>> Jeff C.: This week on "Friends and Neighbors."

>> Jeff Z.: I wanna see great skate parks in our community.

I wanna see safe skate parks in our community.

And I never wanna see the dilapidated skate parks we had in the past.

So we said, "Let's show the towns that this has a true need, "a real need, and something that should be funded."

So we started raising money for it to get the ball rolling'.

We can make a place where all of these kids are gonna have something to do.

>> We believe at Challenger that science is for everyone, as my tee shirt says.

And we know that in the past, you know, mostly kids came through here, but we really know that science is not for just kids.

Nobody's too old for science.

And we want everybody to unlock their curiosity and to enjoy hands-on activities and just to enjoy learning because learning is a lifelong thing and you don't stop.

>> Edward: The Chicago region is actually one of the most biodiverse areas in the U.S. and North America.

We have a tremendous amount of plants and animals that rely on the various ecosystems here in our region.

>> Rafi: A body of water like Lake Michigan that's over 300 miles long really produces a natural migration path.

And they get to the bottom of the lake, and whether or not they're gonna start going north or coming south, they like to rest there.

But because of industry and because of Chicago, they'll push over to us.

It is perfect for birds, both to live here year-round but also on their migration.

(bright music) >> Dale: Doing as much as you can as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short.

And the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

(upbeat music) >> I have a very strong connection to other students.

Everyone makes an effort to help each other.

I'll remember the feeling of being here, the feeling that I was a part of a family.

>> Narrator: Shopping for fruits and vegetables in the Strack & Van Til produce department is a feast for the senses, with produce picked at the peak of freshness.

From apples and avocados to pineapples and peppers, treat yourself to the best quality fruits and vegetables.

Find them at your local Strack & Van Til store.

>> Welcome to "Friends and Neighbors," the Lakeshore PBS program that explores what it means to live in Northwest Indiana, celebrating the idea that behind all the good things in the region are good people making it happen.

I'm your host, Jeff Casey, managing director of the Towle Theater in Hammond, Indiana.

When skate parks in Northwest Indiana began to deteriorate and shut down, Jeff Zielinski felt obligated to make a change.

Seeing the potential, he started a collective of skateboarders and community-minded people to reestablish the parks as an outlet for an often misunderstood activity.

(lively rock music) >> Skate parks, skateboarding, biking, scootering.

We are the one place where you don't have to kick kids out of the house and tell 'em to go practice.

The Driftwood Collective started six years ago when the local skate parks in our area were failing.

The skate parks are one of the most utilized pieces of equipment of any county.

We have more people at a skate park than you do your baseball field, than your football field, than your soccer field.

But yet it gets some of the least amount of funding.

I wanna see great skate parks in our community.

I wanna see safe skate parks in our community.

And I never wanna see the dilapidated skate parks we had in the past.

So we said, "Let's show the towns that this has a true need, "a real need, and something that should be funded."

So we started raising money for it to get the ball rollin'.

I did a little basic research and just took a leap and started a 501(c)(3) organization.

We said we're gonna raise money for the local skate parks.

At that time, we really didn't know how.

But then I got connected with some of the local skate shops, and said, "You know, let's host some events."

The Illiana Skateboarding Circuit was first just a one-stop program.

It was just a competition.

The first year we hosted it over at Hammond, over a hundred people showed up.

Said, "We got something here."

So we did that.

We kept it going.

We said, "You know what?

Let's expand."

Because if we travel across all the parks and get all of these guys engaged and get all of them connected and all the skaters knowing each other, we can make something big here.

We can make a place where all of these kids are gonna have something to do.

Because what motivates you to play baseball?

It's not the practice, it's the game.

So let's make the game.

So that's what we're doing.

The 5 stop circuit is our five-stop big game to where everyone can come out and they can actually compete.

And keep 'em motivated throughout the year, keep 'em skating, and keep them accelerating.

(energetic rock music) It's a 5 stop circuit.

They'll make first, second, and third in their division here, and they'll win prizes for it.

And then they earn points for each place that they get, is a certain point level.

All of those points get added up at the end.

And the winner of the circuit gets a one-year season pass to the Asylum Skate Park in Lake Bluff, Illinois.

