Accomplishments

How a TIPS internship changed my life forever

It all started when Anna G., a junior at Ballard High School was selected as an TIPS intern to work at Seattle Tilth over the summer. Seattle Tilth is a nonprofit organization that teaches organic gardening and natural resources conservation by offering summer camps, parent and child classes and Adult Educator workshops. Anna was assigned to the Children’s Garden where she helped run eight weeklong summer camps for children. Early one morning on the first day of camp, Anna noticed one child who was not willing to participate in the group activities. As this child drifted further from the group, Anna walked over to find out what was wrong. By quietly talking to this student, Anna was able to get her to “open up” about what was wrong. As the young girl explained her rather painful situation, Anna did not judge her and gently encouraged her to talk more about it. When the child’s mother came to pick up her daughter at the end of the day, she was so grateful for Anna’s thoughtfulness and sensitivity towards her child. Even though the student did not return for the rest of the week, Anna said this experience changed her life forever. I asked her why and she replied, “By being attuned to another’s discomfort, it helped me discover my strengths as a friend and mentor for a young person and changed how I feel about myself forever.” Anna’s supervisor also noticed her  leadership skills , intuitiveness, empathy and positive attitude which all contributed to Anna receiving this year’s Maureen Brotherton Founder’s Award at the end of summer TIPS banquet.

Anna added that when she started working in the garden she did not know what to do. So she decided to just “go for it” and started leading some of the group activities and organizing some of the gardening projects. I commented on how she seemed to possess the self-confidence to “jump in like that” and she credits that from playing the violin from the age of 5 and performing in many auditions and recitals over the years. She advises other students who are looking for internships to figure out their passions and interests and then look for organizations that offer work in these areas. In closing, she said what she really loved most about Seattle Tilth was the positivity of the place. The people, garden and work made her smile every day and she felt that the Children’s Garden was a path to peace.  In today’s hectic and technologically driven world, she said it was so wonderful to watch small hands and faces learn how to care for small organisms and by doing so, inspire their own happiness and sense of peace. This is quite a statement from a junior in high school and I came away from this interview feeling that this internship was as good for Anna as it was for Seattle Tilth.

by Nora Tabler, Tabler Consulting – October 4, 2011
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Seattle Tilth, A Place Where Plants and People Grow

Lisa Taylor is the enthusiastic Program Manager for Children’s Education at Seattle Tilth, an urban agriculture non-profit whose original learning garden is located at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. My first question for Lisa was “what does tilth mean?” She explained that “tilth” is an old English word that comes from the verb “to till” and it is used to describe the cultivation of wisdom and the spirit. A soil – or a person – in good tilth was said to be “in good heart.” She continued by adding that Seattle Tilth strives to inspire and educate adults and children to garden organically to cultivate a healthy urban community. Their vision is to transform the NW region into the organic gardening capital of the world and I think under Lisa’s capable management that will happen!  The setting for Lisa’s work is in a magical place with her offices located on the lower floor of an enormous stone mansion surrounded by beautiful gardens, trees and lawns. She explained that the building was originally built as a Catholic School for wayward girls and operated as such until 1973. Seattle Tilth is one of many tenants that occupy this enormous structure. Lisa has worked at Seattle Tilth for 16 years, 14 of them managing the Children’s Garden. She has personally worked with 18 TIPS interns since 1999.

She considers herself lucky to be on the TIPS intern list and says the interns have been a “godsend” over the years. Prior to their arrival in 1999, the summer programs were managed by just her and a part-time staff person. When the first TIPS intern arrived, it was comparable to having a third staff person, they were THAT capable.  I asked her if she noticed any generational differences between the interns and she said no; but that she did sometimes notice a socio-economic difference. An example of this is when one year they have an intern that is referred to her by the YWCA and another summer she may get an intern from an elite private school. From her perspective, she and the Tilth staff are the ones who learn from these differences – gaining sensitivity and awareness of different intern backgrounds and how those differences influence values, experiences and interactions with others. But one common trait shared by most of her interns is their ability to solve problems.

