Milwaukee teens, like Sykirah Henderson, have spent their summer exploring the city’s neighborhoods, parks and waterways as part of Teens Grow Greens’ newest internship program.
“Some of the places we went to, I never knew were there, but I rode past it so many times,” said Henderson, 16, one of Teens Grow Greens’ city exploration interns.
Though Teens Grow Greens might be best known for offering internships and apprenticeships for teens to gain work experience through gardening and agriculture, the nonprofit also provides programs for other types of growth and professional development.
The new internship, Leading the Way: Exploring & Rethinking Milwaukee, paid interns $11 an hour to learn about the history of different Milwaukee neighborhoods and community groups, meet stakeholders and check out existing resources.
“I joined because I wanted something to do this summer, and this also paid,” said Michaiah Anderson-Kern, 14.
The goal is for the teens to feel like they are a part of Milwaukee, which is often cited as one of the most racially segregated cities in the U.S., according to 2020 census data.
Teens often hear narratives like “there’s nothing here for you, there’s nothing to do, there’s nowhere to go,” said Darlene “DJ” Johns, internship educator for the program.
Exploring neighborhoods and parks
The group of nine interns and two apprentices met every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from June 15 to Aug. 23 at different locations around the city.
The interns have been exploring neighborhoods and districts of Milwaukee, including Bronzeville, Harambee and Riverwest, Lindsay Heights, and public green spaces on the city’s South Side, including Kosciuszko Park, Forest Home Cemetery and Pulaski Park of Forest Home Hills.
The internship also had three weeks with themes: parks, water and art.
“We’ve met a lot of stakeholders from different neighborhoods that have helped us put in perspective what our impact can be, because a lot of the folks that we’ve met are community members that are not being paid to show up and do these things,” Johns said.
The group visited Alice’s Garden Urban Farm and met the garden’s executive director, Venice Williams, They also worked on a garden with a group of young men at The CAGE, also known as Community Agriculture Growing Experiences, founded by community organizer and youth mentor Andre Lee Ellis.
“They told me some things that I did not know about gardens,” Henderson said about The CAGE.
Trying new things
Another component of the internship has been experiencing new activities, like packing cereal boxes at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s facility in Lindsay Heights or visiting Washington Park Wednesdays, a neighborhood concert series.
“Trying new things with other teenagers, trying new things is so fun, especially when they’re into it, and like when everyone’s excited, when everyone participates,” said Carmella Candler, 17, an apprentice with the program.
One of Candler’s highlights was kayaking on the Milwaukee River on her birthday during Water Week, where interns learned how Indigenous groups are connected to water with Mark Denning, an Oneida Nation of Wisconsin tribal member and cultural educator.
Some of the interns were apprehensive about getting in the kayaks, Johns said, but they did it anyway and ended up having fun.
“I know every activity isn’t going to be as exciting as kayaking, but it was really cool to see folks try something that they’ve never tried before, that they would have not considered otherwise,” Johns said
Assessing neighborhood assets and deficits
Throughout the weeks, the interns documented their experiences with photos and videos and created presentations of their observations for the final week.
“I think another big part of like this internship has been identifying assets and deficits and what is helping our community, like public gardens, parks, and what’s not helping our community as much, like empty lots, abandoned buildings that no one will put anything in or take down,” said Candler.
Johns hopes to expand the program next summer to focus more on youth advocacy and getting connected with community stakeholders and elected officials, as well as the impact of art in public spaces.
“I think it’ll be really cool next summer for us to talk more in detail about the different ways that people affect change,” she said.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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