Students at Chemawa Indian School connect with the Indigenous relationship to the land
Friends of Trees has been partnering with the Chemawa Indian School, a Native American boarding school in Salem, for over eight years on a program designed to provide opportunities for students to build knowledge and skills that could lead to careers in the environmental field.
This year, Chase Huntley joined the team as an Education Specialist working with the Chemawa Program. He developed a syllabus around general conservation ecology and restoration, and how it connects to bigger ideas.
“It’s really important to make things culturally relevant,” Chase says. “Communities have always had a relationship to the land to the water. So I wanted to focus on the place we’re at and how it’s important to Indigenous people.”
The course is a combination of classroom, field study, and hands-on activity. The seven high school students in the class are all from different groups around the country, so much of the local land and its history was new to them. Chase hosted guest speakers to talk about Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) specific to the Kalapuya and other nearby tribes.
“Because these students are at a boarding school, I wanted to make sure we got outside as much as possible,” Chase says. “There’s so many benefits to being outside, including getting to know the land.”
One of Chase’s goals is for the students to shift away from the Western perspective that considers people and nature as separate. From the point of view of Indigenous people, people are intricately involved with nature. “Every plant has a purpose, not just ecologically but also culturally,” he says.
Much of the classroom study considered how Indigenous people have a role in shaping the land. Weekly themes included wildlife, water, restoration, environmental justice, plants, and careers, all with the Indigenous perspective.
Students were able to build a sweat lodge, and make arrows out of willow branches. Some of the hands-on work included blackberry removal and managing other invasive species. They also worked on mulching, planting native plants, and general maintenance.
“I wanted the activities to be student-led and it turns out they really enjoyed blackberry removal, Chase says. “But not just for something to do—we made sure that we understood the why behind what we’re doing.”
Chase is excited about the momentum the program has. His goal for this year was to build a strong foundation and develop partnerships, something he’ll continue doing next school year.
“I want to get more input from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde,” he says. “There are so many resources on the land that we can study. And I want to get off the campus more too, so that we can see even more of the area.”
With more guest speakers and more field trips, students can continue to connect the dots to the big picture and develop a sense of place connected to the larger watershed and indigenous lands in the area. Students will also train as crew leaders for the first time since before the pandemic, providing them with opportunities to participate in more green space and neighborhood planting events in Salem as both volunteers and crew leaders.
“There’s so much potential with this program,” Chase says. “It all starts with focusing on the place and its importance to Indigenous people.”
Friends of Trees’ partnerships contribute to environmental education for K-12 students; adult job training programs; paid internships connecting underserved communities to the urban forestry field; greening low canopy neighborhoods; and so much more.
“Thank you for letting us come and plant with you, it was a GREAT experience. I learned that planting trees keeps us healthy and alive. It was a great opportunity to learn and also to be outside.” Kara, 4th grade, Friends of Trees-Charles F. Tigard Elementary School partnership
“American children now spend an average of only four to seven minutes per day playing outdoors, compared with over seven hours per day in front of a screen.” (National Recreation and Park Association) That alone justifies our work with more than 2,000 young people in a typical season.
Friends of Trees’ educational programming actively and meaningfully connects youth of all ages with nature. We’re in the classroom with information about the benefits of trees, and we’re outside, actively planting and caring for trees with young people. Our work with high school students includes leadership skill building and job training through paid internships.
“I got so much out of this experience. One of the biggest things was building my confidence and helping me have a voice. When I first started Crew Leading I thought there was no way that older people would actually listen to me when I tried to explain how to do things. But they did! And I made so many connections with people I would have otherwise never talked to.” Angelica, Rosemary Anderson High School/POIC student; Friends of Trees’ youth program participant
Our work with elementary and middle school students includes hands-on, outdoor field work combined with classroom curriculum. As part of our EDI efforts we conduct an EDI training for the teachers we partner with, emphasizing equal access to trees; safe spaces; welcoming & inclusive language; how to respond to problematic language.
Learn more about our partnership with The Blueprint Foundation:
Underserved and BIPOC communities access training & paid internships
As we prepare for the fourth year of offering the Adult Urban Forestry Workforce Training Program there is one thing we know for certain: The community wants this programming. We hear from program participants and partners that this programming is filling a gap through connecting communities underrepresented in the urban forestry and restoration field—primarily communities of color—to training and job opportunities they otherwise would not have.
Of course, like everything, COVID forced some changes. What began as a challenge—providing classwork via Zoom—actually turned into a benefit: automatic translation. Which was especially important this year since two program participants, Rogelia and Leticia, speak Spanish. We caught up with Rogelia and Leticia recently, who are both interning with Honl Tree Care, to talk about their experience with this program. Rogelia shares,
Rogelia (she/her/ella), program participant
“I found out about the program with Friends of Trees from Verde. I was really interested in learning more and meeting more people, so I decided to do it. After the classes, I began to work with Honl Tree Care and it has been such a great experience, I loved getting to work alongside other people and learn how to use new machines. I was able to use the machine that took branches and turned them into mulch. The machines were very new to me—I never knew how the wood chips were made!
“The best part has been learning about new places, new neighborhoods, new parks that I didn’t even know existed, that has been fun. I don’t know exactly what I’ll do next, that is the grand question! I do know that I want to work outside, I love working outside in nature.”
Leticia (she/her/ella), program participant – in action!
