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Spring
2002
Nestor
Camarillo:
I Want to Teach
"A
few years ago, I wasn’t doing anything to help nature,"
recalls Nestor Camarillo, a senior at Elgin High School.
That began to change during his sophomore year when he participated
in a school-wide cleanup of Poplar Creek, which runs through
Elgin High School’s 25-acre outdoor classroom and nature
trail. "I enjoyed picking up the garbage. I felt good
about myself, but it was sad to see what things people throw
away," Nestor recalls.
Then
Nestor studied soil depletion and erosion in geology class.
He was fascinated. "I used to think that soil was just
there to hold grass," he admits.
Nestor
loved the class, but it didn’t go deep enough. "There
were areas I wanted to know more about," Nestor says,
"so I had do research for myself using books here at
our school library." Drawing on this research, he developed
a soil station for a special one-day program conducted at
Elgin High School for gifted students from Tuft Middle School.
"First,
we examined soil-forming factors and studied soil profiles,
including color, moisture, and texture. Then we used soil
probes to gather soil samples from different areas along
the nature trail — woodlands, hills and waterfront,"
explained Nestor.
Inspired
by his biology and environmental science teacher Deborah
Perryman, Nestor competed in Envirothon, an annual environmental
competition sponsored by Canon. He created a soil station
while his four teammates tackled aquatics, forestry, point
source pollution and wildlife. "We met weekly, listened
to guest presenters and tested ourselves," he says,
"so we were disappointed to only earn third place."
Today,
as a senior, Nestor has gone from student to teacher. Through
an independent study program, he conducts Mighty Acorns
classes — a hands-on program about ecosystems —
for students of all ages. He also helps train teachers who
are interested in bringing the curriculum to their schools.
Under Nestor’s guidance, Mighty Acorns classes are
trained in the River Watch monitoring techniques and learn
about migrant bird routes, macro-invertebrates, and of course,
soil.
Nestor’s
fascination with soil has provided fertile footing for his
personal growth as well. "Serving as an instructor
for Mighty Acorns has helped me develop different skills,"
Nestor softly explains, acknowledging that teaching students
has boosted his self-confidence and improved his public
speaking skills.
"After
graduation I want to study aquatics and forestry and then
become an agent for the Environmental Protection Agency
or perhaps a teacher," he said. "Most of all,
I want to teach minorities. They’re not really aware
of the environment and I want to teach them about it."
—
Cindy Mehallow
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