She shared one story from this past summer when she asked her TIPS volunteer, Anna Gallagher, to come up with a solution for that day’s challenge – there were 8 volunteers and 8 students, a very unusual situation. Instead of sending volunteers home which is never a good idea, Lisa challenged Anna to figure out a creative way to keep the volunteers fully engaged with the kids. She was nearby to help and she enjoyed watching how Anna and the others figured it out. It came together very well and at the end of the day, everyone was happy about it. I asked her to summarize what a child enrolled in her summer program gets out of their experience. She recalled one eight year old who was holding spinach seeds in his hand. As he looked at them with a group of children, he said – “All of these seeds are the same, yet they are all slightly different, just like people.” Gosh, the simple wisdom of a child! And when I asked about her 125-140 adult volunteer program, she couldn’t help but use a garden metaphor comparing many of them to perennials saying – “many of them come back each Fall and Spring which helps the Children’s Garden program build on accumulated garden knowledge which these adults can then share with others.” In closing, I think that any child, volunteer or TIPS intern who spends some time at Seattle Tilth will undoubtedly come away with a “better heart”  and that’s got to make the world a better place.

by Nora Tabler, Tabler Consulting – October 11, 2011

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Who Said TIPS is for the Birds?

Meet Kintea Bryant, a nine year employee with the Seattle Audubon Society with the last four as Education Director. I had the pleasure of interviewing Kintea in early October about her experience with a TIPS intern this past summer:

What kinds of qualities do you look for in the TIPS interns you work with?
“Honestly, I look for some of the qualities that I had when I started working here in 2003. I had a biology degree, I loved nature and I was willing to help out with anything that needed to be done. Over the years since then, Kintea has worked with seven TIPS interns and thinks the Society not only gets another set of hands, but is also given an opportunity to learn from these unique teens while providing them with challenges that help them grow.”

Would your summer program be impacted if you didn’t have a TIPS intern?
“Most definitely, and for two reasons – the TIPS interns are here for the entire 8 weeks so the consistency they bring to the program allows staff to put them into leadership positions such as directing one activity each week for new campers. Secondly, I have come to rely on their presence each summer and have higher expectations and therefore receive more from the TIPS interns.” I asked for an example and she told me about this past summer’s intern – Addison Woolsey. In week four, Addison felt comfortable enough with her and the program to share that he had taken an Environmental Science class and could he share what he learned with the kids? She felt he was ready and so yes, he led an interactive session with the kids. Talk about a win-win for everyone!

Could the TIPS program be improved in any way?
She thought more clarification about what the students duties would be BEFORE they arrived would help streamline the training process. She also wished there was more time in the schedule for Audubon training, but she understands the many demands on the intern’s time.
Having the same intern for multiple summers to give them added experience and increase their responsibilities was also on her “wish” list, but she realizes that TIPS needs to give these internships to as many students as possible.

Do you have any advice for other nonprofits that want to use a TIPS intern?
“The Teens In Public Service program is one that truly benefits the teens and the organizations they are placed with.  It is a privilege for nonprofit organizations to be able to work with such well-rounded and hardworking teens.  This program proves that a lot of teens are willing to step out of their comfort zone, and challenge themselves in ways they may not have known they could.”

by Nora Tabler, Tabler Consulting – Interview with Kintea Bryant,10/3/2011
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A special thanks to Nora C. Tabler, Principal of Tabler Communications, for interviewing and writing these special features.  If you are interested in working with Nora, please contact her at ntabler@gmail.com.

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Since the inception of the TIPS program, nearly 700 young leaders have served more than 125 nonprofit organizations. TIPS Interns have combined to provide roughly 100,000 hours of service, and each year add nearly 10,000 more with each new cohort.

Family Services honored TIPS as their 2007 Volunteers of the Year, in recognition of our 10 years of partnership and the excellence and enthusiasm our teen interns bring to their programs.

The Mayors of Seattle have endorsed the TIPS program each year, reaffirming the valuable opportunity the program offers Seattle ‘s youth.

In 2003 TIPS was the proud recipient of the 2003 Evergreen Award in recognition of “the positive connections TIPS establishes between the energies of teenagers and the needs within the community.”