Napa RCD staff took some time this past year to put together what we hoped would be a successful teen internship model, focusing Fall activities on our efforts to re-oak Napa County. We often get requests from teens for internship opportunities, and we have hosted a number of fantastic teen interns in the past. The difference in this year’s process? We wanted to create a more standardized model for ourselves and for students with an application and hiring process that would mirror the conservation workforce, provide a structure of increasing responsibility, and give staff the opportunity to really bring our interns into the fold of what it looks like to host conservation events in our community, from broad outreach actions to the tiniest of details working with agency partners.
This first round of 2022-2023 internship applications came through, and we had a whopping 34 applications! Staff took on the task of narrowing that down to 5 students to be interviewed, and from there chose 2 students to join us for the 4-month internship from October through January. Liliana Karesh from Napa High and Isabella Molina-Lopez from New Tech both accepted our offers, and we worked to get them added to our staff.
Isabella and Liliana joined us for initial meetings with partner agencies, did site visits to choose the right locations, and did the majority of the initial outreach for all three of the events they were in charge of leading throughout their internship. Napa RCD staff worked with our interns to empower them to take the lead on these events, from advertising the event on social media and through emails to welcoming volunteers day-of and walking everyone through the process of planting acorns from start to finish, including tool safety. Their first event, our annual Green Friday Community Oak Planting Day, brought 40 people to Alston Park to put 53 plantings in the ground. The second event, also held at Alston Park, brought 45 volunteers that really got after it and put 70 plantings in the ground. The third event, our MLK Day of Service at Skyline Park, drew a whopping 76 volunteers and resulting in 116 plantings being put in the ground, despite working in very wet and difficult conditions. In between each of these events, Liliana and Isabella perfected their process of
getting ready for the day and revising their “spiel” about tool safety, how to properly plant an acorn, and the reasons why this project is so important here in our community.
It can be difficult to take the lead in front of large groups of people, but all of us on staff were very impressed with how well Liliana and Isabella stepped up and took charge. It is a skill to be able to approach volunteers to offer advice or correct mistakes, and both interns did a great job of pushing through the awkwardness and hesitation to reach volunteers in a meaningful way.
During exit interviews, Liliana and Isabella were asked to share some insights they had about their time with Napa RCD and the tasks they completed. Here’s a bit from each intern:
Isabella Molina-Lopez, New Tech High School: “The people working here at Napa RCD welcomed us interns easily and taught us the ropes with a great amount of patience. We worked on drafting and sending emails, a bit of digital design for posts on Instagram and Facebook. Though the best part of being here was being able to do our oak tree planting events. We’d meet up early to set up and then while the volunteers showed up, introduced ourselves and we went on to demonstrate how things would happen. Soon enough I was speaking to the group easily. All in all I’m eager to see what Napa RCD is going to do next to help our Napa community.”
Liliana Karesh, Napa High School: “Throughout the internship, I saw myself becoming more confident when approaching volunteers to ask a few questions like, “do you need any help?” “How is it going so far!” etc. I began to feel less anxiety when having to make small talk and learned how to make the conversation flow better. I felt more confident with myself being in the leadership position. I also learned the importance of outreach for events which you are organizing! It is one skill that I plan to take on in the future. I have realized how important and crucial it is to maximize outreach and coordination for events that you are hosting! Being the co-president of NHS Environmental Club, and Napa Schools for Climate Action, I am planning on hosting events with our club members and a possible art show with NS4CA. I will use the skill of outreach to promote both events and to maximize attendance to them!”
Congratulations on a job well done, Isabella and Liliana! We can’t wait to see what comes next for both of you!