Lewis Megonigal, 7th grader from North Cape May, teaches oyster anatomy to day campers at the Nature Center of Cape May. Megonigal is a graduate of the 2012 Rutgers 4-H Summer Teen Leadership Institute.
For teens entering grades 7 – 12, interested in marine and environmental science, and enjoy being outdoors and working with children, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County and NJ Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May are currently accepting applications for the 2013 Rutgers 4-H Summer Teen Leadership Institute. This 8-week institute will take place from June 24 to August 16, at the Nature Center of Cape May’s environmental education campus on Cape May Harbor, Cape May, NJ.
The program provides youth with an invaluable leadership and learning experience through a variety of service, teaching and social activities. It coincides with Summer Children’s Program day camps held at the Nature Center of Cape May. Professional NJ Audubon teacher naturalists provide teens with mentoring in marine science, teaching skills and successful work habits. Rutgers 4-H educators lead teens in youth-driven community service projects and leadership skills development activities.
The benefits of attending the institute include meeting other teens who have the same interests, earning valuable community service credits and gaining important extracurricular work and leadership experience. These experiences prove invaluable in job seeking and in successful acceptance to preferred colleges.
Institute participants are expected to job shadow nature center teacher-naturalists for eight to ten hours each week and attend a weekly training session. Coordinators try to accommodate teens’ outside work schedules.
A mandatory orientation session will be held Friday, June 21, from 10 a.m. to noon at NJ Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May. Contact the 4-H Youth Development Program at 609-465-5115, ext. 605, or visit www.njaudubon.org/centers/nccm.
The application deadline is May 15. Participation is limited to 20 students. The tuition is $250 for eight weeks of hands-on experience and mentoring in marine science, teaching skills and work habits.
