For the past 7 years, the Audubon Center at Debs Park has given college students the opportunity to learn more about Audubon, conservation, and environmental education.  Our internship program employs 4 students each summer to help us deliver our summer day camp program:  An Arroyo Adventure.  Over the course of the summer, these talented people helped us engage 170 kids in exploring the Debs Park and Arroyo Seco region.  The interns also serve as role models and mentors to the campers and the Arroyo Green Team members.

This year our interns were Tania Camacho-Pineda (Occidental College), Evita Chavez (Occidental College), Gabe Chavez (Evergreen State University), and John Garrett (University of California, Santa Cruz).    Although sometimes challenging, camp was a rewarding experience for our interns.  Tania, who grew up in a neighborhood near the park, reflected on the experience by saying, "Every week was a new adventure because we had different themes and that was always exciting. Each week we received new campers as well so it was great to meet these kids and be able to teach them about nature. I knew some of the Green Team that would be coming but it was nice to meet the rest of the team as well. I, along with the campers, learned cool new facts each week and that was great because I was able to expand my knowledge as well as the campers’. I really enjoyed helping the campers gain knowledge about the environment and ways that they could protect it. "  And that is what it is all about.