Luis, Jevon, and Isabelle came into the office to write their blog posts this afternoon. After finishing fairly quickly, the group was put to work assembling brand new weed wrenches. With little help and only a few hiccups, they worked as a team to get the five wrenches together in record time! Great job!
Hi my name is Luis Florentino and going to the camping trip was a cool experience I had. During the time we were there , people did new things that they thought they wouldn’t be able to do. Going up Mt. Cardigan was something I thought I would never face. But at the end of the day, me and a few others made it all the way to the top. Going up, you were walking more up than you were straight. We had to walk sideways, cross a river, and climb slippery rocks (even in the rain!) It felt really cool for us to finish what we started, for others I couldn’t say the same thing because most of them were scared of heights. I was glad I didn’t pass on this trip because I probably never would have done it otherwise.
The few who made it to the top
Hi, my name is Isabelle. This being my first job, I really did not know what to expect that first day I pulled up to valley gates, where we would be meeting for the next 6 weeks. I knew very little about what the job actually called for (seeing as 3 days before it started, I didn’t even know i had a job with the FPC). I quickly learned what NOT to touch (i.e. poison ivy, stinging nettle) and these past few weeks I’ve seen enough Japanese Knot Weed to last a lifetime.
Meeting new friends at valley gates.
Thursdays are different than the rest of the week because we host a sports night where people from the community can come to play pick up games at the white stadium courts. However, the free food is the main “selling point” for most people. Here, I paint faces for little kids who want to look like a super hero, a butterfly, or even in one case the American flag. Usually I am asked to draw some advanced design and instead the person must come up with a plan B. One time I was asked by a little girl to draw her uncle on her arm. After explaining to her that I did not know what her uncle looks like, she decided instead to settle for flower on her arm, as long as I painted her whole face purple. This type of thing goes on a lot, and most times the kids don’t really care what’s painted on them, as long as “color on them with the special crayons.”
Working with the FPC I learned a lot about not only the park, but the community that surrounds it, and I am very grateful that I was able to do that.
Hi my name is Jevon Wall and this is my second year at FPC. I once again find myself in a fun filled and great working enviornment thanks to the help of my peers and making new friendships along the way. From long sorching in the sun days to cool wet rainy days, we get work done no matter what. I enjoy helping those who are new to FPC and teaching them the skills I learned and also learing myself along the way.
What makes this so important to me is how everyone is bonding and the encouragement given to eachother. Time flys by when there is laughs and fun all around and the team is one big family. The camping trip brough us all together because for some people it was a new experience and way out of thier comfort zone. The trip was a success because everyone was so enthausiastic and positive. The bus ride filled with roarring laughter and jokes that lasted for hours, and then later the snores and grunts of tired out teens.
I’m so happy for being a member in this program. As a leader of the FPC, I have more than 2 missions to accomplish .
I did a lot to accomplish with these missions. First of all, I picked up trash and put them in a trash bag, so others would follow me and won’t throw trash in the park.
Second of all, I raked all the leaves from the oldest trees to make them tidy and nice so, people would enjoy the park.
I like the way we work to make the park look nice. I used to come to Franklin Park , but I’ve never thought that I’d be a member of it. I will continue to do my best to keep it clean.
My name is Koyama and this is my first time working in the Franklin Park. This summer working with the Franklin Park Coalition is a compleatly diferent experience that what I did last year. Last year I worked on a farm, specifically with The Food Project. Coming in to this job I thought it woud be similar and in some aspects it is. For example I am still working outside and doing maintenance of the land. I am glad that I can work outside again, for I think that I would feel cramped and confined being forced to work inside without having to move around and have fresh air. Also my previous job was very competitive to get in to, so you felt like you had to work hard and prove that you are able to do the work. This job, on the other hand, is less stressful in the fact that I don’t feel as much pressure on me. Another thing I like is the fact that is is in Boston and I can walk to work versus commuting out to Lincoln. Sometimes I even wake up early (5:30) and bike out to the Charles river and go rowing.
When we get to work though every one works. Often times we work hard and finish work early and then we play games. The games range from capture the flag to football, these are some of our favorites. In our games some people get very competitive and thus arguments break out. But it is all in good nature. The work we do is hard but can be completed. Especially when we work together in our groups. Some times for the larger projects we work both groups combined which is nice because then we can do a large amount of jobs quickly.
