Young people on South Whidbey have ample outside time in store for them.

Two non-profit organizations and a South Whidbey arts school teamed up and were recently awarded a No Child Left Inside grant by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Department. It will further benefit the trio’s efforts in providing outdoor education, recreation and stewardship activities, according to the organizations’ leaders.

Service, Education and Adventure (SEA), Calyx Community Arts School’s nature-based arts program and Seattle-based non-profit organization Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) will split $50,000 awarded by the department. The trio’s application, “Young Women Move the World,” was ranked second out of over 200 submissions. A combined 240 girls and boys, ages 5-18, will reap the benefits between now and June 2017. They’ll do everything from participating in summer camps and going on field trips to visiting state parks to learn about ecological biodiversity.

Susie Richards, co-director of Service, Education and Adventure, said the grant money recognizes the value of outdoor education.

“It’s such an important way for students to learn,” Richards said. “We really believe in connecting young people with our parks system.”

Service, Education and Adventure’s goals moving forward, which center on supporting at-risk students, are three-fold. They’ll facilitate caring and supportive relationships by allowing students to work with mentors throughout the school year as well as with park staff and other community partners. Other students will collaborate with Charlie Davies, a certificated special education and career and technical education teacher at South Whidbey High School, through project-based learning, as well as focus on career exploration through work studies and internships.

Costs for staffing, transportation, and equipment will also be greatly helped by the grant money, Richards said. She said she’s most looking forward to trips to Possession Point State Park, where students will work with Island County’s Noxious Weeds Control Board Project Coordinator Janet Stein to remove ivy and transplant native plants into the area. They will also travel to Hope Island near Deception State Pass Park via boat and engage in another species removal, as well as conduct a little marine science, Richards said.

Richards said the collaborative nature of the trio’s proposal contributed to the application being ranked highly.

“Each of our programs is really about collaboration, about bringing in state park staff,” Richards said. “We really believe in the mentoring side of it all too.”

Calyx’s plans to host four summer camps based at South Whidbey State Park over the next year. The arts school will also develop a yearlong after-school natured-based program at South Whidbey Elementary School.

Young Women Empowered Co-Founder and Co-Director Jamie-Rose Edwards said the grant will enable the organization to expand its nature connections programs, which impact girls throughout the greater Seattle region and provides access to the outdoors. Edwards said the majority of the young women benefitted by Young Women Empowered are those of color, or have immigrant or refugee backgrounds. With the grant, the organization can continue to allow young women to experience the natural resources of the region, including Whidbey Island, where the organization holds an annual summer camp in partnership with Hedgebrook, a non-profit that helps women through writing. Edwards said the organization’s transportation costs will be cut down, and healthy meals will be provided to the young women. Young Women Empowered will be busier now than ever thanks to the increase in funding.

“There’s something going on every weekend because we got that funding,” Edwards said. “That’s a very special thing to be able to offer. Very few of our girls can afford to pay tuition for our programs, so without grant funding and individual contributions, there’s no way they could afford these programs. This is going to make it possible to offer them 100 percent scholarships.”

“We’re just thrilled that this is something that is being valued by the office of conservation,” she added.