http://www.citizensvoice.com/sports/students-benefit-from-pa-outdoor-corps-1.2359175

BARNESVILLE — The group had to rebuild wooden stairs on the hottest day of the summer. “Give a try again. You can do it,” Jordany Krawinkel said while encouraging a co-worker who was prying a rotting railroad tie out of a staircase at Tuscarora State Park. Jordany takes part in the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps of high school and college students who repair parks and learn about nature for their summer jobs. To yank out the old steps on a path leading to a changing room for swimmers, the corps members had picks, shovels and shade against the temperature of nearly 100 degrees on Monday. The prospect of sharing work with a close-knit group led Jordany to sign on for the job. “It’s like we’ve been together a week and we’re like brother and sister,” said Jordany, a Hazleton resident and student at Luzerne County Community College, where he studies computer science. Eugene and Zorangel Sosa of Hazleton actually are brother and sister, and joined the corps together. Zorangel is bound for Penn State Hazleton this fall after graduating from the Hazleton Area Academy of Science, where Eugene will be a sophomore. Eugene entered the corps after remembering how he spent last summer: “I did the same thing every day. I knew it was going to happen” again. Now Eugene said, “I really enjoy being outside.” The Outdoor Corps receives funding from donors who give to its parent group, the Student Conservation Association, but national and state parks also contribute. This summer, the corps formed teams in 16 locations including Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre. Tarah Brugger welcomed the corps for the first time to Tuscarora and Locust Lake state parks, which she manages. “The kids have been great. They dive in. We get a few extra projects in, and everybody benefits,” Brugger said. The corps started their three-week assignment by installing and staining split-rail fencing at Locust Lake before attacking the Tuscarora stairs. Avery Weinrich, a supervisor, said crews also build footbridges, maintain trails and construct decks and pavilions. A worker with the corps for four years, Weinrich spent much of his life outdoors and graduated from Penn State University with a degree in wildlife and fishery science. He said the supervisor’s job lets him “make my passion a career.” Some of the corps members share that passion. “It’s what I love to do,” Brandon Wasser said. A junior at Schuylkill Haven High School, who enjoys hunting and fishing, Wasser will compete in the nationals of the Youth Hunter Education later this year in sporting clays, .22-caliber rifle, muzzleloader and archery. Others have spent a lot of their childhood and teenage years indoors. “It opens a new world for them,” Rebecca Lindner, the team’s other supervisor, said. Lindner grew up in Georgia and couldn’t find work in environmental biology, her major at college, so she drove tractor-trailers before the Outdoor Corps opportunity came along. A whitewater guide on weekends, Lindner hopes to arrange a river trip for her team this summer. Corps members also spend time each week learning about the nature and history of the parks that they repair. “We’ve learned about different types of trees (and) how to properly use the tools,” Cesar Dadus, a student at the Hazleton Area Academy of Science, said. The team, too, has started identifying bird calls and plants. When they lifted up one of the railroad ties that had been a step, they discovered two salamander species — a spotted salamander and a red-backed salamander. After the team spent about an hour of pulling out stairs, railings and rebar that held the steps in place, Lindner called out a progress report. “Only two steps to go out of nine, and it’s not even lunch time,” she said. Roberto Aliaga, who will enter Penn State Hazleton in the fall, said the work gives him a boost. “You feel accomplishment when you finish a project,” he said. After the team finished removing old stairs, Weinrich said they planned to install new lumber but space out the steps evenly and lengthen the stairway so the drop-off from the bottom steps wouldn’t be as steep. They also planned to put a channel along one side to drain water from the wood. “These stairs are from the ‘70s,” Weinrich said. “Hopefully ours will last 50 years instead of 40.” Contact the writer: kjackson@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3587