Voices of Our Youth at 250 Virtual Event

NPS Photo

Event Details

On Thursday, August 27 at 1:00 pm ET during National Park Week, join the National Park Service Youth and Young Adult Programs in partnership with The Corps Network and the National Park Foundation for the virtual event, “Voices of Our Youth at 250: Journeys & Park Connections for Future Generations.” Hear panelists share their experience working on service corps, interning, or volunteering, and their reflections on how they personally connect to national parks, as we celebrate the National Park Service’s 110th birthday and commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States Of America. The event is open to the public and will be recorded. The program will include opening remarks, followed by a panel discussion with Q&A, and closing remarks. Live captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided as well.

Register Here

Program*

Introduction and Moderator

• Lucy Hurlbut, Youth and Young Adult Programs Outreach Specialist, National Park Service

Remarks

• Tracey Ritchie, Vice President for Programs & Partnerships - Education and Engagement, National Park Foundation
• Marie Walker, Chief Operating Officer, The Corps Network
• Frank Barrows, Deputy Associate Director for Volunteers, Community Engagement, and Commemorations, National Park Service

Panel Discussion

• Logan Reabuck, Traditional Trades Advancement Program Intern at Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, American Conservation Experience
• Conner Dube, Crew Leader at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
• Sash Newton, Structural Fire Protection Intern at Mesa Verde National Park, Student Conservation Association
• Sarah Treska, Fish and Feathers Intern at Cape Cod National Seashore, Environment for the Americas
• Shasta Hinkle, Sunrise Trails Crew Leader for Youth Conservation Corps at Mount Rainier National Park, National Park Service

Q&A Session

Closing Remarks

Learn More About Our Participating Partners

National Park Service Youth and Young Adult Programs: nps.gov/subjects/youthprograms

The Corps Network: corpsnetwork.org

National Park Foundation: nationalparks.org

American Conservation Experience: https://www.usaconservation.org/

Environment for the Americas: https://environmentamericas.org/

Student Conservation Association: https://thesca.org/

Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park: https://www.fhvnp.org/

Additional Resources

• https://www.nps.gov/subjects/youthprograms/ycc.htm
• https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1098/traditional-trades-apprenticeship-program.htm
• https://environmentamericas.org/efta-internships-landing-page/fish-and-feathers-internship-landing-page/
• https://www.nps.gov/articles/structural-fire-protection-internships.htm
• https://www.fhvnp.org/guardians

Meet the Speakers and Panelists

Tracy smiling

Photo Courtesy of Tracey Ritchie

Tracey Ritchie (Speaker) joined the National Park Foundation (NPF) team as the Vice President of Education and Engagement in August of 2021 and oversees all aspects of program management and grantmaking for the Connecting Audiences team. She works closely with National Park Service staff, park partners, and NPF colleagues to raise funds from institutional funders, individual donors, and corporate partners to support the programmatic needs and growth of the ever-expanding Connecting Audiences’ program portfolio.

Marie Walker smiling

Photo courtesy of Marie Walker

Marie Walker (Speaker) As the Chief Operating Officer, Marie has managed the day-to-day operations of The Corps Network for more than a decade. Marie supervises The Corps Network’s contracts as well as the organization’s private and federal partnerships with AmeriCorps, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and other national organizations and agencies.

Logan holding up a non-venomous snake

NPS

Logan Reabuck (Panelist) is currently pursuing a degree in history at Carson Newman University. As a child, his passion for history came from visiting national and state parks close to Morristown Tennessee, where his home was. He would wander through these mountains and be out for hours just exploring and playing. Instead of watching cartoons, he was often watching the history channel and reading National Geographic magazines. At 18 years old, he joined the Marine Corps Infantry. This is where he found his passion for teaching the younger generation. After he got out of the Marine Corps, he should have listened to his mother to pursue his dream of a career in the history and curation fields.

Now he is an intern as part of the Traditional Trades Advancement Program through American Conservation Experience at Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. It has given him the opportunity to be once again, part of something bigger than himself. It can be as simple as weed eating and mowing around President Andrew Johnson, his family's, and the 1,950 veterans headstones, to working in the attic of his house to prevent water damage to the rest of the house and items in it, or re-laying brick sidewalks to make them level after rain washed them out, and sawing up large tree limbs that have fallen due to large storms. And other days are educational, like learning about native trees, plants, and wildlife. I have done and learned so much about what the National Park Service does to preserve and protect places of historical significance and am thankful to be part of it.

Sash out hiking

Photo courtesy of Sash

Sash Newton (Panelist) was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, and is an anticipated graduate of the IFSAC-accredited Fire Protection Administration program at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). He is an aspiring EMT and Firefighter who recently completed his Student Conservation Association internship at Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado, where he was a structural fire intern concentrating on evaluating fire and life safety in various park facilities.

During his internship, Sash independently developed pre-incident plans for buildings throughout the park, participated in search-and-rescue training, conducted flow tests on over 40 fire hydrants, and inspected, tested, and maintained fire extinguishers across the park. He also completed a comprehensive independent project evaluating the park's historic museum, researching the building's history, identifying fire and life safety hazards, and developing recommendations to improve its overall safety.

Working at Mesa Verde challenged Sash to step outside his comfort zone while strengthening his skills in leadership, teamwork, professional development, conservation, and resilience. The experience reinforced his passion for public service and inspired him to pursue a career dedicated not only to protecting lives but also to preserving the structures which enrich the public.

Shasta smiling

Photo courtesy of Shasta

Shasta Hinkle (Panelist) is the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) Sunrise Crew Lead at Mount Rainier National Park. She has been in conservation professionally for six years working at Mount Rainier National Park, where she builds and maintains trails while teaching youth about the outdoors.

She believes that the future of conservation depends on an informed generation of young people and does her best to foster a sense of personal responsibility toward conservation while empowering youth to make their own decisions and explore their physical and mental capabilities.

Conner smiling

Photo courtesy of Conner

Conner Dube (Panelist) is a Program Coordinator with Friends of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, where he helps lead the Guardians of the Trails Youth Intern Program. Originally from Maine, Conner moved to Hawaiʻi with his family and found an opportunity to turn his love of working outdoors into a career in conservation. With a background in sustainable agriculture, he brings hands-on experience and a strong interest in protecting Hawaiʻi’s native ecosystems. Since joining the organization, Conner has grown from working directly in the field to helping guide the next generation of conservation while continuing to learn from the landscapes, wildlife, and people that make Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park so unique.