December 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 14

Archive Throwback: July 2011
By Samantha Bartram

his month's issue focuses on disaster and the role parks and recreation plays in supporting our communities through the most harrowing of times. More than one story herein mentions the unique impact
disasters of all kinds - tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, mass
shootings, floods and others - have on children, and the particular care that is
needed in tending to them.
Children are fragile, but they're also
resilient and, when given the proper
opportunities, tools and motivation,
incredibly strong and motivated.
Harvey Chipkin's July, 2011, article,
" A Few Good Kids: Youth Conservation Corps Make Parks
Better and Society Richer, "
is not about how to care
for children or families during disaster.
Rather, it highlights the remarkable capacity children
and teens have to care for and
give back to their communities.
Chipkin invokes President Franklin
D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) program to dig into
the state of youth involvement and
local volunteerism during the Great
Recession that began in 2008. " With
the Great Recession now echoing
parts of the Great Depression, some
see a revival of the CCC - in spirit
and mission if not in fact, " he writes.
The parallels Chipkin draws between
Roosevelt's CCC initiative and the
modern phenomenon of youth corps
and similar programs include:
* Governments and nonprofits calling on citizens - volunteer and
paid - to help maintain and restore parks and natural areas;
* Opportunities for young people to
learn about nature and the envi-

12 Parks & Recreation

ronment and to enjoy potentially
career-changing experiences; and
* National networks and organizations - governmental and nonprofit - that seek to emulate, at
least in part, the CCC ethos.
Chipkin goes on to detail youth
corps programs across the country
that made a significant impact on
their communities, parks, educational systems and local governments.
He notes the many and varied benefits of such activities, including
the completion of infrastructure or
beautification projects; the facilitation of additional parks programs;
cultivating deep and meaningful
connections to nature and the out-

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doors; valuable exposure to the
professional realm and different careers, including those in municipal
government or parks and recreation;
and instilling community pride.
It's true - children are our future.
We need them to step up to fight for
our environment, health and overall
well-being. What we're reminded of, via Chipkin's
inspirational column, is
that children are ready,
willing and able to accept the
challenge, if only we'll support them along the way.
In Conclusion
This month we bring the Archive
Throwback to a close. Conceived as
a fun and fitting way to celebrate NRPA's 50th anniversary, this space allowed for reflection on the challenges
that have vexed our field for decades,
as well as marvel at the many advances we've made. From the magazine's
black-and-white, text-heavy iterations of the mid-1960s to today's colorful, glossy pages, Parks & Recreation
has been NRPA's mouthpiece for
news, calls to action, inspiration, recognition of excellence and discussion
of pressing social and political issues.
We plan to continue this proud tradition into 2016 and beyond, and we
welcome your ideas and feedback.
Visit www.parksandrecreation.org
to comment on the stories you read
in these pages, or email sbartram@
nrpa.org with your letters and great
ideas. See you next year.
Samantha Bartram is the Executive
Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine
(sbartram@nrpa.org).

December 2015 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2015 - Parks & Recreation