COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING
Community and environmental service learning opportunities are an essential part of CatRock Ventures’ mission. Activities we provide include park cleanups, tree plantings and trail maintenance as well as strategic partnerships with other organizations to ensure the highest impact for our students and our communities. These partnerships include City Parks Foundation, HINYC, Partnership For The Parks, Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, The Appalachian Mountain Club, The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, The Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation and many more.
We believe that students learn best through hands-on activities and that travel and cultural exchanges are vital for one’s growth. These programs take our students from our local parks in the Bronx to the deep wilderness of the United States. In addition, students help design and run programs for their schools that deepen the impact of our work on the larger community.
One of our annual marque community service event is the Urban Backpacking program where students hike all five boroughs and engage in community service projects along the way. Other recent community service projects have included removing invasive plants from Morningside Park, cleaning the beaches in Staten Island, being a part of the Oyster Restoration Project along the Hudson River in Manhattan, and helping plant an international garden at HINYC. Each summer, a group of CatRock Ventures’ students get the opportunity to also take part in an eight day service learning and wilderness immersion program with Sierra Club service and Frank Church Foundation in Montana. Students leave the Bronx and backpack, repair trails, cook and camp in the woods of Montana. Through this program students strengthen their leadership skills and gain a deeper understanding of their role as environmental stewards.
