Interns & Internships

Leonel Lainez, AmeriCorps Cape Cod 2023

Connecting Students to Nature: My AmeriCorps Cape Cod Journey

At the beginning of my AmeriCorps Cape Cod journey back in September, I was assigned to work with Joan Muller, the Education Coordinator from Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR), and Nancy Church, a board member from the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge. Together, we were tasked with developing an educational program about Ospreys using a live webcam on the WBNERR campus. The webcam is a collaboration between Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge, WBNERR, and Comcast.

As a Person of Color, and Spanish being my first language, I noticed a struggle that no one could see. During a Pond Study at Lawrence School with Joan Muller, I conducted a shoreline survey around the pond. I noticed that the students who were not proficient in English or did not have English as their first language refrained from speaking up. This experience inspired me to create a citizen scientist project for English Language Development students (ELD) to help them
feel more comfortable and confident in their abilities to participate. Read full text…

Leo leading a class on Osprey