Greenagers Inc

Programs: Community work initative - trail crews: each year, greenagers hires 40 youth as members of our berkshire county and columbia county trail crews. Trail crewmembers work on the appalachian trail and on trails owned by columbia land conservancy, berkshire natural resources council, great barrington land conservancy, the nature conservancy, and other land trusts and cultural heritage sites. The trails program includes a financial literacy session. Greenagers partners with schools to identify students who could most benefit from this type of employment and work training. Employees earn 11. 00/hour and up. River walk apprentices: greenagers hires two youth annually to serve as apprentices on the housatonic river walk, a national recreation trail in great barrington. Greenagers employs two youth each year to serve as river walk apprentices from april through november. Apprentices take care of weekly maintenance on the trail, help lead group tours and volunteer days, and receive training and mentor-ship by river walk's on-staff horticulturalist, heather cupo, and greenagers' river walk supervisor, elia del molino.

school programs - crafting the landscape: during this after-school and summertime program, students at monument valley and mt. Everett middle schools develope a working relationship with each other and their forests, watersheds, and foodsheds by creating virtual communities and environmental goals in the video game minecraft and then translating these virtual goals into real, actionable service projects in our community. Homeschool programs: environmental education opportunities for homeschoolers. This comprises a monthly series of workshops and events, including wildlife tracking, plant and tree identification, birding, nature journaling, and foraging.

agriculture- front lawn food: the front lawn food program, in collaboration with berkshire community action council, encourages local families to grow their own organic veggies. Garden beds are constructed and installed by greenagers staff and youth, with summertime advice and periodic garden check-ins available to garden owners. Included in the purchase price of a garden, is the donation of a garden to a local family in need. Farm apprenticeships: each year greenagers hires 6-10 youth for our farm apprenticeships program. Farm apprentices are matched with area farmers, from whom they learn about machinery operation, animal husbandry, organic farming and the business of agriculture. Apprentices participate in our young farmer education series, a bi-monthly series of workshops and farm tours. Apprentices start at 11. 00/hour.

4th program: community outreach - timber sports team: led by greenagers staff and interested community members, this intergenerational group is training towards a competition level timber sports team. Open to all community youth and adults. Volunteer days: community volunteer days on trails and farms organized on an ad hoc basis. Farmer olympics: annual end-of-season celebration and community fun event.