1st Two Celebration Videos

We are currently in the process of uploading our Celebration Videos. Round 1 & 2!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8BobCy7Aj0&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF4v7hyvhOM&feature=player_embedded

A Reflection by May

        My AmeriCorps NCCC journey started a year and a half before I stepped foot on the Pacific Region Campus in Sacramento. After I graduated college, I still was unsure what I wanted to do in life. I found out about AmeriCorps through the Peace Corps which I always wanted to be part of from a very young age. Through more research, I found that I was very interested in joining the NCCC branch of AmeriCorps. Unfortunately, I was two weeks late to apply for the fall session. Althought I was disappointed in missing the due date, I had another plan and applied for an Americorps program focusing on education called City Year. I spent my first year out of college working for this educational AmeriCorps program but AmeriCorps NCCC was always on the back burner.
In November 2011, I sent in my application hoping for the best. All required paperworks were done within a month and all I could do at that point was to play the waiting game. As my first Americorps term came to an end, I started to worry that I would not get into Americorps NCCC. I told myself that I would give myself a month after AmeriCorps graduation before I actively applied to other jobs. Sadly, that month came and I still was not accepted. Thus, I applied and accepted a position as a teacher at a private learning center near my home. I had given up my dream for serving another year in AmeriCorps.
Suddenly, two weeks before the Sacramento campus was about to start, I got an email that stated that I was "conditionally accepted" to the Pacific Region campus in Sacramento. I was somewhat disappointed because I have never been out of California before. I thought this would be the opportunity for me to travel around America.
I thought about my decision for a couple of days before I accepted the position. It was hard to tell my employers and my family that I was going away for ten months to serve AmeriCorps but I believe I made the right decision.
As  I write this reflection nine months into the program, I am glad I made this decision. Although I didn't travel as much as I intially hoped, I have gained so much more through this program. As I get ready to leave this program, I leave with a sense of hope for the future and a bundle of memories compressed into one of the longest and shortest ten months of my life.

A Poem by Amber

Blue 4

People with a history

who are still half a mystery

All full of life,

and some strife.

Each engraved with love,

as sweet as a dove,

and intense as storm

for something bigger than self.

Disagreements on the small things

But a shared passion that binds us

Then, Now, Always.

We are Blue 4,

and the world has heard us roar.

A Reflection by Sydney

           It's literally the last day of our stay in the mountains and I'll admit that I'm happy to go. This round was definitely the strangest, and I believe that a lot of us have undergone more dramatic transformations than we anticipated. At this point, all of us have become so comfortable with one another, that the idea of disrupting this strange micro-family makes me feel anxious. I remember when we would return to campus for transition and hangout in each others' rooms, too spent and overwhelmed to interact with non Blue 4 members. Now I'm sitting at our kitchen table in our housing, surrounded by family. Amber is staring at me and eating a truffle that Brad made, Alyssa is untangling her hair, Carolyn is sitting in front of her laptop blasting some awesome-ness, Sarah is sitting next to me. She just leaned on me, I'm going to miss her. Taylor is standing in the doorway chewing and staring. He just summoned me to pack the tent I used eariler. Brad is giving away stuff he doesn't want, and everyone attacked him. He simply let it all drop to the floor. Carolyn just put on "Midnight City" by M83 (at my insistence). What I can't help but think about, is how these moments, this familiarity, this comfortable life we've built, is almost over. This is truly once in a lifetime. I will never be here again, in this kitchen, with these people, listening to this song. It is filling me with a weird nostalgia. I miss this. I miss them, and I haven't even left yet. It's just so surreal, this entire experience feels like a dream. It was only the other day I met these people,and some part of me feels like it was a bit longer than that. This whole program to me is made up of moments like this, where everyone is just around. A part of me is excited to go back to the real world, but to me, these last 10 months have been as real as it gets.

A Reflection by Carolyn

           I was having a discussion over our team's last transition with one of my really good friends on another team. We discussed our feelings about NCCC, and he had a saying about NCCC which I thought described the program to a T. He said, "NCCC isn't a life-changing program. It's life-shaping."
Coming into NCCC, I had zero expectations except for the fact it was going to be one of the most challenging experiences of my life. That much remained true. But as Blue 4 is packing up on the last day of our last project, I took my friend Colin's words to heart. He's right. My life hasn't changed.
In one week I'll be on a luxurious adventure to Hawaii, and then in another week I'll be at my cozy home in Stowe, Vermont. My lifestyle will go back to the way it was before. My friends and family will still be the same. I'll be going to New York City just the same. I'll be going back to college just the same. My life? It's the same. However...
How I shape my life is forever changed. I am changed, and how I will go about living my life will be completely different than it was before. I may be returning to the same life from before, but what I will do within my familiar surrounding is about to change for the better.
I now know what a full week of work is life, and then some overtime. I know the joys of giving back, I know what it's like to be constantly surrounded by people. I understand the meaning of "hard work", and I also know that from all of these experiences and challenges, I will be able to go on ahead in life. I can handle anything that comes my way now.
I may not live with 11 people who can support me like they have, but I also know that I will not only take away the experiences that impacted me, but the people too. Whether it's some of my new best friends on other teams, or the family of a team I live with, I'll carry these peole with me wherever I go.
NCCC didn't change my life. I'm returning to the life behind. NCCC shaped me and the life I am going to lead in the future, and I'll always be eternally grateful for such a gift.

