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I used to know nothing about cars. When I first started driving, I couldn’t tell you how to check for air in the tires, how to change the oil or why you should use unleaded gas instead of diesel fuel. That changed the first time I noticed that my tire looked strange. I was alone, leaving work. I had no one to call, no one to rely on for help. All I had was my knowledge of car mechanics and irrational panic — only one of which was substantial.

How could I tell if the tire was flat and not just low on pressure? What should I even look for to figure that out? Does a tire need air to roll? Could I use my ball pump to get back on the road? Like many in my generation and the next, I never learned the skills or knowledge needed to answer what someone with slightly more life experience would consider basic questions.

Youth Mentorship Through Park Maintenance

The Watering Can Mentoring Program is Henry County (Georgia) Parks and Recreation’s endeavor to fix society’s growing maintenance knowledge deficit. Through a series of workshops, clinics and classes, a group of unconventional programmers teaches local teenagers small engine maintenance, minor vehicle repair, basic carpentry and horticulture.

“Only one group of our team members had the knowledge and skills to make the Watering Can a success: Park Maintenance,” says Jonathon “JP” Penn, Henry County leisure and public services cluster lead. “They took an idea and turned it into a program. They organized, designed and led the Watering Can with very little assistance from our recreation programming team. They are doing something that few, if any, park maintenance professionals have done, and they are changing lives while they do it.”

Henry County Park Superintendent Shane Massey sees his new role as a personal mission. “Shop class is on its way out in schools, so kids today aren’t getting the experience I did. Everything is becoming technology based. Kids are missing technical skills that we take for granted,” says Massey.

The Watering Can began with a nine-week summer program for students between the ages of 12 and 18. Students met weekly at various Henry County facilities. During the first five weeks, the maintenance-professionals-turned-programmers led their students through a variety of exercises, ranging from tire repair to oil changes.

“Their comprehension ability astounded all of us,” says Bryan Dixon, deputy administrator of park services. “We taught them things that most adults find daunting, but they soaked it up. Halfway through the lessons, they were ready to move on to something else. We had to accelerate the curriculum to make sure we rose to the challenge.”

Building Community

The students spent the last half of the summer learning progressively more complicated topics, such as horticulture and carpentry. They finished the program by building planters and scoreboxes that they installed at Heritage Park, one of Henry County’s most visited attractions.

“They literally left their mark on the community,” explains Dixon. “By the end of the summer, they were more confident. They found that [the program] made them more self-sufficient. There’s nothing more empowering than learning that you can make and change things with your hands. For years to come, they will be able to visit Heritage Park and see reminders of what they accomplished.”

After summer ended, the Watering Can evolved, diversifying into two-hour clinics on gardening, seminars on sports field maintenance and hands-on classes that cater to only adults. Henry County Park Maintenance has no plans to stop expanding.

“We’re treading a new path,” says Penn. “Innovation begins with a single idea. We just have to be willing to consider it, even when it’s not conventional. The horizon is not the end of the journey. It’s the beginning of the next step.”

The Watering Can team is hurrying toward that next step, full of new ideas and a passion to grow the seeds they planted. One day, when they are not revolutionizing the role of park maintenance, they may even be able to show me how to change a tire.

Author’s Note: Thank you to Naomi Betsill, intern for Henry County, for her contributions to this article.

Thomas White, MPA, is Deputy Administrator of Recreation for Henry County, Georgia.