Six High School YESS Crews Gained Hands-on Learning and Work Experience This Summer

2023 Program Overview 

In the 2023 Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS) program, high school students across the state earned credit while building their skills and exploring natural resource careers.  Over five-six summer weeks, class time was paired with hands-on service at community partner sites. At the end of the course, each student received a document that rated their proficiency in entry level industry skills. Students can use this document to craft their resumes and describe their skills when applying for jobs. 

PEI would like to thank the Recreation and Conservation Office’s No Child Left Inside grant, the Dawkins Charitable Trust and The Russell Family Foundation for providing funding so that each student could earn an $1,800 stipend for full participation. Their support made the following YESS programs possible this summer: 

Glenwood School District 

Glenwood School District created presentations to present their goals for a plot of land that the Washington Department of Natural

Glenwood students visited a logging mill in Carson and an active harvest site where they learned about loading and processing logs.

Resources (DNR) “gave” them to use as they created mock management plans. On one visit, PEI Green Jobs staff stopped by the land students are using to create forest management plans, and students shared how they learned to spot tree disease as well as how many trees they extrapolated to be on each acre. Some of their favorite days included a visit to a logging mill in Carson and an active harvest site where they learned about the loader and processor.  

Riverview School District 

PEI Green Jobs staff recently visited our YESS Program with the Riverview School District and Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust along the Tolt River. We worked with the Riverview team and restoration staff from the Snoqualmie Tribe to help remove Himalayan Blackberry and identify and monitor native plants post-removal.

Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center 

PEI Green Jobs staff recently visited our YESS Program with the Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center and Snohomish Conservation District near Granite Falls. Students were assessing water quality at different sites… and it happened to turn out that they found the newly coined, “Frog Island”! Recent rain brought out hundreds, if not thousands, of young Pacific Northwest Tree Frogs. This was as much an ‘enjoying nature moment’ as it was a teaching moment! 

Tumwater students learned to take core samples from trees and other methods of measuring tree health.

Tumwater School District 

Tumwater’s first year YESS program included site visits to employers that focus on forest health. Students visited with staff from the City of Tumwater, Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, North Thurston Fire District, and Sierra Pacific Industries. The students worked in small groups to create final presentations that demonstrated their learning. The class was thrilled that the Mayor of Tumwater was able to attend their final presentations. 

Yakima

PEI Green Jobs staff recently visited our YESS Program with the Yakima School District and  Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group (MCFEG). Students heard from Department of Natural Resources Naches Work Center and US Forest Service staff about career pathways into fighting wildfire. Then they experienced bits of the day in the life of a firefighter, including dozers and chainsaws. At the end of the day, students dug a hand line.

Students, their teachers, MCFEG, and many other partners worked together to give students in the Yakima School District YESS Program a “Careers in Conservation” experience where they spent most of their summer in the field learning and experiencing what it means to work in conservation. Students participating in this program received a stipend of $1,800 and course credit towards graduation.

To launch a YESS program in your school, district, or skill center, contact us at [email protected]