Alumni Notes
Alumni Stories
We are enthusiastic to feature any stories or news regarding alumni life on our website, please send information to alumni@vycc.org or using the alumni contact form.
Here's a snapshot of what some VYCC alumni are up to these days:
Bliss Dennen: "I worked at Silver Lake State Park in the summer of 1996, I was on a Watershed Restoration Crew in the summer of 1997, and I was on a Wilderness Crew in the fall of 1999. Although there will always be a special place in my heart for tree revetments and mattocks, I slowly came to realize that my life's work would be spent at the interface between business and the environment. I moved to California, taught Outdoor Education for a while, and then spent three years learning the ropes and ladders of Corporate America. Hungry to gain the education I needed to grow my career, I returned to school to get my master's degree in Environmental Science & Management from UC Santa Barbara. I specialized in Corporate Environmental Management, wrote my thesis on California's Energy-Water Nexus, and completed an internship in High Tech Energy Efficiency at Pacific Gas & Electric. I am now contemplating my next career move. I would love to reconnect with the people from my three crews, so if you're out there then FIND ME!"
Mary McQuiggan: "I hope the VYCC summer is going well. I'm in Boston this summer developing a youth curriculum for the Urban Ecology Institute and leading four crews in greenspace development and tree planting. It's been a challenging summer so far, I'm not much of city person but I know I'll walk away from the experience feeling good about my work. I miss VYCC! I am excited that my sister will be joining a VYCC crew this summer and I'll be there to help send her off!"
Jeff Helms: "I was on the Roving Parks crew in 2004 and on the Wilderness Crew 2 in 2005. Also I was on the Roving 14 crew in the second session in 2005. I really liked doing trail work for the VYCC and camping out in the wilderness. I am currently working for a metal fabricator, NSA industries where I tig weld on the production line. I have been there about two years now. In my spare time I do lots of hiking. I also ski patrol for a mountain near by during the winter. I love you VYCC!!!!!! Think snow!
Brooke Donoghue: "Hi VYCC! The first time I worked for VYCC (2004) was on the Woodstock Community Crew, and my crew leader was Heather! I had a lot of fun. And this summer will be my fourth summer working for the VYCC. I am a senior at South Royalton High School, and I am graduating in June! This experience working for the VYCC has been truly amazing, and I plan to keep working for you guys, it's a great thing to do. I get to meet lots of different people and the staff at VYCC are amazing as well. Thanks for giving me a chance to work for you guys! I love it."
Amy Grotta: "I was a wilderness crew leader in 1993 and 1995. After working for VYCC I spent two years in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, and then moved to the west coast to attend graduate school. I am an Extension Forester for Washington State University in the Seattle area. I married my co-crew leader, Dave Dreher in 1999 and we have two kids, Anna (b. 2002) and Eben (b. 2006)."
James Chitwood: "Hello VYCC! I was on two of the 2003 wilderness crews and loved every minute of it. I'm in the Army Infantry now and am currently deployed to Afghanistan. I think back on that summer a lot. I fell in love with nature and Vermont that summer. I was born in Georgia and moved to Vermont when I was fourteen. My father told me about the VYCC a year before I was eligible to apply. The very next year I applied, and the rest is a memory. My experience with VYCC is what has helped me decide that Vermont is where I will return and attend college when I am done with the Army life. I would like to give you more information but duty calls and we have a re-supply chopper inbound on our location and I must go. I look forward to hearing from someone and would like to get more info at a later time. Thank you for the services you offer to your alumni. "ALL THE WAY!""
Katherine Bittner: "I was on the Wilderness Crew in Jamaica State Park in 2000. Since then I have graduated from the University of Richmond, VA in 2005 with a degree in international studies. Then I spent a year volunteering in Central America with a community development NGO for women."
Sarah Beth Zisa: "I was on a Wilderness Crew and a Roving Crew in the summer of 2001. I loved VYCC! I am currently a graduate student in environmental policy at Brown University."
Aaron Fishbone: "I was on a Roving Crew in the summer of 2002. Since then I have done trips with the Student Conservation Association, Outward Bound, and NOLS, and VYCC was in some ways the most rewarding of all. Since graduating from UVM I have been living in Washington D.C. working to develop youth programming. I have worked overseas setting up and teaching at youth advocacy, human rights, and NGO capacity building projects. I am currently employed by two organizations - the Open Society Institute and the International Debate Education Association."
Edward Canapary and Andrea Wieschenberg Canapary: "We worked for the VYCC for 2 seasons as Wilderness Crew Leaders 1993 and 1994. In 1995 we worked in the office planning and directing the field programs. Next we moved out to California and worked with a Corps based out of Yosemite National Park. Edward is now working for the National Park Service in the Trails Division. He does trail assessments and some avalanche work. We have 2 daughters (Maya and Dawn). In the spring I teach a Natural Resources class to the CCC (California Conservation Corps) crews that come to Yosemite, and I work at a town library."
Carol Haskins: "I worked at Branbury State Park 1998, 1999 and 2000 - a lot has happened since working for VYCC. I finished my bachelor's in Environmental Science in 2002 at University of Maine - Farmington. After that, I worked at a compost lab, a summer camp, and then the Maine Conservation Corps, where I served 2 terms as a Watershed/Environmental Educator and Volunteer Leader at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Now, I am working on a drinking water study with the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the Augusta, Maine office."
Alantha Garrison (formerly Williams): "I was on the Burlington Community Crew in 1999. I then moved out to Colorado and got my degree in Geology with a minor in Biology in 2003 from Western State College of Colorado. I now work as an Engineering Geologist in Los Angeles County, California, and help plan where development is going to be built and the limits of the development. I feel grateful that I was able to be a part of the VYCC because it taught me to respect my environment and love everything about it!"
