Charlestown Teens Employed Through Grant From Hood Park LLC

Thanks to a generous grant from Hood Park LLC, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and Charlestown Coalition/Turn it Around are partnering in 2019 to provide employment for Charlestown teens and free Harbor Island cruises and other free programs to Charlestown residents. This is the first of a five-year partnership supported by Hood Park LLC. Thanks to this support, Save the Harbor is hiring four Charlestown teens from the Charlestown Coalition as Junior Program Assistants (JPAs) as part of the Youth Jobs and Leadership Program in 2019. In addition, Hood’s support will help Save the Harbor connect hundreds of Charlestown youth, teens and families to Boston Harbor, the Boston Harbor Islands and our region’s public beaches with free events and programs.

The JPA position is a paid seasonal job open to Boston residents ages 15-19 who are interested in working in an outdoor, hands-on youth environmental education program. The program runs for nine weeks during July and August where they help run the Youth Environmental Education Programs that are the cornerstone of our efforts to reconnect underserved youth and teens and low-income families to the harbor, waterfront, beaches and islands. JPAs will help lead two free Youth Environmental Education Programs; All Access Boston Harbor and Boston Harbor Explorers.

All Access Boston Harbor (AABH) offers young participants from Boston area youth and community organizations free day trips to Spectacle Island and Georges Island in the Boston Harbor Islands. The day begins at Rockland Trust Pavilion in Boston’s Seaport with an interactive presentation about Boston Harbor’s history and the marine environment featuring touch tanks and lobster traps, followed by a cruise to the islands. While on the islands, program participants take part in recreational and educational activities led by our summer staff including STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) activities such as island hikes, fishing, crabbing, ball sports and swimming, exploring historic Fort Warren, guided wrack line walks, hunting for archaeological treasure, storytelling by the sea and creating art on the shore. 

Boston Harbor Explorers (BHE) is an experiential learning program that develops leadership skills through engaging young participants in exploration of the marine environment of Boston Harbor. Junior Program Assistants (JPAs) use tools such as fishing rods, crab traps, lobster pots, seine nets, field guides, water quality testing kits, archaeology and art on the shore to spark interest and environmental stewardship through healthy outdoor activities. JPAs will become familiar with our Boston Harbor Curriculum Guide and forge lasting relationships with each other helping to lead a group of young people through environmental activities each day.

This summer, hundreds of youth, teens and families from Charlestown will join us on these free cruises and on our beaches as part of All Access Boston Harbor and Boston Harbor Explorers. The grant is part of Hood’s IAG, Impact Advisory Group, that represents residents of Charlestown to determine community benefits as a result of the permit approvals granted to Hood Park LLC.

The Charlestown Coalition is a community-based organization committed to improving the health of Charlestown residents. We are advancing communities and transforming lives by developing and supporting activities that promote health and bring about change to help end the cycles of addiction, poverty, violence, and racism. Over the past seven years, our youth component, Turn It Around, has given back to the Charlestown community in many ways.

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