Program connects young people to environmental education

Kayin Bankole is learning how to connect the community to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, where he is a summer fellow. On a recent Wednesday, Bankole had finished up with a group who had kayaked in the Darby Creek, which flows through the Tinicum Marsh at the Refuge.

About 25 minutes away from the Refuge, Joshua Pringle is spending his summer at Fairmount Water Works where he is helping to spread awareness about one of the city’s first water pumping station’s.

Pringle and Bankole are among a cohort of 23 paid summer fellows assigned to environmental education centers in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey to increase awareness of the importance of the Delaware River watershed, which provides drinking water for millions of people.