Welcome to the April 21, 2009 issue of E-News.

In this Issue

	Come Lend a Hand! Green Up at the Monitor Barns
	On the Land
	Nature Trivia
	Support the VYCC: 2009 Spring Appeal
	Park Educators
	A Great Gap Year Opportunity

Faces Behind Our Success

Our Champlain Valley Union School team has been hard at work and will graduate from the VYCC in June. This team just completed a major weatherization project for ReCycle North, and is now preparing the land for farming. The produce from this summer’s garden will produce food for local food shelves and schools. Generous support and thoughtful encouragement by NRG Systems of Hinesburg, VT was instrumental in the success of this school crew.

Volunteers Needed

Denim & a Few Diamonds:  our biggest event of the year. Contact Kristen Kozik at 802.434.3969 x113

Garden Volunteers, at the West Monitor Barn:  growing food for our crews and local food shelves. Contact Erin Seward at 802.434.5200

Handyman Projects, small, interesting, and important projects:  from one hour to on-going. Contact Keegan Tierney at 802.434.3969 x141

Master Gardeners:  develop and implement a master plan for Monitor Barns. Contact Keegan Tierney at 802.434.3969 x141

Alumni Coordinator:  help create events and ways for our 5000 alumni to reconnect. Contact Abigail Mendenhall at 802.434.3969 x138

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Come Lend a Hand! Green Up at the Monitor Barns

VYCC Farm and Garden Revitalization on Friday, May 1 at 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

The VYCC is cleaning up the East Monitor Barn and surrounding lands to prepare them for agricultural production. Projects will include gardening, landscaping, and general clean up in and around the Barn. If interested, please email Keegan Tierney or call 434-3969 ext. 141.

On the Land

This month, we are starting a new and recurring section of the VYCC Enews. “On The Land” will be a forum to describe the activities and initiatives on our 400-acre property. We have lots of exciting things happening here, all directed at meeting our broad goals for our land, including stewarding the land sustainably, developing an effective outdoor classroom, and using the land as a valuable community resource.

This month, we started a partnership with Camels Hump Middle School (CHMS) to monitor reptiles and amphibians on our property. Our first step was hosting a training led by the Vermont State Herpetologist and Director of the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas, Jim Andrews. Jim trained over 30 CHMS teachers and parents, as well as VYCC staff and instructors, on the identification and ecology of frogs, salamanders and snakes that we are likely to find on our land. Jim also discussed how to construct monitoring stations (called cover boards) for snakes and amphibians. This week, 80 students from CHMS visited our property and constructed 15 cover boards for amphibians and 10 for snakes. More students will be visiting next week to construct an additional 5 stations for amphibians and 30 or more for snakes.

If you would like a map showing the locations of VYCC monitoring stations, contact our Land Stewardship Specialist, Bradley Materick and he will send you a copy. This partnership represents a perfect example of the use of our land as an effective outdoor classroom and a valuable community resource, and we want to thank Jim Andrews and the teachers at CHMS who have helped get this project of the ground!

Nature Trivia

This handsome fellow is a male wild turkey, AKA, Tom. Wild turkeys are abundant on the VYCC property, and we often see them gathered in our open fields. The yellow arrow is pointing to a peculiar piece of a male turkey’s facial anatomy. This month’s inaugural nature trivia question is…what is the technical name for this weird, dangling thing on a male turkey’s face? Send your answers to the VYCC Land Stewardship Specialist, Bradley Materick, and he will announce trivia winners in next month’s Enews!

Support the VYCC: 2009 Spring Appeal

Friends, Partners, Sponsors! As days become warmer, the VYCC is busier and busier. Participants in our school programs will soon graduate, summer crews will head to the trails, and this summer’s garden will be the largest and most productive yet. To make a lasting impact throughout the state this summer, we need your support now. Please help us offer Vermont youth the opportunity to gain leadership skills, to understand and demonstrate personal responsibility, and to protect the environment. YOU can make a difference!

To make your donation in support of Vermont’s Youth, contact Kristen Kozik, Development and Event Manager at 434-3969 x113 or donate online.

Park Educators

On March 30th, 2009, five young men from all over the country arrived at the West Monitor Barn to begin their training as the first ever Park Educators (PE’s). Over the subsequent weeks of intensive training, PE’s gained certification as CPR/AED First Aid Instructors, Project Learning Tree Instructors, and as Interpretive Guides. The PE’s also developed comfort with the VYCC’s Environmental Education Curriculum that they will be teaching over the course of the summer.

In their next month of training, they will meet their fellow Crew Leaders, work on a watershed restoration project in the Mississquoi Valley, and visit their respective parks: Elmore State Park, Quechee State Park, Moosalamoo Recreation Area, and Hapgood Pond Recreation Area. The PE’s are excited to welcome and work with the visitors and campers to Vermont State Parks.

A Great Gap Year Opportunity

Serving as an AmeriCorps (AC) Corps Member for the VYCC's Park Program is an opportunity to gain firsthand experience in public lands management and environmental education. AC Corps Members work on a broad array of conservation and environmental education projects, ranging from tree plantings to teaching children how to hold frogs. The work is challenging and rewarding with great opportunities for growth.

Join the VYCC Team! For more information, visit here.