Jeff Carlson helped a crew transform a weedy patch at Whittier School into a pollinator garden while others tended to trees and vegetable gardens at the school-park complex in south Minneapolis. (Neal.St.Anthony@startribune.com/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Jessica Morales, a student at Minneapolis' Whittier School, is a veteran of school and park summer programs. She regularly joins other grade-schoolers to connect with teen and young adult mentors as they hike, bicycle and canoe city lakes, plant trees, raise vegetables and establish water-conserving pollinator gardens.
"It's fun to learn about nature with your friends," said 12-year-old Morales.
It's especially fun to learn from "Nacho" — a.k.a. ringleader Jeff "Nacho" Carlson, community education coordinator at Whittier, who doesn't confine his work to inside a building.
"I've been in this program with Nacho since I was 6," said Morales, who said she loves bicycling and gardening.
"I want to become a 'teen leader.' I will earn money, go to college and maybe be a teacher."
Carlson coordinates after-school programs in myriad subjects for community members, as well as Art Buddies, which pairs Whittier students with professionals from the worlds of art, design and business.
And he partners with adjacent Whittier Park staff, foresters, nonprofits and businesses to ensure that 150-plus Whittier kids have an educational and unforgettable summer, be it on school grounds, adjacent Whittier Park, Minnehaha Park or the Mississippi River. They hike, bike, plant and connect water to environmental stewardship, nutrition and public health.
"It's amazing for kids to learn outside a classroom about water, how to swim and canoe, plant vegetables and trees, and take responsibility for watering them with our 'bucket brigade' of coolers and wagons," Carlson said.