Hey Im Quenten,
Working with FPC is different from other jobs, not many other jobs reach out to the community like FPC. On Thursdays, if you didn’t know, we host a community cookout and invite the neighborhood kids to come and join us to get active and enjoy some food. I like it because it makes me feel good about helping the community that I live in and gives me a chance to see how the work I do helps everyone in the community.
sports night with the community
During the rest of the week we work in the woods knocking down knotweed, I think this is one of the things i’m best at because I like to swing at the knotweed like i’m playing baseball (even though I cant play at all) but still its fun until I get tired. The one ting I don’t like about the knotweed is that spiders crawl everywhere so you have to flick the spiders and knock down the knotweed while looking for spiders.
After this job I think I will pay more attention to the plants.
Hello my name is Ny’Jaisha, this is my first time working outdoors and FPC has made it a fantastic experience so far. Thursdays are one of my favorite days of the week because its sports night. Sports night is a night where everyone around the community can come together play games, eat and have lots of fun. Usually on sports night I like to interact with the younger children and play with bubbles and chalk ( make hop scotch, write names, and make unique creations); but the last one we had I stepped a little out of my comfort zone and played basketball. A crew member and I played against and beat another crew member who was really good (even though she probably went easy on us). It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I did it.
Me at Sports Night
Earlier during this week we took a two day camping trip in New Hampshire. The first day we got there we went hiking to Walton waterfall. On our way there it started to pour. We didn’t want to stop, but because of safety reasons we did. When we arrived back at the cabin it had stopped raining and there was a pond near by that we were allowed to swim in. At first I was scared because I saw tadpoles and little lizards swimming around but I saw how much fun the crew was having and I really wanted to get wet so I got over that fear and walked right in. There was a piece of floating wood around the center of the pond where everyone was playing on. I guess we were a little too heavy and started tipping and I lost a shoe! Thankfully a crew member of mine found it.
Another thing we did was climb MT. Cardigan; it was very challenging for me because I’m petrified of heights. It took about a total of five hours to climb up and down. There were huge slippery rocks, ponds,and tree roots. While I was climbing I did not look up. I made it about 500 feet away from the top!
Hello my name is Anastasia, I’m a employee at Franklin Park Coalition (FPC). The 1st day or work i started at FPC I was pretty shy, I had no idea who i’m going to be working with or are my workers just going to be rude and not talk to me at all. But once I started to go to work my peers began to talk to me and I noticed they were not judge-mental. My team leader Eggie brought us to the bear cages to cut down branches off the gates. I noticed that I would be comfortable working at my job from the 1st day i started.
Just a few days ago I went on a camping trip with my FPC employees, at 1st I was not enjoying the idea of going on a camping trip but I noticed it wasn’t that bad. Once we got to the lounge I had a feeling we were going to be inside. In the lounge they served us lunch and dinner. But before we did anything we went on a hike to a water fall. We were close on getting into the location but it began to rain on us. While we were walking back it began to clear up. Once we got back to the lounge we got ready to go in the pond. I was one of the few that did not know how to swim so I didn’t go as far as everyone else did. On that same day Alisha took us on a night hike, and while we were there it was super dark i had no idea where I was at. After the night hike we began to walk back toward the lounge and once I looked up & I saw stars clear in the sky. I was so amazed on how clear I can see the stars because while your in the city you cant see nothing but cars driving back and forth and lights from the pole. Since it was my 1st time seeing stars I felt that it was such a beautiful view to watch.
That next morning we got up super early for the hike to Mountain Appalachian. The hike was very difficult, through all the hard obstacles we were in I noticed my peers and I worked as a team to help each other up the mountain. Even though myself and 5 other of employees got up to the top’ I felt like we were worked as a team and came together like we were family. I saw such a beautiful view of everything. The wind was blowing a lot I felt like i was going to fly off cause i’m so little. I enjoyed the trip, maybe some day I will do it again.
Hi, My name is Peter Le and I work for FPC (Franklin Park Coalition). This is my first job and I’m actually enjoying it! It’s exciting, lots of fun work, everyone treats each other like family and it’s a really great experience! Our staff members are nice & very good at motivating us to work. I love them!
– Last week we when hiking at Mount Cardigan and it really brought us together. We worked as a team and motivated each other to hike 2.1 miles. If you’ve never been hiking before, I recommend it. We really had fun and enjoyed it!
– My favorite! Sport night. Every Thursday we do outreach for people to come join us and have fun. We have a free cookout, basketball, face painting and much more fun stuff at Franklin Park, come join us!
Franklin Park Coalition Youth Crew 