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WIU Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration alumna Bridget Hinchee (red shirt), a natural resources coordinator with the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources at Argyle Lake State Park, and her husband, Robin Hinchee, the superintendent at Lake Argyle State Park, and their daughters are pictured with Ryan Knop (plaid shirt). Knop recently completed his RPTA capstone internship with the Hinchees at Argyle Lake State Park. Part of the work he did there included working on the newly opened Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's Discovery Area.
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WIU Student's Summer Internship Helped Make Argyle Lake State Park's New Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's Discovery Area a Reality

August 20, 2015

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MACOMB/COLCHESTER, IL — There's a new outdoor area for kids to explore at Argyle Lake State Park (just north of Colchester), and a brand new Western Illinois University alumnus has been integral to its completion. In late July, staff from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IL-DNR) at Argyle Lake State Park coordinated an open house for the new Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's Discovery Area. With help from Ryan Knop (Harvard, IL)—who just completed his bachelor's degree this summer through the WIU Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration (RPTA)—the area and outdoor classroom were completed just before the July 25th event.

According to IL-DNR Natural Resources Coordinator at Argyle Lake State Park Bridget Hinchee, the Habitat Discovery Garden began as a 2015 Earth Day in the Park project, and the Kid's Discovery Area was a project started by park staff last fall. The Habitat Discovery Garden is comprised of small gardens with paths, three activity walls, a seating area and two bluebird boxes, she said.

"I love the nature sharing wall, which has a quote by Abraham Lincoln that says, 'Every blade of grass is a study,' which is kind of the theme of the garden," Hinchee, who earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from WIU's RPTA program, wrote in an email invitation to the open house event. "The Kid's Discovery Area is an outdoor classroom containing a building area, a digging area filled with rocks, a stage for creative play, a music area (complete with a thunder drum and stumps for a drum circle), a teepee-type shelter, a retired row boat and a hop-scotch game made from tree cookies. It's just a fun area for kids to be out in nature, while they can also be creative, playing, building and making music. We used lots recycled stuff and turned it into a cool area for kids of all ages."

Knop—whose summer internship came about from a project he worked on in an upper-level RPTA course he took at WIU—said Argyle Lake State Park was a perfect internship fit for his future goals, which include working as a park ranger and, eventually, a conservation officer.

"The project involved a 'managing user impact' report on Argyle Lake, which I worked on with one of the RPTA grad students for my RPTA 481 [outdoor recreation and resource management] class," Knop explained. "Through that project, I met Robin Hinchee, the superintendent there, and I knew right away Argyle Lake State Park would be the best place for me to do my internship."

While Knop's summer internship included duties comprised of more mundane tasks, such as emptying the trash, weed eating and cleaning the restrooms, a big part of his learning experience also included work on the Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's Discovery Area.

"Although the Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's discovery area project started before my internship, I was able to jump right in," Knop noted. "My first two days were spent working on building the teepee. This was a great way to make something different using resources we already had at the park. One of the biggest things I learned was how great of a project you can make with recycled materials and resources. All of the mulch used came from the power company, which they give away when they clear brush around the power lines, and the teepee was built from old pallet boards."

According to RPTA Professor Katharine Pawelko, Knop's internship at Argyle Lake State Park also proved to be a good fit for Knop—on several levels.

"Ryan brought his extensive familiarity working with, and repairing, farm machinery to his work with the park-facility maintenance staff. He also pursued the opportunity to branch out, and as a result, he gained new experience with the Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's Discovery Area construction as his special project," she noted. "The RPTA 499 professional internship experience is an important capstone opportunity for our students, as they transition from a student role and mentality to one of being a professional. As an internship supervisor, it is interesting to read how the interns tap into the well of coursework and theory they have been exposed to in their curricula and prior experiences and then engage in problem solving and apply it in practice at their internship sites."

Pawelko said RPTA students' internship opportunities provide them real-world settings to challenge themselves, learn from mistakes and develop and test their professional skill sets.

"The careful selection of an internship site and an invested and nurturing mentor who is a good fit for each student are essential for the success of the growth experience. With the Illinois Department of Natural Resources being subject to budget cuts, having an intern such as Ryan benefitted the park, too, as he helped the small staff during the peak summer season," she explained. "The internship sites provide the RPTA department with wonderful academy-practitioner partnerships. We have been fortunate to have Argyle Lake State Park Superintendent Robin Hinchee serve as an intern-site supervisor numerous times for us. He takes the time to mentor the interns about what goes into operating and managing a state park in a very comprehensive way. Bridget Hinchee, an alumna of the RPTA program, also serves as an example of the intern partnerships we have with other RPTA alumni supervising our interns in agencies across Illinois, the Midwest and the nation."

Pawelko added, from Knop's evaluation of them, the Hinchees provided him with stellar mentoring models this summer.

"At the end of his internship with them, Ryan stated he could see himself serving in that mentor role in the future and helping to shape the next generation of professionals," she noted.

In addition to Knop's work on the Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's Discovery Area, Bridget Hinchee said many volunteers helped out with the work on the area and at Argyle Lake State Park.

"We also spruced up the visitor center by staining the siding and porch, painting the door and trim and adding native animal silhouettes on the porch area," she added. "We've had some amazing volunteers help with various aspects of the project, and it's been a fun experience."

According to Knop, who came to Western to major in RPTA after attending community college, his internship experience with the Hinchees at Argyle Lake State Park and his RPTA courses at WIU have reaffirmed his choice of career paths.

"All my professors in Western's RPTA department have been great! They have given me so many tools and so much knowledge that I know I will use," Knop noted. "The classes that really impacted me include Dr. [Paul] Schlag's RPTA 482 course, which was amazing. I never knew I could learn so much about facilities management in just 16 short weeks. And another class that has solidified my career path is Dr. [Rob] Porter's fly fishing and resource management class. That class, one of the best I have ever taken, was a great experience, because it mixed in the users of parks with the biology found in parks, so you get to see a different side of the park setting."

For more information about WIU's Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration, contact the department at (309) 298-1967, and for more information about the Habitat Discovery Garden and Kid's Discovery Area at Argyle Lake State Park, contact the park's visitor center at (309) 776-3422.

Posted By: Teresa Koltzenburg (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing