2003 Youth Conservation Corps Program at
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park

Seven youth from New Orleans joined the program this summer with the mission to rehab and clean-up Armstrong Park. This program was supported by the NPS, Student Conservation Association and City of New Orleans Parks and Parkways. Throughout the 8-week program, these youth, ages 15-18, spent many hours picking up trash, sweeping, and meeting neighbors in the surrounding community.

Armstrong Park, located on N. Rampart Street in New Orleans is the proposed site for a permanent home for the JAZZ park. In anticipation of this move in the next couple years, youth from the surrounding neighborhood and other areas came together to start "prepping" the park. Their activities not only made the park look better as a whole, but they met local business owners and neighbors to introduce the National Park Service and themselves.

Cleaning the park was not the only objective for this program. Field trips to surrounding National Park areas, museums, cultural sites and natural areas were also included to let the youth explore opportunities beyond the JAZZ park to volunteer, learn and become involved in their own community.

As a result of this program, over 2,000 hours of service were provided to New Orleans Jazz NHP.