2023 Explore Your Environment (E.Y.E.) Program Report
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A Summer to Remember
On July 19th, we rode with Little People’s College students down to Fort Tabor. We set up the students to read on the rocks and enjoy New Bedford’s amazing surroundings. A few minutes into the students' reading session, a woman rode by us on her bike, pointed at the students and said “memories!”
Our Team
Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) successfully delivered eight weeks of summer programming to New Bedford youth through our Explore Your Environment (EYE) program. We ran four weeks of double programming (morning and afternoon) plus four weeks of morning programs only. We served a total of 126 youth from the Boys & Girls Club, Our Sisters School, Nativity Prep, the YWCA, Little People’s College, Jacobs Elementary School, as well as, four community weeks that were open to all youth ages 9 to 14. This year, in addition to our usual destinations and traditions we were able to incorporate new trips and experiences for the youth, most notably our island excursions to Martha’s Vineyard and Cuttyhunk.
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We had a combination of returning staff from last summer along with some new Junior Instructors from Mass Hire. Our Lead Instructors this summer were Grace Russell and Ben Hevey. Our Junior Instructors, Noah Rivet, Simon Rivet, and Davante Goodine, were all past Y.O.U. participants when they were Nativity Prep students, along with Madison Alves. We had so many eager 15,16, and 17 year olds apply for our Junior Instructor positions that we were able to collaborate with Mass Hire, and through their YouthWorks Summer Employment Program we were able to take on additional help. When there is a need, Y.O.U. always takes on those challenges and fulfills those needs. Demetrius Baptiste, Nick Arsenault, Madison McClendon and Jaliyah Perry stepped up as our Mass Hire Junior Instructors. Through this collaboration, these teens were not only able to develop skills and experiences needed to help them obtain meaningful work opportunities in the future, but through their participation, Y.O.U. were able to connect with and inspire more youth.
We also had the luxury of having our own Y.O.U. Chef, Colleen Millett, who prepared and served healthy and delicious lunches to our students all summer She incorporated many of the fruits and vegetables harvested from the Victory Park Children’s Community Garden into every meal. Each staff member brought their own individual special set of skills to contribute to the whole of our team.
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Youth Experiences
Testimonials
“I want to come earlier tomorrow so I have more time here!”
Joel, age 12 2023 EYE participant
“Wait, we only get one week here?!?” Yannick, age 11 2023 EYE participant
“My mom has asked me to go for a bike ride so many times. And now I finally can!”
“This is so fun! I can’t believe I’m doing it!”
Emry, an 8th grade Nativity Prep student who learned to ride in just 2 days
Nayaf, after a full week of practicing and riding with a staff member on the tandem bicycle, Nayaf learned and earned his own bike to ride.
“This turtle is my friend from last summer!”
“That was fun! I want extra bunny time as my prize!”
Mia, age 10 2023 EYE participant
Maya, age 10 After winning a prize from playing a game, Maya requested time with our pet bunny, Poppy, over a materialistic prize
“This is the best week of summer!” Wannessa & Maya simultaneously said this after our first ride of the week with Little People’s College students
Jacob: “I don’t even have to come here.” Logan: “Why do you come here every day then??”
Jacob: “Because it is pretty fun here. I am just inside and bored at home. I’d rather be here!”
Jacob, age 9, is a community youth that only lives a few blocks away from our site. He started popping into the Warming House with his brother and sister after school in the spring, curious about what was inside. Ever since, he walks over almost every day and acts like Y.O.U. is his second home. After his first summer at Y.O.U., Jacob said this on his last day
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Explore Your Environment (EYE) Daily Fun
Time spent moving our bodies outdoors in nature, is time spent taking care of our physical and emotional well-being. Our youth participants were very active this summer. Each youth biked an average of 3.5 miles per day, bringing the total number of miles biked by youth this summer close to 1,944 miles (almost the distance from Massachusetts to Denver, CO)!