That's the large indoor facility that has a large street section.

It's got a bowl, mini ramp, vert wall.

So that way these guys are skating all year long.

Anyone that comes in, they register.

Anyone who buys a shirt.

Anyone who says they just wanna donate.

All of that money goes right back to the public skate parks, 100% of that.

And that's for their continued maintenance in support of the local skate park.

Because if we show that we're caring for the parks, the towns are seeing it.

And so, then they start caring for the parks.

And they say, "You know what?

"There's a lot of youths.

"There's a lot of kids.

"There's a lot of people here "that are really using this and enjoying this."

(energetic rock music continues) Some of the other things that we do is we advocate for local skate parks.

So whenever a skate park comes up in the region, I'm generally sending out the surveys and getting the towns connected with the local skaters to get feedback on what obstacles and what resources they wanna see the skate park.

So we send out all of those.

We aggregate that data.

So not only do we to get the towns connected, but we help them figure out what exactly their skate park should look like.

And to help get them connected with different designers in the industry to build a skate park that they're looking for.

At the Driftwood Collective, we have around 20 volunteers each and every year consisting of a lot of the parents of riders, consisting of people that just loved skating.

Some of our judges have team riders for different organizations.

So the Driftwood Collective is a group of people that all just come together to make these events work, to make it go, give these kids a place to be.

(lively rock music) There's a certain sense of freedom that you get when a skate park comes up.

Because a lot of these guys, they don't have a place to escape.

And if you are someone who maybe team sports don't work for you, maybe you're a single-parent household.

Maybe there isn't that type of financial ability to afford some of the other teams sports that are around.

Skateboarding is a low barrier to entry.

Anybody can do it.

You can do it at any time of day.

As opposed to the baseball field, where, you know, they're gonna lock it up when they're done.

And if you're not on the team, you're not playin'.

Skate parks are not like that.

It opens a door for everybody.

It doesn't matter what your age.

It doesn't matter your gender.

It doesn't matter anything.

You come out, you skate.

(lively rock music continues) Every one of these kids, we know their name.

We see 'em at the park every day.

You get to know 'em.

And there's no coaches at a skate park, but there's always the guy who knows the trick you don't know who is now your default coach.

By defacto, we are helping each other out at all times, kind of exploring this new territory together.

There's no instruction book to skateboarding.

There's no playbook.

There's no guru.

There's no nothing.

So it's you and your friends out there kind of discovering how to take this piece of wood on wheels and make it do something amazing.

>> To learn more or to get involved with Driftwood Collective, visit driftwoodskate.com.

The migration of birds is symbolically and quite literally a signal of change and the cyclical nature of life.

The Indiana Dunes offers a rich tapestry of biodiverse habitats that attracts a great variety of bird species.

Many birders spend hours waiting for an opportunity to catch a fleeting moment by eye or with the click of a camera shutter.

"Friends and Neighbors" was lucky enough to catch up with park ranger Rafi Wilkinson, and Brad Bumgardner of the Indiana Audubon Society at the Annual Indiana Dunes Birding Festival.

(rhythmic piano music) >> Here at the Indiana Audubon, we do a lot of research, conservation, education all around Indiana.

We are at the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival.

We are timed with the convergence of spring bird migration.

We've had over 350 bird species seen in the Indiana Dunes.

We have nearly 1,000 birdwatchers from around the country here this weekend to enjoy this amazing migration.

We are at a record attendance this year.

So we are seeing this renewed interest in birds.

People are looking to get outside to an outdoor event.

You can go on hourly bird walks and actually build bluebird boxes and crafts.

And so, a lot of stuff for beginning birders that are just looking to kinda learn more about it.

>> Indiana Dunes is really a special place.

And most people just drive by, and they don't realize what a truly unique place this is.

Despite only being 15,000 acres and despite being a very urban park with a steel mill in the middle of our park, we're in the top five of the most biodiverse national parks.

And that, of course, produces every little niche habitat that a bird or other animal would like.

There's a lot of birds that wanna move along the shore.

We have that.

There's birds that need very dense forests.

We have that.

We have prairies.

Another really important part is that we're right on the Lake Michigan Flyway.

