Winter 1998

[TEXT ARCHIVE WEB-PUBLISHED AUGUST 2001.
ORIGINAL PRINT PUBLICATION DATE: WINTER 1998.]

Michael & Amelia Howard: Wilderness and Spirit
By M. Kathleen Pratt

Planting the seeds of wonder is not an easy task where asphalt is much more common than grass and the buzz of cars whizzing by on the highway is a constant sound. But Michael and Amelia Howard live in more than one habitat, and they've found that the children of their community want to do so too. Michael enjoys leading groups from his church and the community on excursions to destinations such as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. But the Howards don't just look far away for the peace and thrill they experience in nature.

Fuller Park backs up to the Dan Ryan Expressway and is bordered on the west by train tracks. The Howards — an enthusiastic pair whose deliberate actions and manner of speaking provide a glimpse of their dedicated nature — can sense a trace of wilderness even here. "We have to breathe the same air as everyone else," says Michael, an avid outdoorsman for years.

The Howards are respected leaders in the Mighty Acorns. Conceived as an introduction to the local environment through schools' science curriculums and developed jointly by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and The Nature Conservancy, the Mighty Acorns program trains volunteer leaders to bring school-aged children into local parks and forest preserves — as stewards. There, adults and children together plant native species, clear invasive brush, gather seeds, investigate animal tracks, look and listen for birds and insects and learn first-hand about our native ecosystems and local preserves.

"Kids are taught to be stewards of the forest," says Michael. With an easy-going, natural diplomacy, he works devotedly to bring understanding of wilderness into all aspects of his life, including his family, his church and his job as executive director of the not-for-profit Fuller Park Community Development agency. When Hendricks Academy, the elementary school where Amelia works as a pre-kindergarten teacher's aide, became the first urban school to participate in the Mighty Acorns program during the spring of 1993, the Howards spearheaded the effort. Today, Hendricks Academy, located just down the block from the Howards' Chicago home, serves as a model for 30 schools in the Chicago area.

Hendricks partnered with Hubbard Woods Elementary in Winnetka to engage in joint projects and field trips. The idea, Michael says, was to bring students of different backgrounds and races together for a common cause. Raising awareness about environmental issues and enabling children to recognize the resources in their own backyard is a main focus of the program, Michael says. It also provides children who participate with a unique sense of ownership. Having a stake in healthy nature, Amelia says, is something both she and her husband grew up with.

"Everybody's family had a garden then," she says. Now, fishing, camping and canoeing are a way of life for the Howards, who have raised all five of their children, ranging in ages eight to twenty-four, to appreciate the land and to build their own connection with nature.

"You can appreciate what's right here in the city," Michael says. In fact, he is investigating the possibility of creating a small preserve right in his own neighborhood. Not far from the Howards' front doorstep, a vacant lot has served as little more than a dump for almost 30 years. Wouldn't this be an ideal site for a small-scale restoration? they ask. Old oaks at one end of the lot are remnant vestiges of an oak woodland; in the center, the Howards envision a small prairie and a re-created wetland. Michael even imagines experimental aquaculture and fish farming. These could be both educational tools and economic ventures, he explains. Neighborhood residents could be trained to work and school children could come as well, revitalizing the community in the process, he says.

Michael and Amelia compare this lot to the restoration planned for Washington Park, also on Chicago's South Side. That undertaking — still in the planning phases, but moving ahead quickly now that it has received backing from the city — will provide a beautiful and easily accessible natural area to urban residents.

Increased access to natural areas brings communities together and piques interest in a sense of wonder and respect for life. From there, the Howards explain, personal and community growth come naturally.