Anthony Greene, Week 5

This summer at FERP was a long one which included a lot of hard working days and long work nights. But this summer also started a lot of friendships and taught me a lot of valuable lessons. For example, I learned when we went on our hiking trip with Justin that the top of East Rock is at 365 feet. And when we went to the Smart Living Center and met with Joe the tour guide I learned that it would take four compact flouresent light bulbs to use the amount of energy that one regular incendesent light bulb would use. Also, when we met with Mr. Booker, I got to think and plan out life. I also was able to learn a lot about myself and where I may be heading in life. These are all valuable lessons that we could use in one point of our life or another and they all tie in to our summer theme “waste not want not". The way that we use energy in our culture has caused us to have a stronger demand for it in our country and the more we waste the more we will need as well as want. So the smart thing to do as a planet would be to waste less as well as want less. I want to take this time to thank you FERP for teaching me all that you have. I will definitely use the knowledge that you shared with me in the future so thank you for your time and have a nice remainder of the summer.

Rashaan Sweat, Week 5

This summer I had enjoyed myself working for Friends of East Rock Park, or FERP for short. We all worked super hard this summer cleaning up and planting at East Rock Park. Most of the stuff we have done really paid off. I really had a good time at West Rock ranger station. At West Rock we played some very hard thinking games. We played some teamwork games also. Afterward, Ranger Wray brought us to the nature station to hold and learn some cool thinks about spiders, turtles, and Sizing Cockroaches.

I also learned some nice things at the Smart Living Center. That day really made me think of our theme, Waste Not Want Not. The saying waste not want not can mean a lot of things, but if you ask me I think that it means don’t waste something just because you just have it.

My picture has a flower that says FERP.

My picture also has a shovel and a rake that stands for all the hard work that we had done raking leafs and mulch and shoveling holes for the plants.

Cynthia Cardone, Week 5

Painting

The painting is based on what I have learned and saw at East Rock Park, the smart living center, Yale garden, from the workshop we have also done. I came up with the out line based on the things that we have learned over the summer. People have always have said that they wanted more feed back on what the teens thought of things and this will be my version of what I have learned and what I like. The things that will be used are the acrylic pants and the board will be a small canvas to go with it.

List of things in the painting and what they mean to me.

• Tree- The growth over a length of time, every thing is different. From recycling with C.J. May because they give us paper and we can reuse it again.
• Plants- A pretty environment, different colors, sizes, and shapes. Dave, every thing that is living comes in different ways.
• Birds/animals- Life in the wild and a sort of freedom. Jack Hitt “we are the only writing creature.”
• The blue sky- A clean sea to look up at is the way to go. C.J. May because he said that we need to stop the pollution.
• Compost pile- A way to give back to the earth when it has given us so much. Ranger Dan, give back what we receive.
• Wind power- A way to use a natural resource as a power source, Smart living Center, their are a lot of ways to save money and to get electricity and to pat less.

Waste not, want not?
Don't waste what you do have because some people don't have what you have. People would always want what they don’t have, but if they don’t have it they can not waste it and make a fuss over it. Sometimes people have things that will last for so long and then they will get rid of it and then there are people that just buy things because they see it on TV and then they only use it for a while then get rid off it. You can not waste what you don’t have in order to waste it you have to have it. When we went to the recycling with C.J. May he talked about how we can change the way that we burn the trash and put things in land fills. The way that there are still factories that are still using coal that burn into the atmosphere and it causes pollution. Then at the smart living center he was saying that if we used less of the factories and we started to use solar power, wind power, or water power we will save a lot more money in life because we are not wasting electricity and we are getting more power by using then.

Curron Martin, Week 5

During the time here at FERP I had a lot of fun and also experienced a lot as well. First canoeing on the Mill River which was exciting because this river is so close to my house and that’s something I always wanted to do. Another thing that was very educational and fun was when we went to the Smart Living Center; at the smart living center they showed us things we could use to be more energy efficient. For example the energy star light bulb, this is a light bulb that saves a little energy. Visiting the living center made me think of our theme which was waist not want not. For example if you don’t waist you as much you wont want as much and the smart living center showed us ways we can save and not waist. Another thing I thought was fun was when we went to West Rock Ranger Station their we got to look at some of the animals. But the most exciting thing was when Ranger Wray let us hold the snakes. This was a great opportunity for us to see the environment in a different way. Over the summer we did a lot of fun things and the things I listed were just a few actives we did and I believe this summer was one the best. And I also want to thank FERP for giving me a opportunity of a life time.

