through volunteer trainings, teens also connect with researchers from universities across Ohio, getting exposed to reptile pit-tagging, bird banding, flying squirrel tagging, and other research projects.
Conservation Leader teen volunteers (from left) Norah Tempus, Alex Baumann, Henry Holbrook, Caroline Tempus, Anna Sollinger, Maya Holbrook, and Clare Sollinger with bags of cattails that they removed from one of MetroParks Conservation Areas in order to prevent them from outcompeting native species. Photo by Erin Rowekamp.
Conservation Leader teens (from left) Norah Tempus, Anna Sollinger, Alex Baumann, Henry Holbrook, and Caroline Tempus take a quick break on a fallen log while partaking in a soil sampling volunteer opportunity with Conservation staff. Photo by Erin Rowekamp.
Conservation staff work side by side with the teen volunteers ensuring they are gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning behind their volunteer efforts and that they are building and strengthening their own knowledge and skillsets as part of the process. Teens see firsthand the positive impact they can make on the natural world and get a glimpse into what a career in Conservation could look like. One of the most anticipated Conservation in Action Volunteer Opportunities is the annual BioBlitz.
BioBlitz is a day where Conservation Leader teen volunteers and all Conservation staff members get together and use iNaturalist to catalogue species found within one of our parks. There is no doubt that this is a day overflowing with wonder. You can hear excited shouts across the forest from one group to another about what they found—including everything from an eastern box turtle hiding in the leaf litter to a brightly colored fungus. Not only does this event lead to the creation of a robust dataset to monitor changes in biodiversity, but also is an excellent time for Conservation staff members to share their passions with teens who have similar interests. This interaction with staff helps teens develop their own voice in sharing their experiences and advocating for healthy ecosystems, knowing that their passions intersect.
MetroParks Conservation Staff Member Nicole Freshour (left) shows Conservation Leader teen and parent volunteers (from left) Chris Baumann, Alex Baumann, Norah Tempus, Gary Tempus, and Caroline Tempus how to identify different prairie plant species in autumn for seed collection. Photo by Erin Rowekamp.
Volunteerism at Family Programming
Trained Conservation Leader teen volunteers can also choose to volunteer alongside interpreters at family programming. Prior to volunteering, teens are given a thorough overview of the program’s purpose, objectives, and desired outcomes. Additionally, teens are exposed to common program scenarios and guided through potential responses. This training provides the teens with the confidence to act when such scenarios arise.
For example, Conservation Leader teen volunteers are trained to seek out participants that appear shy or anxious and provide them with specialized attention that the interpreter is not always able to provide due to needing to cater to the entire group. This training is also beneficial as many youth program participants are more receptive to working with a teen Conservation Leader, as teens are role models for young children.
The energy, excitement, and enthusiasm the Conservation Leader teen volunteers bring to a program, especially as they celebrate participants' individual successes, can change the entire trajectory and atmosphere of the program. Conservation Leader teen volunteers leave the program with a deep sense of pride and fulfillment, knowing they’ve helped others form a personal connection with nature, while also reliving their own initial sense of wonder through someone else’s perspective. Additionally, through volunteering teens are growing in their confidence and leadership skills—skillsets that they will rely on for the rest of their lives, no matter their career path.
Conservation Leader teen Norah Tempus discusses an insect she found with youth program participants. Photo by Erin Rowekamp.
Conservation Leader teen Anna Sollinger explores creatures found during a pond exploration program with a youth participant. Photo by Erin Rowekamp.
Lessons Learned
The first few years of this program have been full of learning opportunities that have provided some insight when it comes to working with teens. One of the lessons learned early on is that teens’ schedules are extremely busy. As a result, the further out that you can plan and the sooner you can get program and opportunity dates and registration links to the teens and the families the better your attendance will be. Sharing those dates early on allows families to put it into their calendar so when something else comes along they already have set aside that time.
Teens can be reserved and ultimately a little shy. It takes time for them to come out of their shell, especially with their peers. It is important to be patient and continue to provide openings and opportunities for teamwork and for individuals to engage and share, even if you are met with long periods of silence at first. You can help boost their confidence by fostering and embracing their strengths and helping them to recognize them and be proud of them. It can be as simple as acknowledging a teen amongst the group when they share their knowledge or having teens with differing strengths work together and as a result teach one another. It will take time, but they will get there eventually and it makes their connection stronger.
It took nearly a year for our core group of Conservation Leader teen volunteers to become comfortable with each other, and now they are incredible friends that not only spend time together at classes and volunteering with Five Rivers MetroParks, but also on their own outside of MetroParks. When asked what changes they have seen in their fellow Conservation Leaders as they have been involved in the program, Conservation Leader teen, Anna Sollinger, responded that “we [Conservation Leader teens] have gotten a lot better at teamwork and I love how great of friends we are and we are together so much it’s kind of like having a second family.”
Although not as apparent at first glance, it is important that teens’ sense of wonder for the natural world is not overlooked. Rather than a fleeting moment of childlike amazement, wonder for teens can be a more profound and lasting experience that can empower the next generation of conservationists, leaders, and advocates for the environment. I am truly in wonder of the amazing teens that are part of the Conservation Leader program and can’t wait to see the profound difference they continue to make in the world.
Conservation Leader teen volunteers share in a group hug following a public presentation to the community regarding the Conservation Leader program. Photo by Joshua York.
