5 minute read
Spreading Joy
INCLUSIVITY // BY CHRISTINA EASTER
See You at the Top helps participants gain more exposure to the great outdoors.
Spreading the joy of the great outdoors can also be an elixir for the soul, especially when you live in the city.
See You at the Top (SYATT) is a leading organization in Cleveland that gets youth into outdoor activities year-round in Northeast Ohio and in other states. The organization was created in 2009 by Marcia Hood and her two daughters, Erika and Ebony Hood, known as TeamHood.
SYATT has made its mission to get more African Americans to go skiing, diving, hiking, biking and camping. As a part of that mission, SYATT has established partnerships with local and national organizations and governments to facilitate exposing its participants to the tops of mountains, bottoms of oceans and everywhere in between.
After starting her own family, Marcia and her husband traveled with their daughters across the country, pulling over whenever they saw a national park or monument. The tradition has passed to a third generation as her grandchildren get their national park passport book stamped at each stop along the family road trip.
Through SYATT, Ebony showcases her interest in environmental advocacy. During events and activities, she brings awareness to visible signs of failing infrastructure, discusses who pays for the maintenance and highlights sustainable solutions for which people should advocate.
“I use outdoor events as teachable moments because while people have heard of infrastructure, they do not know what it all means,” she says.
Growing Partnerships SYATT meets its goals by growing partnerships that work. One of SYATT’s early partners was Canalway Partners (CP), a nonprofit organization that spearheads projects and programs within the Ohio and Erie Canalway National Heritage Area of Cuyahoga County.
“SYATT and CP primarily partner to bring people to cycle along the Towpath Trail and help with the River Sweep,” says Mera Cardenas, executive director for CP.
During the pandemic, SYATT coordinated a bike ride along the Towpath Trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. More than 40 people participated.
“We use our cultural connections with participants to make our engagement with them fun, relevant and something people crave,” Erika says.
However, SYATT is also aware that the U.S. National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service see meager participation from African Americans at facilities.
In 2017, SYATT partnered with the Tennessee Aquatic Project (TAP), Just Add Water in Northeast Ohio and Collective Approach to Restoring Our Ecosystem (CARES) to get African American youth certified as scuba divers. CARES does citizen science for reef systems, which trains divers to observe what’s in the water, identify species that live in the water and understand how the ecosystem has changed throughout the years.
Just Add Water was instrumental in getting Ebony and Erika to become certified scuba divers.
“We became certified to help lead the youth here in Cleveland,” Ebony says. Since 2017, 12 participants have earned their scuba diving certifications.
In 2020, SYATT began thinking about how grassroots organizations can share resources to engage more African Americans in outdoor activities. This led to the creation of a national organization called Get Black Outside (GBO), which allows these organizations to come together and share information on programming, funding and outdoor activities expertise. GBO then partnered with the U.S. Forest Service, which manages more than 193 million acres of land, and its freshwater snorkeling program.
“We looked at our network and determined which forests might be prepared to bring out a group of 30 to 40 individuals to snorkel, camp and engage in other
Left to Right: Erika, Marcia and Ebony Hood
recreational activities as part of GBO,” says Kimberly Winter, program manager for the U.S. Forest Service.
“The Forest Service also looked at its freshwater snorkel curriculum to see how to use it for different audiences,” says Antoinette Davis, natural resource specialist at the Ocala National Forest. After learning about the partnership with SYATT, Davis “massaged the program” to get African Americans out into the forests.
Another important part of SYATT’s mission is for participants to see themselves and people who look like themselves participating in recreational and outdoor activities. Timothy McCall Jr., of Shaker Heights, wanted to join the snowboarding group in high school, but no one looked like him. Then he discovered SYATT, and the adventures began.
“I will always consider SYATT family because they were the first ones to take me out of the country,” McCall says. “We received surfing lessons and learned about waste management while in Costa Rica.”
Gerald King began rock climbing with SYATT in 2010 at age 10. Next, he ran marathons and engaged in other activities, including bike riding, tennis and skiing.
“The first time I went skiing, I loved it,” says King, who has gone on to receive his black diamond certification, a level of skiing that allows him to ski on any slope or hill at any ski resort. Since turning 18, King also has served as a leader during SYATT events and assisted with keeping count of participants, keeping track of equipment, mentoring and training youth to ski.
Brothers Jiovanni and Johan Rosario began taking snowboarding lessons with SYATT in 2017. They later joined the scuba diving program and became certified divers.
“They are a great trio,” says Jiovanni of the three women of SYATT. “Being able to work at SYATT while working and raising their children is amazing.”
During the next five years, SYATT plans to expand its scuba diving program by deepening its international relationships and citizen science programs, which include science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “We have preliminary relationships in other communities where the climate crisis will become more prevalent,” Ebony says. “As we change, we want to make more youth cohorts so we can [make] those relationships with other communities even deeper.”
– Erika Hood
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