News - Vermont Youth Conservation Corps

VYCC’s Online Holiday Auction: December 1-14

Kristin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:55:30 +0000

The VYCC’s annual Online Holiday Auction is quickly approaching and we need your help! The VYCC is poised to receive $400,000 in stimulus funding. However, to receive the funding, we must first provide a matching $100,000. Without the matching funds, the VYCC will not receive the stimulus funding. You can help us achieve this goal by making a donation to the VYCC’s statewide Online Holiday Auction.

Click here to make a donation!

Donations can be as simple or creative as you want. Here are some examples of great past gifts:
• Gift certificates
• Artwork
• Gift baskets
• Oil changes
• Financial or legal services
• Cooking classes
• Weekend getaways
• Ski passes…and everything in between!

We are partnering with the Vermont Mountain Bike Association,the Catamount Trail Association, and the Moosalamoo Association to create our largest auction yet. Combined, our mailing lists have over 10,000 names. Making a donation is simple, it’s tax deductible, and it’s a great way to get your business’s name in front of thousands of eyes as they do their holiday shopping.

Your donation will support the VYCC’s efforts to create jobs and change lives. Each year, we complete priority conservation projects in nearly every county in Vermont. In 2009, we enrolled over 540 Crew Members and provided them with meaningful jobs during a time when employment opportunities are scarce. With your help, we can continue this important work.

For more information or to make a donation, contact Kristin Smith at kristin.smith@vycc.org or 802.434.3969 x122.

Thank you, from all of us at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps!

Now Hiring: Administrative Coordinator

Kristin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:40:17 +0000

The VYCC is currently taking resumes for a full-time Administrative Coordinator to work at Headquarters in Richmond, VT. The Administrative Coordinator plays an important, behind-the-scenes role in helping our VYCC crews run like butter! Primary responsibilities will include fiscal bookkeeping, office supply and equipment management, technology user support for day-to-day operations, and a variety of administrative tasks associated with operating VYCC’s field programs. We are accepting applications until the position is filled, with the hopes of hiring someone to start on January 4, 2010.

To apply, send a cover letter, resume, and references to Jason Buss at jason@vycc.org. For more information, you can email Jason or reach him at 802.434.3969 x134.

Click on the Administrative Coordinator Job Description for full details.

BTC Crews on YouTube

Kristin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:04:59 +0000

Now in its fourth year, the VYCC’s School Program is expanding exponentially! For the 2009-10 school year, our program grew from five School Crews to nine. Our new partnership with the Barre Technical Center draws an additional 48 students into the program. Corps Members on the BTC Crews complete community-based work projects that incorporate educational lessons and teach them to take personal responsibility for all of their actions. Crews are led by two VYCC School Instructors, who are hired from all over the country and bring a wealth of experience to their roles. School Intructors’ experiential curriculum helps students who struggle with the traditional school environment overcome their pitfalls and become excited about learning.

Below is a YouTube video about the BTC Crews made by Dave Schilling, VYCC School Instructor at Cabot High School. Great work Dave!

Corps Members Slideshow: A day in the life…

Kristin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:34:12 +0000

What’s it like to be a VYCC Corps Member? We work hard, maintain trails, get muddy, build puncheon, and restore natural areas through erosion control and invasive species eradication. When not working, our residential crews camp out beneath the stars, cook meals over stoves, discuss controversial articles from the VYCC’s WoRd book, and partake in lighthearted shenanigans! Over four weeks of “roughing it” in the wilderness, we work together to strengthen communities and make friendships that last a lifetime.

Still having a hard time imagining a VYCC crew? Check out our slideshow of crew journal excerpts, WoRD articles, and pictures from the 2009 season!

*To read the WoRD articles and crew journals, we suggest you view the slideshow in full screen mode. After clicking play, click the full-screen button at the bottom right hand corner of the picture.

WisCorps – Now Hiring Youth Development AC Member

Kristin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:47:24 +0000

Spread the VYCC message, Midwest style! The Wisconsin Youth Conservation Corps is hiring a motivated, confident, and outgoing individual to serve as a Youth Development AmeriCorps Member. WisCorps was founded last year by the VYCC’s very own Matt Brantner–congrats Matt! The Youth Development role is an exciting opportunity to help one of the nation’s newest Youth Corps develop and expand throughout the state. Passionate about conservation and leadership development? Help WisCorps achieve its mission: “To develop leadership, self-confidence, and a strong work ethic in youth and young adults through the active stewardship of Wisconsin’s natural resources.”

