Over six weeks this summer, they hiked more than 100 miles; had up-close encounters with bears, rattlesnakes, wild boar, spiders, mice and scorpions; moved 200-pound rocks; sawed logs; lopped brush; and survived on a steady diet of Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches. There was stifling heat, torrential rains and a blanket of humidity you could almost cut with a knife. But if you ask any member of the first Southeast Youth Corps to sum up their experience,
they only have one word.
“Awesome,” says Blake Hodson, 17. “It was kind of like a vacation for me. The first few days it was hard to focus on the job.”
But it was a job. On June 23, seven teenagers and two adult guides hiked into the Big Frog Wilderness, the Ocoee Ranger District of the Cherokee National Forest. In six weeks time they removed downed trees, cut back brush and built rock walls and drainage systems.
The kids hailed from high schools across the region, each undergoing a lengthy interview process to be selected from more than 40 applicants. They were led by Brenna Kenney, the founder and director of SYC, and Michael Meredith, a native Tennessean who’s worked several years for an Arizona corps.