Columbia River Youth Corps

Columbia River Youth Corps (CRYC)

We are a school year Service Corps and summertime Conservation Corps program,
located in beautiful Columbia County, on the mighty Columbia River between
Astoria and Portland.

The Youth Corps began in the fall of 1995
operating out of a 10’ by 12’ office in the Columbia County Parks Department facility.
The Youth Corps partnered with the OYCC and St. Helens School District as a pilot project through Cascade Education Corps in Forest Grove. Today, our campus is centered in a little
white schoolhouse on Bachelor Flat Road near the County Fairgrounds.

The staff
consists of one teacher and one crew leader/project director.
We expanded the program from the original 6 students to 16. They come from high
schools within the county, primarily Scappoose and St. Helens. These students find
great success within our integrated program which includes a traditional classroom
and rigorous hands-on field work in their community. These two investments the
students make in themselves and in their greater community pay the double dividend
of academic achievement and active civic responsibility.

Our coursework
closely mirrors that of any other high school, but the delivery is centered on personal
development, vocational skills, environmental stewardship, and team building.