A body of water like Lake Michigan that's over 300 miles long really produces a natural migration path.

And they get to the bottom of the lake, and whether or not they're gonna start going north or coming south, they like to rest there.

But because of industry and because of Chicago, they'll push over to us.

It is perfect for birds, both to live here year round, but also on their migration.

(airy string music) >> A lot of these neo-tropical migrants, so these are orioles and tanagers and warblers, have been wintering in Costa Rica.

They are now coming back up north, and these birds are in their full song, full colors.

Right now I'm hearing a oriole chatter off here in the tree line.

They'll come back in the fall.

A lot of times they're more muted.

They're not singing as much.

There's actually more birds 'cause they're done nesting and all the young are out.

But it's the spring migration that really people love.

It's a return of a promise, and that was a promise to return.

So these birds left us, and now they're back here in May.

Of that 350 species of birds we see, it's a large diversity.

So out on Lake Michigan we have the loons and ducks.

Here in the forest areas, in the fields, like behind me, a lot of sparrows, warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, mentioned the Orioles.

There's also gonna be a different things like kingfishers and hawks.

And some are more unique birds that you're gonna be able to see, whether in the trees are up here in the sky.

(airy string music continues) For me as a birdwatcher, when I originally moved here to Chesterton, it was kinda going into a candy store.

Not only does it have the most species, but you get the most magnitude of total birds that congregate here.

And so it just great.

Any kind of habitat in Indiana Dunes is hosting more birds than anywhere else.

One signature species we see here is the sandhill crane.

And the eastern population has a hundred thousand birds that live east of the Mississippi.

A third of its entire population needs the Indiana Dunes and its flyaway.

And so, that just shows the importance of this whole region for one species and then all 350 as well.

Birds, I think, have a really strong interest for a lot of folks.

And partly because of that bright color, because they can fly.

We kind of look at that wonder a flight.

And they're seen as what we call charismatic megafauna.

So something that we can really emotionally attach to.

And so, in addition to the joy that we get from birds, they're great indicators for a lot of things that are going on in the environment.

And for these birds, we're seeing a lot of the signs of climate change be affected by them.

And so they are coming up earlier in migration now.

They're staying later.

They're also being pushed farther north as the warmer air comes in.

And so, then they're gonna run into habitat that isn't changing fast enough too for them.

And so, there's a lot of risks that these birds are facing, not only through human obstacles, but through climate change as well.

>> We realize how special it is to have 15 miles of public beach.

I think the number one thing is to try to go beyond the beach.

You know, definitely go see it, have fun swimmin' in Lake Michigan, but then go on a hike someplace else.

Come to right where we're standing and sit for half an hour or do that and sort of experience the other side of Indiana Dunes.

'Cause of all of those habitats, we have trails and other programs.

Go to Pinhook Bog in the summer when we offer a tour and see insect-eating plants and orchids.

1/3 of Indiana's rare or endangered plants have populations in this little bog that's only 100 acres.

It's just a phenomenal, super special place.

The irony is it's right on the Indiana Toll Road.

And millions of people drive by it and never even know that there's such a cool little place there.

Go to the beach, but then find out what really makes this place unique.

>> Space, the final frontier.

Hammond, Indiana.

While these things may not seem to go together, the Challenger Learning Center offers people of all ages the opportunity to learn and play amongst the stars.

Whether it's a simulated space mission or a laser show in the planetarium, the Challenger Learning Center won't let you forget that science is for everyone.

>> [Electronic Narrator] Game begin.

(retro video game music) >> Challenger Learning Center is a science center that caters to families and students and children and people of all ages for different STEM or science activities.

The thing we're most known for are our simulated space missions.

In our missions, there are a lot of different positions that the students can get in that relate to different aspects of STEM, like the navigation team.

And their job would be very much different from the communications officer.

So they're getting a taste of a lot of different aspects of science, technology, engineering, and math when they are in those simulated missions.

All the Challenger Centers exist to serve as a living memorial to the seven astronauts that were lost in the Challenger explosion in 1986.

When our students first enter for a field trip, for example, we talk to them about the Challenger disaster.

