Photo courtesy of Watershed Stewards PHL.

High school students in West Philly have a chance to participate in a great local educational and job training program and also earn some money this summer.

The Philadelphia Water Department and the LandHealth Institute are recruiting local students for the second year of their Watershed Stewards PHL program.

Here’s how the program works:

Beginning in late spring, 15 high school students age 15-18 from the West Philadelphia area will work alongside PWD, the LandHealth Institute and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR) for 11 weeks. The training sessions will be held at the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center. Students will learn how to protect the Darby-Cobbs watershed, which flows through many West and Southwest Philadelphia neighborhoods. The program will cover such topics as ecology, watershed management and stormwater runoff. After the training sessions, students will spend the summer applying the new skills in their communities. 

Students can earn up to $850 over the course of the program and will also get help when applying for jobs and programs like Philadelphia Youth Network and Power Corps PHL.

Students with interest in environmental science are encouraged to apply for this program. The application deadline is April 6th, and application information can be found here.