Cynthia Cardone, Week 3

Today, we went to the West Rock Ranger Station where we met Ranger Wray. He was nice to show us the animals that they have there. We got to hold some of them like. I got to hold a ball python and an albino tree snake as well. Ranger Wray also played a few games with us with dice which were cool and we learned about the other stuff, such as how many rangers there are and toured West Rock as well. Afterwards, we went back to East Rock to fill out a few papers about the workshops and the things we have done. We also wrote thank you cards to the people that have been nice enough to let us come to see what they do. Everyone we have met this summer is trying to make things better and they try to teach people along the way.

Rashaan Sweat, Week 3

Today we met up at East Rock Park at 10:00. We had plans to go to West Rock's rock climbing wall. When we got there we had meet a Ranger Wray. We played some thinking games and toured West Rock Park. We played this thinking game that I enjoyed a lot you just need a pair of dice. Ranger Wray made up this story about campers in the woods and they need at fire so they can stay alive. This game really made a person think. Ranger Wray told us that he had a group of adults that couldn't get the trick of the game in three days. Ranger Wray showed us the animals in the nature station. In the nature station there was an 8 foot python snake. He told us some stories about how the animals got their names and he let us hold them. Our supervisor took some very good pictures of us. I held some animals that I thought I wouldn't hold in a million years. I was the bravest one out of the group.

Curron Martin, Week 3

Today was a nice day at work. We started the day off at East Rock Park. After meeting at the park we went to the canoe launch at the Mill River. Even though it was my second time canoeing it still was very exciting. One of the things I enjoyed while we were on the river was that we got to go all the way to the water fall. This was a special opportunity because the canoe instructors said that they had never been that far on the river before. After leaving the Mill River we went downtown to a leadership workshop with Mr. Booker. While with Mr. Booker we learned a couple poems and read a short story. The most important thing to me that we did was that we had mock interviews to help us practice for the real world this was important because it is almost time for us to put those skills to work. Today was a fun and educational day for me and I believe I learned a lot.

Anthony Greene, Week 3

Today at F.E.R.P . we had a good day. We met with a guy by the name of Kevin Booker. Mr. Booker taught us a lot about how to live our lives and how to make the most of them in a positive way. Then we did some role play by acting out our own individual interviews. I think that this process was good for me because I didn’t realize the amount of questions that I don’t have the answer to and it made me want to fix that and work on my interview skills altogether. On a scale of one to ten I would give this day a nine point nine because I had a great time while I was here but I am still sort of jealous that I didn’t obtain all the knowledge shared that day because I had to come late.

Anthony Greene, Week 2

Today at Friends of East Rock Park we visited the Smart Living Center located in Orange, CT. I had a lot of fun learning about what I could do to help my planet as well as my country by saving money as well as energy to better the well being of both of them. Although I learned about a lot of different things there were certain lessons that stood out to me more than others .For example one main lesson that I learned from the tour was that one incandescent light bulb holds the same amount of energy as four fluorescent light bulbs. This is ridiculous when you think of all of the people that still use them. Another great lesson that I learned on our tour of the Smart Living Center is that the world is in extreme danger because of the lack of energy sources that we have and it is getting worse by the day. A lot of great ideas have been brought to the table to solve this problem, but all of them can't be used in different areas for one reason or another. Our best bet for now is to preserve energy and our planet.

Rashaan Sweat, Week 2

Today is a Friday. I had at lot of fun working for Friends of East Rock Park for these past 2 weeks. Today we met up at the New Haven Public Library at 9:00am. We all were ready to take the bus to the Smart Living Center all the way in Orange CT. At the Smart living Center we learned about energy and power. We learned how you could and should save energy. How it can save the earth and it can also save the money that is in your pockets. They also taught us how we make energy come into a house. I couldn’t believe how much work and power you need to power up a house. I really left that place with a change of mind. I even taught my parents a thing or two. Afterwards we all caught the bus back to downtown. We got a bite to eat and met Claire a woman that started her own business. We asked some questions like what made her start up the business, does she enjoy it, and how her restaurant helps the community. Her whole restaurant was energy proficient and her menu was filled with healthy things to eat. I really enjoyed my self today.

