Sustaining Sustainability with Youths

Johnson Controls conservation program ‘grows’ tomorrow’s leaders

With an intense media focus on the environment and heightened consumer consciousness regarding all things green, it’s no wonder that conservation efforts across the country have increased.
And the best place to keep that momentum going? With America’s youths. After all, practices started young carry throughout a person’s life.
So, Johnson Controls has focused on helping America’s youths sustain a sense of environmental sustainability by sponsoring a summer jobs program through the Conservation Leadership Corps in Milwaukee, Wis.

Leading the Way

The Conservation Leadership Corps is a program of the Student Conservation Association, a nonprofit organization that offers internships and summer trail crew opportunities to more than 3,000 students each year. This year’s program provided 47 area high school students with experience on conservation projects. Best yet, it offered some youths their first chance to commune with nature—a number of the participants had never set foot in some of the parks they wound up rehabilitating. The program also provided participants the opportunity to hone leadership skills, guiding work crews of students on a variety of projects.
For example, the teams completed 835 meters of new parks trails and maintained existing trails. They also restored a number of trails and removed bridges and fences. They got into hard labor, digging five drainage ditches and building two bridges. The teams even removed 12 acres of invasive species of plants, such as troublesome buckthorn trees, and planted trees native to the area.

Providing a Boost

The program provides a boost to the local economy, offering much-needed jobs for teenagers. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 76 percent of African-American youths ages 16 to 19 were unemployed in 2005; almost 54 percent of white youths also were unemployed. The Johnson Controls program assists participants in developing good work habits and exposes them to structured work environments. This year, the Milwaukee County Parks System hired two of the program’s inaugural participants for full-time jobs.
Based on its success, the Johnson Controls program expanded into Baltimore in 2007 and will add Detroit in 2008. The 40 students in the Baltimore program completed 6,350 hours of work in Baltimore city parks. They restored and maintained 15,000 feet (nearly three miles) of trail and corridors, completed 3,500 hours of invasive plant removal, and completed more than 900 hours of environmental education and leadership training. In addition, a number of Milwaukee companies have followed Johnson Controls’ lead and have signed on as program sponsors. These include Quad Graphics, Northwestern Mutual, Gilbane Building Co., Manpower and Baird Foundation. In 2008, programs in all three cities will engage more than 120 high school students.