(By Kaycee Doherty)
At the start of this year, I chose to work with the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge as one of my independent placements (IP) for my AmeriCorps year. I had no idea what to expect. My IP partner, Lucinda Keith, had no shortage on ideas for what I could do, and from day one, we hit the ground running, picking up signs from the recent Walk For The Wild as she introduced me to the mission of the Friends, the power of their partnerships, and the scope of their work across the Cape.
One of the projects immediately caught my interest. A previous grant from 2017 had enabled the Friends group to create pollinator gardens at schools throughout the Cape that had all been abandoned and become unusable through the years mostly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We now had a chance to revitalize these areas and make new, interactive learning areas for students. This project initially made me very excited because some of my favorite childhood memories were in either my backyard garden or in my school gardens, watching things grow and live, learning to love the natural world and the benefits of hard work.
I created and sent out a survey to the original participating schools, hoping to gauge interest in bringing their gardens back to life. Though responses were initially limited, I continued to reach out to schools all over the Cape. We heard back from Bournedale Elementary and from the Falmouth school district for the High School and the Lawrence School. For the schools interested in assistance restarting their garden programs we had several meetings and site visits so that I could see what they needed help with and what we could do so that these gardens could thrive with support from teachers, students, and community members long after I was gone.
We have now done summer check-ins for both schools, and they seem to be doing wonderfully. The garden at Bournedale Elementary is being taken care of daily and has very invested staff, parents, and students. Seeing what has been done there is so inspiring and amazing. These gardens are so clearly loved and cherished by everyone that uses them and will be for the future to come. I’m so grateful to have made an impact on this community that will be felt and loved for long after I have left.
When people ask me what I’ve been doing all year, I never quite know how to answer in a way that captures it all. I usually just say something vague like, “I work for a lot of people” or “I try to help the environment,” and while those aren’t wrong, they don’t fully express what this experience has meant to me. The truth is that this year has been about planting seeds, in every sense of the phrase. Some of those seeds were literal, like the ones I planted at the Jehu Trailhead and in school gardens with young students by my side, helping them discover the joy of digging in the dirt and watching something grow.
Others were more symbolic: seeds of connection, education, and stewardship. Through outreach, presentations, newsletter articles, and simply showing up, I’ve tried to plant ideas that might spark someone else’s passion, curiosity, or love for the natural world.
This year wasn’t just about completing tasks or checking boxes, it was about nurturing something meaningful. I’ve watched a simple idea turn into a vibrant school garden because a group of teachers believed in it. I’ve seen shy students light up when they spot a bee on a new flower they helped plant. 
I’ve gotten to work alongside passionate volunteers who care deeply about protecting this refuge and all it stands for. Those are the moments that stick with me. As I wrap up my time with AmeriCorps Cape Cod, I know the work isn’t over, but I also know I’m leaving behind spaces and projects that will keep growing. And hopefully, so will the people touched by them. I feel incredibly lucky to have been a part of that.