Curron Martin, Week 2

Today was a very fun and educational day for me. First thing in the morning we met at the library there we waited for everybody to meet up. After everybody was there we went to the bus stop and waited for the bus to come to bring us to the Smart Living Center. At the Smart Living Center we got a tour. Our tour guide talked about a lot of important things. One of the things he talked about was the importance of saving energy. For example he said that an easy way to save energy was to use the energy saving light bulbs which was the simplest thing you can do to save energy in a house. After the Smart Living Center we got on the bus to go back downtown where we went to Claire’s Cornercopia where we talked to Claire herself! Just like at the Living Center we talked about some ways her restaurant was being eco-friendly. For example she told us that everything she buys is organic. Another thing Claire did is replaced all her old windows with new energy efficient windows. Today a lot of things intrigued me and I enjoyed learning many things.

Cynthia Cardone, Week 2

The Smart Living Center was an amazing place and even though I knew some of the things they have taught me, I still learned some things that I did not know. I do use some of the methods that they have there unlike the rest of my family. I now know that I can use less electricity if I just unplugged a few things like the blow-dryer, phone charger and other things like that. People in my house have always complained about how high the bills are and yet they don’t see that they can change the light bulb and save money for it. The games that we played at the center were good. I liked when we were turning the thing to see how many spins it took to light the picture up. He said that their was three types of energy that you can use and they were wind, water, and solar power. They were all sustainable but they would need to be in a certain place and that their was a need for a lot of them as well. Solar power is good but the panels that are used require a lot of them, are very expensive and also take up a lot of space.

Anthony Greene, Week 1

Today was my third day while working with FERP also known as Friends of East Rock Park. Today I must say was a rather fun day as opposed to a work day because I obtained a lot of knowledge from my supervisor Fannie. We mainly talked about resumes and what we should display on them. We also went to East Pock park by Ranger Dan’s station to pick up trash and preserve the park . I really didn’t mind because I like to help living things continue to live and keep my surroundings clean and pure. It was a nice activity to take part in. Altogether I must say that today was a decent day at FERP.

Curron Martin, Week 1

Today at work it was an exciting day for many reasons, first in the morning we met at the library downtown then walked over to Yale to go see CJ May the recycling guy. With CJ I had fun because we talked about a lot of things. For example he showed us a video about the process of recycling and how we can use energy more wisely, and the importance of recycling. When we were there I also learned something that I did not know. In Bridgeport they have an incinerator that burns the trash we produce. After meeting with CJ we went to a store called Ten Thousand Villages. This store was not like any store I have ever been to. In this store they sell things made out of recycled goods, which was neat. At the store we also learned that the people who make the things that this stores sale get paid good money so they can feed their families. The last thing we did at work today was catch the Yale shuttle to East Rock Park. At the park we talked for a little while then we picked up trash and after that it was time to dismiss.

Rashaan Sweat, Week 1

Today is Wednesday the 5th. This is my second day working for friends of East Rock Park or you call it (FERP) for short. Today is counted for a real workday. It's also my first Wednesday work night. A Wednesday work night is a very long day of work, but today we had mostly fun. Our day started at 12:00 on the dot, at East Rock Park. When we all got there Justin was waiting for us. He wanted to take all of us up East Rock Park. He said that he was going to give us a tour up the rock. At 12:20 the others and I started to walk up East Rock. We each had a turn looking at the map and gave directions. We all stopped at a different places on the map. I was the one that ended up with the map, and he wanted me to take them to Indian Head. Indian Head is a peak on East Rock Park. So I lead the way and we made it up there nice and safe. When we got up there Justin kept on that his book bag was so heavy. When he opened it up, there was a big watermelon inside. So we chilled and ate watermelon on top of Indian Head peak. I really enjoyed myself today.

Cynthia Cardone, Week 1

Today I learned about poison ivy, how to identify Japanese Knot weed, trails of East Rock Park, how to read a map, and hiking. We went from the park towards the east until we got onto English Drive. Then we went onto the white trail all the way past Colonial Spring to Rice Field and the (historic gate). We crossed the road and went up the trail that is hidden and you start to walk up to the top to look out at the view and the plants. I really liked the hiking and talking about the things that are around us all the time and we never notice. I will be happy when we get a chance later in the summer to guide others on the trail by ourselves.

Introductions

Rashaan Sweat

Anthony Greene

Curron Martin

Cynthia Cardone

Thank you!

Thank you to the following folks for helping make this program happen:
Jack Hitt
Brad Lupien
Roland Lemar
Solar Youth
The New Haven Parks and Recreation Department
Common Ground High School
Youth@Work
C.J. May
The Yale Farm
Claire's Cornercopia
The Community Foundation
The New England Grass Roots Environmental Fund

Would you like to add your name to this list? Donate here.