Jacob Gedetsis, director of ESF's Environmental Writing Program and founder of Write Out.

Write Out Syracuse Awarded $34,000 Community Grant from CNY Community Foundation

Program founded by director of ESF Environmental Writing Program, involves ESF student mentors

07/17/2026

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – July 20, 2026 —  Write Out Syracuse, in partnership with the City of Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Services, received a $34,000 community grant from the Central New York Community Foundation (CNYCF) to support writing workshops and a new “poetry path” installation in city parks.

This fall, Write Out Syracuse and Syracuse’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Services will begin work on the initial design phases of “poetry paths” within the city’s park system. These proposed installations will feature the work of young writers in Syracuse along high-traffic trails celebrating youth literacy and creative expression, while encouraging the public to further engage with urban ecology and outdoor recreation spaces. 

Jacob Gedetsis, director of the Environmental Writing Program at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), is the founder and executive director of Write Out – a local nonprofit that offers afterschool creative writing workshops, in partnership with Syracuse community centers, to get youth excited about writing and storytelling. Since its founding, dozens of ESF students across majors have volunteered and interned with Write Out. 

Gedetsis and Write Out mentors are excited to continue connecting ESF students with the Syracuse community around a shared love for writing and the environment. Gedetsis intends to collaborate with students and faculty across ESF including those connected to the Writing Program’s environmental writing and rhetoric minor, the Department of Environmental Studies’  environmental education and interpretation major, and the Department of Landscape Architecture. He hopes to offer an engaged humanities course connected to this project during the spring 2027 semester. 

“This project encourages Syracuse’s young writers to thoughtfully engage with the city’s more than 1,000 acres of parks while bringing their creative work to a broader audience,” said Gedetsis. “Write Out Syracuse has always believed in young people’s innate ability to tell creative, insightful stories and their great power of bringing people together. By physically placing their works in Syracuse city parks, we’re able to build a stronger bond between our young writers, the natural world and each other. We are so grateful to CNYCF for their support of this work and their commitment to building robust youth programming.”

“This project exemplifies the commitment of ESF faculty to community-engaged learning and mentorship. Through Jacob’s Write Out Syracuse program, our students are sharing their passion for environmental storytelling while building meaningful relationships with middle and high school students across the city,” said ESF President Joanie Mahoney. “We are grateful to the Central New York Community Foundation for its support, which makes it possible to connect ESF students, local youth, and Syracuse’s parks and green spaces in ways that inspire creativity and a lasting sense of place.” 

Support from this grant additionally helps facilitate weekly environmentally-themed writing workshops through ongoing partnerships with seven city park recreation centers and the Girls Inc. at YWCA. Participating middle and high school students will also be exposed to various methods of understanding the natural world through hands-on activities in the city parks.

"We absolutely love partnering with Write Out Syracuse, and the kids love participating in the program," said Syeisha Byrd, commissioner of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs for the City of Syracuse. "It has been so fulfilling to see how the experience helps them find their voices and feel proud of what they create." 

Write Out Syracuse has worked with more than 800 young writers from the ages of 5–18. Each year, Write Out Syracuse publishes a chapbook of student work and holds readings for young people to share their stories with the wider Central New York community. Each week, 20-plus volunteers provide creative writing workshops to local youth. Its goal is to provide youth with the time, space and mentorship to more fully realize their already profound cultural agency and to develop a lifelong love of reading and writing outside of school.

“Getting to work with Write Out Syracuse as an intern in my last semester of school was the most rewarding experience I could have asked for,” said Anna Papantonopoulos, a 2026 ESF graduate. “Even if I had a particularly difficult Monday, I knew my day would get better with Write Out. The young writers we worked with, all from different backgrounds, had one full hour to just express their creativity through words.” 

 Write Out is associated with the Engaged Humanities Network, a collective that supports community centered research, teaching, and creative work across Syracuse and Central New York.

About SUNY ESF

The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) is dedicated to the study of the environment, developing renewable technologies, and building a sustainable and resilient future through design, policy, and management of the environment and natural resources. Members of the College community share a passion for protecting the health of the planet and a deep commitment to the rigorous application of science to improve the way humans interact with the world. The College offers academic programs ranging from the associate of applied science to the Doctor of Philosophy. ESF students live, study and do research on the main campus in Syracuse, N.Y., and on 25,000 acres of field stations in a variety of ecosystems across the state.