Northwest Youth Corps

Description

Each year, on average, more than 900 youth benefit from 120,000 hours of "hands-on" education, and complete 400 project weeks of conservation projects for more than 35 different resource management agencies. For their work, the $1.4 million the youth and field staff earn each year is returned back to their communities in the form of stipends and wages. Participants can also earn high school credit and/or a diploma through their successful participation in NYC's conservation programs, and accredited Outdoor High School.

Northwest Youth Corps is one of 26 programs from across the nation that is provisionally accredited by the new 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC), based on NYC’s commitment to high-quality standards and continuous improvement. NYC’s ability to effectively develop young people is documented through a recent nationwide evaluation conducted in 2012 by Texas A&M University and Brigham Young University. Researchers found that after a five-week program, individuals who had participated in a NYC program significantly increased their abilities in the areas of teamwork, leadership and communication skills, self-responsibility, grit, community engagement, and environment stewardship.