Summer of conservation

Behind the Missouri Department of Conservation campus in Cape Girardeau, a group of teenagers have broken a sweat.

Gathered around plywood propped up on plastic sawhorses, the 15 boys and three girls take turns using hand saws, levels and tape measures.

When they're finished, they'll have new bird houses to distribute to conservation areas throughout Southeast Missouri.

Jake Cypret, left, attached screws to assemble a duck nest box with Delrease Barnhill, Amber Johnson and Tyrone Bateman, all members of the Youth Conservation Corps.

The bird houses are just one of many projects members of the Youth Conservation Corps are working on this summer, part of a teenage work program through the Missouri Department of Conservation.

"This exposes them to conservation. It teaches them how to work hard and how to strategize on how to do it and work together at the same time," said Krystal Pree, a biology student at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, who also serves as a crew leader and assistant coordinator for the local YCC.

The high school students, ages 15 to 19, are paid $5.15 an hour and work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Returning workers get a $1 an hour pay raise each year they come back.

Corey Schreckenberg checked the dimensions of a side of the duck nest box.

The teens do everything from cleaning and building nature trails, to weed-eating, painting and biology-related tasks, such as checking on fish and transporting plants.

This is 17-year-old Clint Pogue's second year participating in YCC.

Pogue, of Cape Girardeu, said his favorite job this summer has been learning to make cordage -- a primitive kind of rope. Pogue hopes to return next year as a leader for one of the corps' six-person crews.

The youth work with basic hand tools.

Kamaria Pearson, 15, of Cape Girardeau is in her first summer as a YCC crew member but already wants to sign up again next year.

"I wanted to learn about the environment, and this is fun, too," said Pearson, a student at Central High School.

Pearson is one of three girls on the YCC crews this year.

"I think the guys underestimate the girls, so when we do something they don't expect, it's cool," Pearson said.

Salvador Mondragon, coordinator of the local YCC and a student at University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff as well, said the program gives students a chance to develop skills they might not learn elsewhere.

"They build up their work ethic and it gets them outdoors," Mondragon said.

Phil Helfrich, a community outreach specialist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, has worked with the YCC for more than 20 years, first in Colorado and for the past three years in Missouri.

"It's really transformational," Helfrich said. "It's just amazing what it does to kids. They come in as teenagers and leave as men and women. If you have hard work, solid adult leadership and a meaningful project, you can change young people's lives."

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128