Each week started with a short ride around Victory Park Pond to our Apiary Hollow Last year we started off with only a few thousand bees. Our bee population now fluctuates as we have had over 100,000 honey bees at one time and even have a glass display box in the Warming House so the students can get up close and personal while learning about them in a safe way
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Our shorter Monday ride continues to our community garden run by Garden Manager, Bob Nichols. The students get to pick and eat the fresh fruits and veggies right on site. This summer's favorites include snap peas, green peppers, and most notably the jalapeños peppers. The kids were so surprised to find out that our garden has watermelons and pumpkins. Our orchard and new berry station is also finally producing lots of fruit. The kids get excited to pick and eat apples right off the tree and harvest mint to put in their water bottles. Our berry patches (blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries) have also been a huge hit with the kids. Every day, our chef is able to use fresh produce from the garden to cook up something yummy for the kids. Our garden has been booming so much that we were able to set up free community grab bags with freshly picked veggies on our picnic table right out front at the Warming House.
With the help of youth participants, staff, and volunteers, in total, we have harvested over 195 lbs of fruits and vegetables this summer from the Victory Park Children’s Community Garden, and there is still more to come this fall!
A new addition to the Victory Park Children’s Community Garden is Y.O.U.’s HOBO link Weather Station. With the Buzzard Bay Coalition’s ‘Earth Day is Everyday’ grant, we partnered with Bridgewater State University’s Dr. Robert Hellstrom, professor of Geography, to begin the first phase of our ‘Pedaling for Climate Action' project this summer, which included a weather station installation in the garden.
Every Monday, when the youth participants visited the garden, we introduced them to the weather station as well. As climate change is one of the most pressing issues, impacting people of all ages, the weather station served as a wonderful tool to begin
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those important, initial conversations about climate literacy and awareness with our youth participants.
Tuesdays we would head over to Hazelwood Park, riding along the water on the west side of the peninsula. We introduced our kids to a Y.O.U. favorite and an old English game with deep New Bedford roots, called Bowling on the Green. The students also played croquet on the same greens, which was the first time for most of our participants.
We took advantage of all Hazelwood Park had to offer; playing basketball, football, reading under the trees, building forts, playing on the playground, and competing in our ninja warrior course. After working up a sweat at the park, we would head down the hill on our bikes to West Beach for a swim before heading back to the Warming House for lunch. Tuesdays were ‘Manifest Love’ food share delivery days from our partners at Round the Bend Farm. Every week during the summer, each youth participant received a bag full of fresh produce to take home to share with their family
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On Wednesdays we would head over to University of Massachusetts DartmouthSchool for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) to check out their research tanks. Our participants were enthralled to see all the creatures, especially the seahorse families and “scary looking” eels. Students were able to have hands-on experiences with the touch tank, holding and learning about different crabs and sea stars that were all caught right in our New Bedford waters.
The beach was our next destination where youth participants learned about seine netting, and under the guidance of Forrest Kennedy (SMAST East’s Lab Manager) and his college interns, we would catch hundreds of fish every week. We would get a marine lesson on all the creatures we caught. Sometimes our staff would be just as impressed as the kids were with the abundance of information Forrest knew about our New Bedford sea creatures. Students would then pick their favorite fish to take back to our fish tank at the Warming House, furthering the learning experience as the kids took care of the creatures as if they were their own.
On our last two Wednesdays of the summer, we were able to take our students on a longer bike ride all the way to Palmer’s Island. The kids had to kick their shoes off and trek through the waters to get to the island (learning first hand about high and low tide). There, we explored and expanded on our curiosities of nature. We learned about different plant life that is native to our area and had to be able to identify poison ivy before embarking on the island. We also explored maps and orienteering before our
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trip. We learned about all the things that come with wind energy too. On our ride to Palmers Island we felt the wind in our faces and rode by the site where the Wind Turbines are being built.
