Something is growing in Bainbridge Island parks that could spread to the rest of the state by next summer.

The first neurodiverse Student Conservation Corps, a work program through the BI Metro Parks and Recreation District, recently presented its mixed-group model to state legislators at the Environmental and Sustainability Literacy Student Summit in Olympia.

About 10 students from around Kitsap County traveled to the two-day conference, first paneling with fellow conservation-minded peers from across the state to share their experience with SCC and to hear about other youth environmental efforts.

“It was partially about education, but for the kids, it was so much about ownership. There were third-graders growing worms in table scraps and shredded newspaper and high schoolers cleaning up creeks. Everyone’s project was asking, ‘How can we be part of the solution?’” said Cody Ogren, BIMPRD adaptive and accessibility coordinator. “It was like, wow, this is really cool and eye-opening — a lot of this work, we can do back on Bainbridge.”

The following day, SCC students met with local lawmakers Sen. Drew Hansen and Rep. Adison Richards to share their experience and ask questions of their leaders. Their comments ranged from “heavy hitters” on affordable housing to more friendly questions like, “What’s your favorite color?” Ogren said.

“I was most proud to share how SCC can show people that even if a person has certain mental disabilities, it doesn’t mean they can’t handle a tool or be responsible with it,” 10th-grade SCC member Brody Inslee said. “I’ve actually seen a lot of neurodiverse people be more responsible with tools than neurotypical people.”

Now in its 15th year, SCC is a paid work program for young Kitsap residents to learn conservation job skills and hands-on environmental stewardship. The students work in parks around BI for about three weeks in the summer, clearing noxious weeds, maintaining trails and amenities, and completing other projects as needed, like installing boot brushes.

2024 was the first year that the BIMPRD offered a version of the program for neurodiverse students. Inslee was part of that initial cohort and will “definitely be going back,” he said.

There was a learning curve for students and parks leadership, but overall the mixed program was a success, Ogren said.

“It’s so inspiring to watch their growth over the summer. The first day, everyone is pretty shy, but eventually they all make friends. Suddenly they’re saying, ‘Hey, you like that band too? You play that game too?’ and they’re messaging each other on Discord on their off days,” Ogren said. “It’s the kind of thing like, you may not chat in the halls, but when you’re out there pulling blackberries, you’re bound to strike up a conversation.”

In Olympia, SCC was the only non-school group and the only program dedicated to neurodiverse students, Natural Resources manager Morgan Houk said. But because it offers career education for students with disabilities, BI’s students earned a spot on the panel floor.

It paid off, Houk and Ogren said. Members of several schools asked about their neurodiverse park maintenance team, hoping to implement something similar in their districts. “Our main goal is to go to the state parks and recreation conference this spring, and spread the word at the state level,” Houk said. “We think this could really make a difference.”