Brightly colored cards and care packages addressed to Ivy Boomershine have been arriving by the handful at the West Monitor Barn in Richmond. Friends and family from her hometown of Wilmette, Illinois have been offering Ivy encouragement as she participates on VYCC’s first ever “assessment crew.”
Dogs on the Hiking Trail? These Ones Rock!
Three AmeriCorps crews are working hard in the field as 15 more crews prepare to head out this weekend. Laura Mills and Rich Basile are leading a crew that calls itself the Pepper Dogs. “[Corps Member] Nick blurted out one day and it stuck,” says Rich. “We have (tree) bark and (rock bar) bite.”
Work-Based Learning
A crew of Winooski High School students is working after school in the fields and classroom. Science is alive and learning is active. To earn a science credit, each student is completing a project of their choice. Abdi S. is measuring growth rates of pepper plants in controlled versus uncontrolled environments; Alex is studying the pollination patterns of bees; Abdi Y. is investigating animal ethics and the effects of factory farming.
Q&A with New Staff
We caught up with two new staff members at the lunch table in the VYCC’s office at the West Monitor Barn. Please join VYCC in welcoming Operations Manager Patrick Pfeifer, and Community Programs Manager John Woodward.
What’s Responsibility got to do with Community?
Olivia Riggins, age 17, spent her 2015 summer in Vermont on a VYCC crew. She returned to her home town of Northfield Minnesota with new views, values, and of course, technical conservation skills.