And we talk about how accidents happen and how sometimes they're due to errors, sometimes due to engineering problems, but that science still will carry on and we will continue to learn and build off of those mistakes.

I think they felt it was necessary to do something like a learning center because it would be a better way of carrying on their memory and to continue to have children and even now adults learning about science.

And that, you know, those astronauts would have wanted to promote that curiosity and that continuation of learning despite the tragedy that occurred.

>> [Electronic Narrator] 3, 2, 1.

(rocket blares) (retro video game music) >> So we have three space missions at Challenger.

They're called Rendezvous with a Comet, Return to the Moon, and Expedition Mars.

Probably our most popular mission's called Rendezvous with a Comet.

And the students are going on a Discovery mission for Comet Encke, but something happens in the middle of it.

And we might be going after a completely new and different comet.

And then we get to name the comet at the end because we discovered it.

So that one's a really exciting mission that the kids really enjoy.

And what all the missions have in common is that they have certain jobs that they're assigned to and tailored to what they're good at and what they are interested in.

And they follow a similar format with the mission control, the spacecraft, and things like that.

What's funny about the missions is it does differ based on how old the students are.

Because they will get through more of their tasks and they will find more emergencies.

Like during our missions, different things come up based on what the students can complete or what they can get finished.

And when you have an older group of students that's a little more capable and a little more comfortable with everything, they get farther in the mission and new things come up.

So it can be a completely different mission but with the same basic storyline and mechanics.

(chiming music) We believe at Challenger that science is for everyone, as my tee shirt says.

And we know that in the past, you know, mostly kids came through here, but we really know that science is not for just kids.

Nobody's too old for science.

And we want everybody to unlock their curiosity and to enjoy hands-on activities.

And just to enjoy learning, because learning is a lifelong thing and you don't stop.

So having adult groups is really fun for us 'cause it changes it up a little bit, but it also allows us to bring something new to them that they might not have experienced before.

And to let them enjoy some of the things that kids get to do.

(retro video game music) When an adult group comes in here, I think they come in just really ready to have fun.

And they wouldn't be as concerned about getting the work done as the students would be.

They just are enjoying the fact that they're accomplishing their tasks, and they get to enjoy the fun aspects of the different sequences we run.

And we do modify the missions a little bit.

Like we have a Valentine's Day mission that we run for couples every February if we can.

And we make it a little silly and a little cheesy, and they just laugh and enjoy it the whole time.

(bright electronic music) If you and a group of friends or family want to come, you would just have to book it in advance.

We would schedule a time for you to come, an hour time slot, and we would make sure we had two staff members there to give you that tour and to do the planetarium show.

So you could certainly schedule a time just for friends and family.

We don't offer walk-in kind of thing at the moment.

Eventually the plan has been that we would like to expand and become more of a science center.

We'd still have our space missions and some of the labs that we had offered before, but we wanna expand and have things like exhibits and have more opportunities for a school group on a field trip or a family on a weekend.

So that's hopefully in our future.

You know, we have a lot of ideas about that.

(airy electronic music) I love the missions.

That's my favorite thing that we offer at Challenger.

And I enjoy being the mission commander who's in the spacecraft because I love the hands-on activities that they do in there.

I love the excitement that the kids have.

I love listening to them so surprised when they walk in there and see how cool everything looks.

And it's just so much fun because they forget that they're on a field trip or they forget that they're pretending, and they just get really into it and seeing them at the end.

That's my favorite part about working here for sure.

>> To book your next mission, visit clcnwi.com.

The Shedd Aquarium organizes and funds many efforts toward conservation.

Volunteers come together in teams and get hands-on experience making environments more suitable for the animals in our area.

Conservation coordinator Edward Warden was kind enough to explain conservation and how we can all do our part to make a difference.

(bright electronic music) >> The Chicago region is actually one of the most bio-diverse areas in the U.S. and North America.

We have a tremendous amount of plants and animals that rely on the various ecosystems here in our region.

We're really blessed by having all kinds of different habitat types that allow for that high degree of diversity.

So for example, we have over 4,000 different plants species that are found here in Chicagoland, more than 300 species of birds, dozens of amphibians and reptiles, and thousands and thousands of insects.

