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DALLAS — With an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other, 18-year-old GAR High School student Patty Dapas ventured into the Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary on the rainy morning of May 13 and admitted she’s more of a city girl than a person who spends a lot of time in the woods.

But that was OK.

She’s a participant in the Social Fabric Collective — a program that uses photography, field trips, volunteer work and creative projects to help teenagers develop all sorts of skills, both in and out of their comfort zones.

Led by their mentor, freelance photographer Jamie Smith, of Wyoming, the half dozen teens who braved the rain were prepared to pick up litter, just as they had on a previous field trip — but they didn’t find any at this location.

They also clustered around local bird expert Bruce Troy as he identified the call of a crow, a white-breasted nuthatch and other birds.

“They kind of hunker down” because of the rain, Troy said, explaining why he wasn’t seeing or hearing as many warblers and wood thrushes as he might have on a sunnier day.

“Does it help to have teenagers talking and giggling?” Smith asked.

If you want to see a lot of birds, it’s better to avoid making noise, and the Social Fabric Collective group did quiet to listen as Rylan Coker from the North Branch Land Trust, which owns the 17-acre bird sanctuary just off West Center Hill Road, pointed out such species as a shagbark hickory tree and a non-native plant known as garlic mustard.

“Pull out as many as you want,” he said of the latter. “There’s never going to be a shortage.”

As they strolled through the woods, Dapas said she hopes for a career as a photojournalist and Holy Redeemer High School student Will Siejna said he’s interested in films.

But whether or not they’re planning to use cameras in their life’s work, the students said they’ve enjoyed taking part in the 14-week Social Fabric Collective program.

During the past few months, they’ve heard professionals from various fields talk about their jobs; they’ve displayed their own photography at the Fine Arts Fiesta; and, on the same day they visited the sanctuary, they installed bird houses in an open space nearby to provide shelter for bluebirds.

The population of the native bluebird declined between 1920 and 1970, mostly because more aggressive, non-native starlings and sparrows were nesting in cavities the bluebirds might otherwise have used. Bluebird houses are a conservation effort that helps to reverse this trend.

Smith and his wife, Jenni, founded the Social Fabric Collective after they moved back to Northeastern Pennsylvania in 2015. In their description of the program, they explain their philosophy that “by using the camera as a catalyst for discussion and discovery, we empower the next generation to take on tomorrow with empathy, authenticity, conviction and courage. Their experience and photographs strengthen the social fabric that will secure a better world.”

For information about applying for the next Social Fabric Collective class, see socialfabriccollective.org.

One hundred percent of the class receives full or partial scholarship aid, Smith said.

Dallas High School student Lexie Oster, left, and Will Siejna, from Holy Redeemer, determine GPS coordinates at the North Branch Land Trust Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary in Dallas.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_birds1.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas High School student Lexie Oster, left, and Will Siejna, from Holy Redeemer, determine GPS coordinates at the North Branch Land Trust Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary in Dallas. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

North Branch Land Trust Land Protection & Stewardship Coordinator Rylan Coker, left, and Social Fabric Collective founder Jamie Smith discuss plans to deploy bluebird boxes near the Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_birds2.jpg.optimal.jpgNorth Branch Land Trust Land Protection & Stewardship Coordinator Rylan Coker, left, and Social Fabric Collective founder Jamie Smith discuss plans to deploy bluebird boxes near the Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Coughlin student Elizabeth Mendoza, right, and Holy Redeemer student Katie Flanagan install a bluebird box at the Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary in Dallas as part of a Social Fabric Collective project.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_birds3.jpg.optimal.jpgCoughlin student Elizabeth Mendoza, right, and Holy Redeemer student Katie Flanagan install a bluebird box at the Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary in Dallas as part of a Social Fabric Collective project. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

GAR High School student Patty Dapas installs a bluebird box at the Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary in Dallas.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_birds4.jpg.optimal.jpgGAR High School student Patty Dapas installs a bluebird box at the Forest Echo Bird Sanctuary in Dallas. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Students with the Social Fabric Collective stroll through the Fores Echo Bird Sanctuary with Rylan Coker from the North Branch Land Trust and Social Fabric Collective founder Jamie Smith.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_noraingear.jpg.optimal.jpgStudents with the Social Fabric Collective stroll through the Fores Echo Bird Sanctuary with Rylan Coker from the North Branch Land Trust and Social Fabric Collective founder Jamie Smith. Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Students usephotographyto learn, grow

By Mary Therese Biebel

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Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.