NORTH PARK — A North Side park has an opportunity for nature buffs city-wide.
The North Park Village Nature Center is looking for volunteers to lead Neighborhood Naturalist events, a four-day Chicago Park District outreach program for Chicago Public School students in the third grade.
"People just love giving back," said longtime nature center volunteer Mary Velez. "This is one way to give back to the community and nature. I enjoy being in nature and with the youngsters, and learning environmental science."
Training day is Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the nature center, 5801 N. Pulaski Road.
The four-hour session is free and open to adults ages 21 and over with availability during the weekday mornings between 10 a.m. and noon. No prior experience in science or teaching is needed. College students who sign up can be considered interns for college credit.
To register, call the nature center at 312-744-5472.
Volunteers will be in good company at the nature center, which received two awards from conservation group Chicago Wilderness, one in 2008 for volunteer engagement.
The Neighborhood Naturalist program is a four-day event led by facilitators from the Nature Center to CPS schools throughout the city.
On the first visit, facilitators bring materials from the center to class to teach basic science concepts found in nature, such as how earthworms live under the soil.
On the second visit, facilitators take students on a walk around their neighborhood to "open their eyes to what nature is around them," Velez said.
On the third day, students go on a field trip to the nature center itself.
"The multiple visits are designed to build on each other so the students can have the epiphany that nature is all around them wherever they are, not just at the nature center," Sean Shaffer, a naturalist at the NPV nature center, wrote in an e-mail.
The fourth day is a graduation ceremony at Northerly Island with participants from various Neighborhood Naturalist programs throughout the city.
Students "take an oath at the graduation ceremony where they promise to 'pick up garbage, even if it is not mine,' recycle and protect trees," Shaffer wrote.
Training includes a history of the nature center — once part of the Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium that closed in the 1970s — and time shadowing experienced teachers scheduled at the trainee's convenience.
Trainees will learn to teach students discovery "off the path," and to manage a group of 15 third-graders on 90-minute hike around the nature center's four preserves — an oakland savanna, a forest, a prairie and a wetland.
At the end of training, volunteers are taught enough skills to lead public events year-round, including school group field trips, scout groups and other free programming. They will also become eligible to lead other Chicago Park District programs, such as Urban Camping, Nature Oasis and Polar Adventure Days.
Other perks include joining a community of 200 peers for professional opportunities, special events like field trips, seasonal pot luck gatherings and the Chicago Park District's Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.
"There's great camaraderie among the volunteers here. We just love it," Velez said.
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