Leticia also appreciated spending time with other people and echoes Rogelia’s praise for their intern hosts, Chad and Isabel at Honl Tree Care. She joined the program because, “I like trees and I wanted to know more about tree care and how trees are planted.”
The Adult Urban Forestry Training Program is possible thanks to funding from the East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District. We are pursuing additional funding to ensure this program continues, and grows! Meanwhile, we look forward to introducing you to the next round of interns this fall (If you or someone you know may be interested, please let us know!)—just in time for tree planting season.
Photo, top: Future arborist at work! View from an intern from the training program
Comunidades marginadas y BIPOC obtienen entrenamiento y aprendizaje pagado.
Mientras nos preparamos para el cuarto año de ofrecer el Programa de Capacitación de la Fuerza Laboral Forestal Urbana para Adultos, hay una cosa que sabemos con certeza: la comunidad quiere este programa. Escuchamos a los participantes y colaboradores del programa que este programa está llenando un vacío al conectar a las comunidades con poca representación en el campo de la silvicultura urbana y la restauración-principalmente comunidades de color-con oportunidades de entrenamiento y oportunidades de trabajo que de otro modo no tendrían.
En los último años, los colaboradores del programa han incluido a Verde, APANO, Wisdom of the Elders, Rosemary Anderson High School-POIC, Black Parent Initiative y Blueprint Foundation. Estas organizaciones ayudan a seleccionar de 10 a 15 participantes del programa cada año, que comienzan con el plan de estudios en la clase y trabajo de campo, y continúan con prácticas pagadas. Lea más sobre el Programa de Entrenamiento de la Fuerza Laboral Forestal Urbana para Adultos aquí.
Por supuesto, como todo, COVID forzó algunos cambios. Lo que comenzó como una dificultad-proporcionar trabajo en clase a través de Zoom- se convirtió en un beneficio: la traducción automática. Lo cual fue especialmente importante este año ya que dos participantes del programa, Rogelia y Leticia, hablan español. Recientemente, nos reunimos con Rogelia y Leticia, quienes están haciendo un entrenamiento con Honl Tree Care, para hablar sobre su experiencia con este programa. Rogelia comparte,
Rogelia (she/her/ella), participante del programa
“Me enteré del programa con Friends of Trees por Verde. Estaba realmente interesada en aprender más y conocer más gente, así que decidí hacerlo. Después de las clases, comencé a trabajar con Honl Tree Care y ha sido una gran experiencia, me encantó trabajar junto a otras personas y aprender a usar nuevas máquinas. Pude usar la máquina que tomaba ramas y las convertía en mantillo. Las máquinas eran muy nuevas para mí, ¡nunca sabía cómo se fabricaban las astillas de madera!
“La mejor parte ha sido aprender sobre nuevos lugares, nuevos vecindarios, nuevos parques que ni siquiera sabía que existían, eso ha sido divertido. No sé exactamente qué haré a continuación, ¡esa es la gran pregunta! Sé que quiero trabajar al aire libre, me encanta trabajar al aire libre en la naturaleza”.
Leticia también agradeció pasar tiempo con otras personas y hace eco los elogios de Rogelia hacia sus anfitriones internos, Chad e Isabel en Honl Tree Care. Se entró en el programa porque “me gustan los árboles y quería saber más sobre el cuidado de los árboles y cómo se plantan”.
Leticia (she/her/ella), participante del programa
El Programa de Capacitación en Silvicultura Urbana para Adultos es posible gracias a la financiación del Distrito de Conservación de Agua y Suelo de East Multnomah. ¡Estamos buscando fondos adicionales para asegurar que este programa continúe y crezca! Mientras tanto, esperamos poder presentarle al próximo grupo de participantes este otoño (si usted o alguien que conoces está interesado, ¡avísanos!), Justo a tiempo para la temporada de plantación de árboles.
Foto, Arriba: ¡Futuro arbolista en el trabajo! Vista de un estudiante del programa de entrenamiento
Through Project Zero young people are creating cleaner, greener communities
Project Zero intern Adrián Moreno just completed his internship with Friends of Trees and to celebrate the milestone he recently guest-starred on our Instagram account to share a little bit about his experience:
“I wanted to help mitigate the environmental crisis that we are all living right now, so I applied to the PGE Project Zero intern position and got the job! Through this internship I got to be involved in the process of creating, maintaining, and restoring green spaces.
“I also got to build and maintain community with people who want to help the environment. I was able to learn new skills and experience new environments. Before this day, I was afraid of public speaking.”
Taaj Armstrong, PGE Dean of Cohort, talks a bit about Project Zero, “Environmental stewardship is one of PGE Project Zero’s core components; with equity as a large driver, we knew that a strategic partnership with Friends of Trees would be integral in reducing the negative health impacts of climate change on low-income communities, Indigenous populations and communities of color. We were also thrilled that Friends of Trees is a partner in PGE Project Zero Works, helping to design the green jobs internship program, and hosting a PGE Project Zero intern, which has been wildly successful.”
We loved working with Adrián and are excited to share that he’s still on the Tree Team through another of our educational programs, “I really appreciate the opportunity that FOT has given me and I’ll continue working with them through the Adult Urban Forestry Training Program and complete my career in environmental economics!”
Photo: Adrián in action during his Project Zero internship.
Underserved and BIPOC communities access training & paid internships
Underserved and BIPOC communities access training & paid internships