Read the Youth Development AmeriCorps Member job description for full details.

To learn more about WisCorps, e-mail Matt Brantner at matt@wiscorps.org or visit www.wiscorps.org.

November 5th Update: The Youth Development AmeriCorps position has been filled!

VT Trail Symposium – Oct. 24

Kristin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:12:33 +0000

The Vermont Trails and Greenways Council is hosting their third annual Trail Symposium on October 24 at the Kehoe Education Center in Castleton, VT. This is a great opportunity to learn about trail theory, trail grants and permitting, and different methods of trail maintenance. Rumor has it that they have excellent food as well!

Crew members of all types are encouraged to participate. For more information, visit the VT Trails and Greenways website.

To register, fill out the Trail Symposium form below. Note that 2009 crew members receive a discount!

VT Trail Symposium – Registration Form

Elmore wins Park of the Year!

Kristin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:49:17 +0000

On September 10th, it was announced that Elmore State Park was the recipient of this year’s Forest, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) Park of the Year award for Region IV. This is the first time the park has won the award during Elmore’s eighteen year history and also the first time a VYCC-run park has won in Region IV!

There were many contributing factors to Elmore’s success during this 2009 season: the decisive leadership of the Park Rangers Chris Brader and Tiffany Soukup, the high profile visitor programming that reached over 1,500 campers led by Park Educators Anthony Christiano and Travis Quetel, and the hard work and attention to detail of the seven Crew Members throughout the summer. All of these points came together to the backdrop of supportive Headquarters staff in Richmond and friendly FPR regional supervisors.

The single most important theme that set Elmore above the rest, however, was the crew’s ability to find the fun in their work. They garnered such a positive reaction from visitors that they received over three hundred praise-filled comment cards, upbeat word of mouth publicity, and high attendance numbers at park events. It was obvious to everyone that they were hard working and quick to laugh, truly exemplifying the spirit of the Youth Corps at its best. Winning Region IV Park of the Year for 2009 is a true lesson in how hard work can pay off and an experience that the Elmore crew can take with them for the rest of their lives.

Thanks for a great 2009 Summer Season,
The Elmore Crew

Monitor Barn Film Event: Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea”

Jason — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:42:05 +0000

On Friday, September 18th the VYCC invites you to a showing of Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” at the West Monitor Barn. The film will begin at 7:00pm, it is free of charge, and light refreshments will be served. Please join us as we watch and celebrate the breathtaking scenes from America’s National Parks in Ken Burns’ newest film.

Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature’s most spectacular locales — from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska — The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background — rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy. (Text taken from PBS website)

This event is an extension of the VYCC’s and Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Park’s on-going partnership which now includes traditional trail crews, a summer camp for local youth, internships, and of course the VermontFutures school program in Woodstock. The only thing more extraordinary than Vermont’s only national park is the staff who work there – I hope you can join us!

Additional information about the evening can be found online at www.vycc.org or by contacting Cailie Burns at 802.434.3969 x113.

School Program Start Up

Kristin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:06:33 +0000

On Sept. 2 the VYCC’s School Program jumped into action with the program’s largest Circle Up to date! Over 80 Corps Members joined our School Instructors and HQ staff at the West Monitor Barn for a day of orientation, team-building, and “get to know you” activities. For the 2009-10 school year, the School Program expanded to include Harwood Union, Spaulding High, Twinfield/Cabot, and U32/Montpelier in addition to our previous partnerships with Center for Technology – Essex, Champlain Valley Union, Lamoille Union, Mount Mansfield Union, and Woodstock Union. If yesterday was a preview for things to come, this year’s School Program will be bursting with energy, hard work, and great hands-on learning.

Good luck to our School Corps Members and School Instructors in the coming Fall semester!

For more information about our School Program, please contact Kat Coons (kat.coons@vycc.org), Christina Goodwin (christina.goodwin@vycc.org), or Tim Birmingham (tim.birmingham@vycc.org).

Over 80 School Corps Members joined us at the West Monitor Barn for Start Up!

Summer 2009 Photos!

Kristin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:37:52 +0000

Relive your VYCC experience by checking out our photos on Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/28466690@N08/

Do you have a great photo from your VYCC Crew? Email them to Kris at kristin.smith@vycc.org or snail mail to VYCC c/o Kris Smith 1949 East Main St. Richmond, VT 05477.

Who knows, it may end up on our website!