Last Common Ground Submission

Sticks, sticks, lots of sticks.
We pick up sticks all day long.
Saving camp from fires.

Grilled PB & J
for dinner. With a side of
bacon. That's Blue 4.

San Gorgornio.
"Where you headed?" "The summit."
"Wow. You're ambitious."

What are your plans for
life after AmeriCorps?
No clue?  Cool, me too.

 Time to pick up sticks.
Don't put them in a pile,
They must look natural.

Saw a bear at lunch,
tried to follow after it.
What a good idea.

Time to go swimming!
What's that at the bottom there?
Aww, two more dead squirrels.

Last Week at Camp Nawakwa

Brad Winckelmann carries dead branches away from the cabins  as a precaution to prevent the spread of potential forest fires.

Sydney Lawson and Amber Anderson join Brad and move large branches and twigs away from the camp.

Taylor Burback and Brad Winckelmann continue with fuel reduction by raking dead leaves and pine needles away from each building.

Common Ground Haikus

Coyotes at night,
Crying banshees in the dark.
Just go back to sleep.

"New episode of
Game of Thrones?" "Can I steal that?"
"Doo doo doodoo..."

Leftover whipped cream.
Who wants to do the whipped cream
challenge, guys? Michael?

Free bag o' 'mallows.
Let's play Chubby Bunny. One...
Chubby Bunny. Two...

Camp Nawakwa Continued: Painting and Playing, Swimming and Sand Castles

Amber Anderson paints the ceiling of Cabin 20.

Sydney Lawson assists Michael Green in painting the cabin.

The team takes part in creating Blue 4's Positive Wall at the weekly Peer Helper meeting.

While spending the afternoon at Big Bear Lake, Sydney and Alyssa watch as Taylor puts the final touches on the sand castle.

Taylor Burback, Alyssa Pun, and Sydney Lawson enjoy the  day at the beach.

First Week of Round 4: Camp Nawakwa

The path to the lake is right outside the cabin.

The team's living quarters at Camp Nawakwa, Angelus Oaks.

Michael Green reads about the history of Jenks Lake.

Alyssa Pun and Brad Winckelmann, along with fellow teammates, dig out area around the cabin to prepare for a new patio.

May Duong, Sydney Lawson, and Amber Anderson join in to remove rocks and dig out around the cabin.

Sydney Lawson gazes out over the San Bernardino Mountains on the hike to Jenks Lake.

Common Ground Haikus

Big seals on the sand,
Momma and baby playing.
We watch from afar.

Last week in Fort Bragg
kayaking and horseback rides,
sunsets from the coast.

Last Few Weeks in Fort Bragg

May Duong and Brad Winckelmann, along with the help of Gowan, Sydney Lawson , and high school volunteers, the team builds a potato bed.

Brad, Gowan, Michael, Sydney, May, and Carolyn all joined in to work on the bed.

Carolyn Stevens lops away the weeds and blackberry along the fence on the Mendocino coast during the team's last week of the round.

Explore, Harvest, Snail Patrol

Sydney Lawson, Taylor Burbach, and Brad Winckelmann explore the coast and Van Damme State Park.

Taylor Burbach and Sydney Lawson, along with the rest of the team (not pictured), start the work by harvesting lettuce at Noyo Food Forest.

Snails, which are detrimental to the health of the plants at Noyo Food Forest, are collected and disposed of  by members of Blue 4 whenever found.

Common Ground Haikus

While pulling ice plant,
it was Mike v. Carolyn.
Eat bugs for Starbucks.

Lizards, snails, and newts.
While building split rail fences,
We met the locals.

Working on the coast,
We watched for grey whales spouting.
Whale! Whale! Just kidding.

Working with California State Parks

Sarah Gadomski stencils "DPR" (Department of Parks and Recreation) on tables in a building in Russian Gulch State Park near Mendocino, CA. California State Parks recently acquired multiple tables and chairs and assigned us to "brand" them using black paint.

Unopened boxes of tables and chairs purchased by Cal State Parks.

Alyssa Pun stencils "DPR" on a number of chairs. 

In another assignment from Cal State Parks, NCCC Corps Members repaired old fencing in Van Damme State Park, just south of Mendocino, CA. The fencing was installed around campsites in the state parks and by the park's entrance in the 1940s and 1950s. The wood used was from old growth redwoods that were cut down earlier in the century. The fences had deteriorated over time and to repair them, we used other old growth redwoods posts that had been sitting around since the mid 1900s. The wood is naturally resilient to weathering, making it a choice wood for fencing.