The list could go on and on.

It's truly mind boggling, the amount of life that lives among us, even in areas that are highly densely urban.

We have numerous different types of aquatic ecosystems.

Certainly the most obvious ones are any local rivers or creeks.

Maybe your local pond.

Certainly the Great Lakes are big example.

But then even ones that maybe people don't think of as much like a bog or special kinds like fens or swamps or marshes.

Those are all really important aquatic ecosystems that are different and unique in their own way but still just as important for our larger Chicagoland habitat.

So in the Great Lakes as a whole, 22 million pounds of trash, specifically plastic debris, make their way into the Great Lakes every year.

About half of that ends up here in Lake Michigan.

And that's due to the large cities like Chicago or Milwaukee or a number of others that are all along the shores of Lake Michigan.

There's a couple of different ways in which Shedd is trying to address plastic pollution in the Great Lakes that are looking at ways to address how we use plastics and styrofoam in our industries and how we can reduce them.

Additionally, we have opportunities for volunteers to join us out on our local waterways, beaches, and shorelines to help collect some of the debris that we see piling up.

In a single year, we can have a couple of hundred volunteers pick up thousands of pounds of trash just on Chicago beaches, much less volunteers that are out there all throughout the Great Lakes collecting up trash and debris.

The conservation department and team here at Shedd works at numerous aquatic habitats throughout the Chicago area, all with kind of their own different focus or emphasis.

So one of the areas that we work in is local forest preserves, focus on a femoral wetlands to conserve local amphibian species.

We actually have about 13 different species of amphibians, frogs, toads, salamanders that call the Chicago area home.

And they're all highly threatened by various forms of habitat destruction and degradation and water pollution.

So what we do is we go out with volunteers, and just with some simple hand tools, we remove invasive species brought over from other parts of the world that are harming these ecosystems, remove them, and try to restore these waterways and ponds for these sensitive amphibian species.

Additionally, at beach habitats all along the lakefront here in Chicago, and even just beyond Chicago, we're out collecting debris and trash too, removed from certainly the water column, and help wildlife and ourselves.

But we're also restoring dune ecosystems at many of these sites, which are important for reducing erosion, creatin' important habitat for lots of wildlife species and a number of great benefits.

(bright acoustic guitar music) One of the biggest ways that we can help our local wildlife is ensuring that they have space to live and thrive.

And that can take a lot of different forms.

Certainly that can involve going out to your local forest reserve or your local park and helping restore and protect those habitats.

But that can also take the form of, say, planting a garden in your home.

Even a small, tiny little backyard could potentially be a really important space for something like a butterfly or a bird.

And so, by planting native plants or trees along your street way, you're creating that habitat for these creatures to just live in our communities alongside us.

Additionally, certainly doing best practices in terms of recycling, making sure we're disposing of our trash properly.

And then also calling on your representatives to let them know that these are the things that matter.

They need to know from and hear from you that, "I care about the wildlife and community.

"I care about plastic pollution in my community."

And the more that we speak up, the more that they can then take that and take meaningful action.

>> To find out more about conservation at the Shedd Aquarium, visit sheddaquarium.org.

That wraps another episode of "Friends and Neighbors."

I'm your host, Jeff Casey.

As always, we're looking for feedback and suggestions.

Do you have a friend that goes above and beyond to make their community a better place?

A neighbor that has a funky local shop you think we should know about?

Email us at friends@lakeshorepublicmedia.org.

Maybe next time we'll highlight the unique people, places, and experiences that are your Northwest Indiana favorites.

Until then, be kind and celebrate your friends and neighbors.

>> Dale: Doing as much as you can as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short.

And the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

>> Almost every single professor I've had, I'm on a first-name basis.

By building that relationship with faculty, I was able to get involved with research.

It's one thing to read about an idea in a book versus physically doing it and seeing the results.

(upbeat music) >> Narrator: Strack & Van Til is your wedding planning partner.

Choose handcrafted designs by the trained floral designers in our floral department.

Plan a memorable meal for your reception from our delicious catering menu.

And let our bakery artisans design the wedding cake of your dreams.

Visit strackandvantil.com for details.

(bright music) (light piano music)