29 Jun Plans for Latino Conservation Week

It’s just around the riverbend (as Pocahontas presumably sang)! I am excited for Latino Conservation Week!  I will get to plan and execute an event on my own. What’s more, I will be able to creatively connect and engage my culture to nature! Naturally, although not always visible to the naked eye, I am and have always been a timid individual. Although, I have always participated in activities, clubs, and research collaborations, I have shied away from leadership positions. I feel that this will be an excellent opportunity to practice being a leader, an initiator, a mover and a shaker (and this time not on the dance floor 😉  )! I have already informed my mentors that I plan on doing an activity that week and my supervisor and I are giddy with eagerness! I do fear that I am late in the game and should have worked on a plan much earlier! Regardless, it shall be a great event! I do not plan on preliminary recruiting participants but plan on gathering folks that are already present day of. On the weekends, there are many visitors with the majority being Latinos. Hopefully, I will be able to gather a nice sized group! Do you all think I should gather the group in advance? Perhaps invite folks a couple weeks beforehand (possibly try to provide them with a free entrance?)? As of now, I have merely played with ideas. I do hope that with this activity I can also implement an information session on littering, stewardship, and no trace left behind since these are issues Sandy Point is struggling with. First off, one idea is using the Captain John Smith costume that the park has and possibly leading a small hike through a trail while providing historical information. This would be neat since I am working for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail. Another possibility would be to take people out into the Chesapeake watershed with Kayaks (for free, Sandy Point rents kayaks). I could teach them how to kayak and have a talk about wildlife in and near the water (perhaps have a check off worksheet of animals they saw during the ride) and have a talk on how littering can harm them. I like this idea because I will be able to take youth that perhaps has not gotten the chance to go kayaking (I did not go kayaking until I was 21).

In addition, I have considered giving a short tour of the park where I lay out the designated areas. Lastly, I have played with the idea of making a board titled what I found at Sandy Point (in Spanish).   First, I would take the group through the park collecting trash and then spend time gluing some of the items on the board while having a talk about how trash is deleterious to the health of wild animals. A variant of this: Which idea do you fancy more? Do you have any additional possibilities? Any general suggestions or thoughts? 💡  What activities will you be partaking in on Latino Conservation Week?