Thursdays were for our field trips to destinations that were beyond the reach of our bicycles. We had a focus on learning opportunities based around agriculture, mapping/orienteering, wind energy/weather, outdoor recreation, and nature exploration. This summer, through the generous contributions of the Thomas A. Rodgers Jr. Family Foundation, we were able to take our youth participants by ferry to Martha’s Vineyard and Cuttyhunk Islands. Not only were we able to get to visit these islands, but we were able to ride our bikes to explore the unique geography, wildlife, habitats, and historical importance of each island.
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Some of our other field trip destinations this summer were to:
Berry Hill Farm in Westport. Led by Carissa and Adam Davenport (owners of Town Farm Tonics) we toured their farm, learned about all the berries, herbs, and produce they grow. Each youth participant picked blueberries to take home to their families.
Haskell Public Gardens in New Bedford. Led by Trustees of Reservations staff, we toured their vegetable gardens, made wildflower/pollinator bracelets, took a mindfulness walk through their spiral garden, and learned all about orienteering, by using maps and compasses on a scavenger hunt throughout the property.
Soule Homestead Education Center in Middleboro. Led by Meg Riley of the Plymouth County 4-H, we toured the farm, snuggled goats and lambs, learned all about where our food comes from and the importance of farmers' role in our society. With Miss Meg’s help, we’ve hopefully inspired the next generation of future farmers!
Bristol Community College’s Wind Power Lab in New Bedford. Led by Vineyard Wind’s education staff, we explored the Vineyard Wind Offshore Wind Education Exhibit We learned about the fundamentals of energy, used virtual reality technology to learn how offshore wind works, designed and built our own wind turbines, and explored a variety of interactive games and activities along the way.
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We also visited Fort Phoenix, a place we usually can only see from across the way on Palmer’s Island. We walked to the tip of the hurricane barrier, explored the fort, learned all about pickleball, played volleyball and basketball, and went for a swim to cool off.
Fridays we would ride to West Beach to go kayaking and swimming. Kids learned about water safety and different kayaking skills from Jay at Community Boating Center’s Blue Lane Rentals. Then they were able to practice what they learned out on the water. After
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kayaking, we would visit Y.O.U.’s Community Bike Shop, located right right next door to Blue Lane Rentals on West Beach. Our bike mechanic, Bill Trimble, would be busy fixing community bikes when we would visit. Bill would always take a minute to stop what he was doing to teach our kids what the Y.O.U. bike shop is all about. Our Junior Instructor and Bike Apprentice, Simon Rivet, taught the youth how to fix a flat tire and other skills that they would be able to replicate at home and use to keep their bikes up and running. We finished out every week with ice cream at Clarks Point Creamery and superlative certificates recognizing the unique talents and contributions of each youth.
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These regular weekly experiences provided structure to the EYE program but never got in the way of following the youth’s interests and curiosities, which made each week just as unique as the diverse youth participating. Given the choice, groups could decide to go swimming and play volleyball at East Beach, play basketball and parkour through our Ninja Warrior course at Hazelwood Park, or explore the historic batteries and monuments at Fort Taber. Some weeks, special guests would volunteer to share their talents and hobbies with the youth exposing them to something new and exciting.
Read & Ride
Read & Ride is a component of the EYE program. Youth from Little People’s College, Inc. joined us for three weeks during the afternoon sessions. They would pick a book from our on-site library, bike ride to their favorite destinations, read, and then explore, play, and discover. Each child read for an average of 100 minutes each week. In total, our 34 Read & Ride participants read for over 63 hours!
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EYE Program Partners
● Jacobs Elementary School
● City of New Bedford, Department of Parks, Recreation and Beaches
● Buzzards Bay Coalition/Bridgewater State University
● YWCA of Southeastern Massachusetts
● Little People’s College
● Our Sisters School
● Nativity Preparatory School
● Boys & Girls Club of New Bedford
● UMass-Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST)
● Round the Bend Farm
● Community Boating Center
● Berry Hill Farm
● Vineyard Wind LLC
● Bristol Community College’s Wind Power Lab
● Trustees of Reservations at Haskell Public Gardens
● Soule Homestead Education Center/Plymouth County 4-H
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