NCCC Corps Members continue to repair redwood fencing in Van Damme State Park.

Ice Plant

During our first week working with California State Parks, we were charged with removing ice plant from the coastal areas of Glass Beach. A native from South Africa, ice plant was brought to the California coast around 1900 to stabilize soil along railroad tracks and for general erosion control. An aggressive invasive, ice plant competes with endangered northern California flora. Here, NCCC Corps Members pull the plant and toss it on a tarp to be removed.

Ice plant | Carpobrotus edulis

Alyssa Pun removes ice plant from the Glass Beach coast near Fort Bragg, CA.

Fort Bragg and the North Coast

(Click and drag to rotate 360 degrees.) We arrived early to Fort Bragg, CA and used the extra time to explore the area. This panorama is near the estuary where Pudding Creek meets the Pacific Ocean.

Michael Green stands by the rugged Russian Gulch State Park coast at dusk near Mendocino, CA.

NCCC Corps Members were given a splendid work location this third round of service. Team Blue Four will be spending the next eight weeks in Fort Bragg working with the California State Parks District Office in Russian Gulch and with the Noyo Food Forest.

Conclusion of Round 2

The zen garden Blue 4 constructed, nearly finished.

  

Amber paints with Alma, a participant in the RRR room at Ethel Hart

Taiko drumming class, one of the most popular at Hart

Sarah and Amber sing karaoke with Katherine, a participant in RRR

The team explores the Railroad Museum in Sacramento on the last day of Round 2

                                    

                                     

Common Ground Haikus

Seniors’ talent show,
Singing, belly dance galore.
We’ll miss Ethel Hart.

All done with taxes,
But the season’s not over.
Do you have to file?

Life in Sacramento

For the last three weeks, Blue 4 has been working with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program as well as local START schools and the Ethel Hart Senior Center in the city of Sacramento. This round the team is split up into two groups. Team 1, Brad, Sydney, May, Carolyn, Taylor, and Hillary, worked at the senior center for the first 3 weeks of the round helping staff with maintenance and creating their own programs while Team A, made of up Michael, Sarah, Alyssa, Matt, Amber, and Daniel, worked at different community centers in the mornings doing taxes for low income families and after school START programs in the afternoons. At the beginning of this week the teams have switched and are now working in the others place. This week the teams switched places and settled into their new surroundings with ease. Blue 4 gained a new member this round, Hillary Hines, who is a great addition to the team, and lost a member, Matt, who is greatly missed.

VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, is national program offering free tax return service to low to moderate income families. Volunteers without previous tax experience participate in an intense training program and must achieve a minimum certification of the Basic Level. Members of Blue 4 have varying certifications starting at Basic all the way up to Advanced. Providing this service helps people in need save hundreds of dollars they would normally pay to have their taxes done by a professional tax preparer. As volunteers, the team has not only gained hands on experience perfecting their customer service skills, they now have the knowledge and know how to start a career in the tax field.

Sacramento START’s motto is “Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow” and their mission is to “foster enthusiasm for learning through fun and structured activities in a safe and caring after school environment.” From 3pm, when the school day ends, to 6pm, students at schools in the region of Sacramento spend time completing homework assignments, playing outside, eating snack, and participating in other educational activities. One of the goals of START is to influence and inform the students on ways to lead healthy lifestyles; the staff uses interactive games such as Fitness Dots or Food Bingo to educate them on the importance of being physically fit and having healthy diets.

The Ethel Hart Senior Center, located in the heart of Midtown, Sacramento, provides a wide range of programs and resources for older adults. Classes on arts and crafts, card games, music, and dance are offered for those wishing to gain a new skill or simply to have fun. The center is often used as a venue for social gatherings or special events. Triple R, which stands for Relate, Refresh, Rely, an adult day care program for those with Alzheimer’s, is a major part of the Hart Center as well. Blue 4’s time at the center has been spent participating in a variety of classes, building a Zen garden within the enclosed patio, hosting a talent showcase, assisting staff in running the Meals-On-Wheels lunch everyday, and completing maintenance projects while getting to know the guests.

Common Ground Haikus

Taxes seem boring,
but are very rewarding.
People leave, all smiles.

Red light! Green light! Go!
Coloring, playing, kickball.
Reliving our youth.

Tax Season Begins For Blue 4

Matt and Michael work on tax returns while the START kids eat snack at Peter Burnett Elementary School

Alyssa does fusion beads with the kindergartners 

Sarah and Ms. Patricia's 2nd grade class

Amber and Daniel play soccer with the older classes

Joe Duarte, Sr. Field Clean Up

Blue 4 spends the lunch break observing Harris Hawk trainers from the Sacramento Zoo in the nearby field

 Brad and Sydney enjoy the beautiful weather as they spend a few days raking the park and baseball diamonds

Brad, Sydney, and Alyssa rake leaves onto a tarp while Carolyn and Amber pack leaves into a trailer

Brad, Syd and Alyssa dump leaves in the trailer