November 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 58

PORTLAND GRUNTS

Portland Parks and Recreation

The Model
The GRUNT program is a 65-hour
volunteer program for 10th-grade
students. Interested students must
first complete an application that includes a letter of recommendation.
" We are looking for kids who might
be at risk but have an interest in volunteering, " Abbaté says. To target
these students, PP&R works closely
with the school system, the Office of
Youth Violence Prevention and other community organizations.

" I believe these programs
are life-changing for my
students. " -Jill Semlick,
Science Teacher
Students who complete the application must then go through an interview
process. " Since we are teaching job and
life skills, we wanted to make the program as real as possible, " Abbaté says.
Following this, PP&R selects approxi-

GRUNT program activities include trail
building, invasive-species management,
employment training and more.

mately 18 students a year to participate
in the GRUNT program.
Those students spend at least eight
Saturdays visiting numerous PP&R
parks and learning about nature and
leadership. In the parks, they learn
about invasive plants, trail building,
nature awareness and water quality.

At the same time, they learn about
effective listening, public speaking,
conflict resolution and perseverance.
Although the GRUNT program
is only for high school sophomores,
graduates of the program are uniquely positioned to take advantage of
PP&R's paid programs, including
summer jobs, internships and even a
college scholarship.
" We think of the GRUNT program as the introduction, " Abbaté
says. " We really want these kids to
get involved in the paid side because
then they are really doing something
for the community. This is where you
see the kids feeling like they have
made a contribution - leading preschool programs, building a trail or
pulling ivy, " he adds.
Despite the success of the GRUNT
program, PP&R felt that something
was missing. " We discovered that
the 10th grade was not quite early
enough, " Abbaté notes. " We wanted
to get kids young enough in their high
school careers before they have made
their decisions on what to study. "
The result was the creation of the Jr.
GRUNT program.

" The highlight of my
week is coming to Jr.

Students from all over Portland participate in the GRUNT program, developing tight
bonds and a strong conservation ethic at a pivotal age.

Parks & Recreation

| N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

Portland Parks and Recreation

GRUNT. " -Izayah, 13
This program, for 8th- and 9thgrade students, is set up much the
same as the GRUNT program. Students must complete an application
and go through an interview. The
program, however, has three separate opportunities for participants:
a Saturday program during the fall,
a spring break program and a weeklong summer program. Only students who complete the 8th-grade
component, however, are eligible
for the 9th-grade program.

November 2013 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2013 - Parks & Recreation