The new A.L.L. Student Stewards Internship Program at St. Mary’s Park is off to a great start !  Student Stewards learn about California natives and plant trees and understory as part of the ongoing development of the Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk. 

On July 8th, Stewards planted White Alder (Alnus rhombifolia) and Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) in the Riparian Zone in the south side of St. Mary’s Park, highlighting the area where hidden Islais Creek still flows underground.

Stewards are also planting other Native Drought-Tolerant Zones in the Nature Walk.  On July 15th & 17th students planted a Native Hillside in St. Mary’s Park with California Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californicum), Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri), Island Tree Mallow (Lavatera assurgentiflora), Red Buckwheat (Erigonum grande var. rubescens), and four different types of Ceanothus (‘Ray Hartman’, griseus horizontalis, ‘Dark Star’, and ‘Yankee Point’).  

Students also built and started planting their own Organic Vegetable & Flower Garden.

The A.L.L. Student Stewards Internship Program at St. Mary’s Park & Rec Center targets youth from low-income families in the area, and teaches them to become environmental stewards for the Bernal Heights Living Library Nature Walk. Students plant and establish California native trees and shrubs, and learn to care for them as part of this unique internship. They are exposed to science, gardening, green-skills job training, construction, writing, and observational drawing, while earning a monetary stipend for their participation. The program will continue in the Fall, after school Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm.