From organic farming to trail building, the Outdoor Careers Internship will give local high school students the opportunity to get their hands dirty this spring.
Provided by Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers with funding from Great Outdoors Colorado and Garfield County Outdoors, the internship – now in its second year – will run for 10 weeks.
“We have structured this very intentionally where we are offering the internship on the day when students are not in session,” Ben Sherman, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers education director, said.
Between Feb. 21 and May 8, interns will spend their Fridays working with, and learning alongside members of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Fat City Farmers and Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers.
For over 50 years, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies has provided environmental education to the region. Additionally, since 2006, Fat City Farmers has taught food education in the Roaring Fork Valley by fostering gardens and greenhouses at area schools.
“With just three organizations we thought we were covering a great breadth of interest that a lot our students have had in the past,” Sherman said.
The third organization – Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers – like the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and Fat City Farmers also promotes stewardship of public lands through trail and other restoration projects.
“Students really get a taste of what some of these outdoor focused careers might be like,” Sherman said.
Each semester, the Outdoor Careers Internship accepts students from different area schools.
Only Coal Ridge and Rifle High School students between the ages of 15 and 19 may apply for this spring’s Outdoor Careers Internship.
“We do have many more applications than we have spots,” Sherman said. “The reason that we have kept it so small is we really want to have a focus on all of those students that are accepted.”
For application details, email Ben Sherman at bsherman@rfov.org
The Outdoor Careers Internship pays $11.10 an hour and interested students have until Jan. 22 to complete their application for consideration.
