vydc winter 2012 newsletter

VYDC Quarterly: Winter 2011-2012

Winter 2011-2012

2 VYDC Quarterly: Winter 2011-2012

Winter 2011-2012 VYDC MEMBER ARTICLES

Hannah Mueller Heather Simson

Molly Walsh

Todd Lavigne

Margaret Lambert Tyler Farry

Karyn Norwood

Smanatha Lederfine Paskal

Jessica Southard

Lindsay Smith Allison Baldowski

Kerri MacLaury

John Powell and Mischa Tourin

Marley Balasco

TRAINING

Professional Development

Energizers & AmeriShares

2010-2011 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

CONTACT INFO

4 5

6

7

8 10

12

14

15

16 18

20

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24

26

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CONTENTS


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Visit us on Facebook!

Just search for “Vermont Youth Development Corps”


his Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I joined Operation: Military Kids Ver-

mont in planning and leading a service project with the Essex CHIPS teen

& tween center. When our volunteers entered the space, they were greeted

by tables piled with colorful paper, stickers, markers, and crayons. By the end

AmeriCorps Member

The Willowell Foundation

Monkton, VT

Hannah

Mueller

Hannah Mueller creates a thank you card for military service

members and their families.

of the afternoon, we had transformed

the raw materials into hundreds of

cards for service members and families

of service members.

While I won’t be able to meet the ser-

vice members and their families who

will receive our cards, I did enjoy get-

ting to know the volunteers who

showed up that day. One was a middle

school teacher who found our service

project online after deciding that he

wanted to spend his day off volunteer-

ing. Others were AmeriCorps members

from other programs, and a group of

high schoolers who also helped with

other projects Essex CHIPS had going

on during the day. As we wrote out

messages and designed our cards, we

talked about our artistic skills or lack

thereof, and our own experiences with

the military and military families.

During the day, I thought about how, by

doing a service project, I was joining

thousands of other people around the

country serving simultaneously, giving

their time because they care about their

communities. By serving in Ameri-

Corps, I’m part of that kind of network

every day.

T


his year for the Martin Luther

King, Jr. Day of Service I

helped out with Operation:

Military Kids (OMK) event that took

place at Essex Chips. The majority of

my day was spent making friendship

bracelets for soldiers and their fami-

lies, and helping other people make

bracelets; most of the girls who came

over to the friendship bracelets table

already knew how to make them bet-

ter than I did. One group of the girls

had just gotten her own friendship

bracelet making kit and was teaching

me how to do more complicated pat-

terns. The highlight of the day for me

was watching two young girls teach

their father how to finish one of their

bracelets so she could work on cards

for the kids. The father was slowly

getting the hang of making the brace-

let by the end of their time at OMK’s

event.

I really enjoyed that it was a day of

service because for many people,

they don’t remember to serve or the

meaning of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day has been forgotten. Many places

still have a regular school day in-

stead of spending the day learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil

rights movement. I felt that it was a good way for youth to learn about service

and what it means to give back to the community. It was a nice reminder for

me on why I wanted to do a year of service. I saw how giving back can help

those around you. I really loved watching the kids make cards, as well as read-

ing them. It shows that they are learning how to give back to the community.

It was also great to see the kids appreciate what the soldiers do for our commu-

nity and the country.

Heather

Simson

AmeriCorps Member

The Hub

Bristol, VT

Essex community members creating friendship bracelets for sol-

diers and their families.

T


Molly

Walsh Updates from t

few months ago we had a Parents Forum for the Boys and Girls Club and

Underground Teen Center. A refugee mother came to the meeting that

night to speak on behalf of her children. She was a little embarrassed by

her English and her son was more than a little embarrassed. However, when she

was asked about her concerns at the teen center she responded, “I do not want

my kids to get hurt by other kids or have their things taken from them.”

I had spent time making sure that the older boys did not pick on her 11 year old

son, but I knew that it continued to happen when I was not around. He looked

extremely embarrassed that his mom had brought up such a touchy subject in

front of a room full of people.

I decided that we needed to address bullying issues both around the community

center and in the larger Winooski community. The school has seen an increase

of bullying this year, and the police and city manager have growing concerns

about the general welfare of our young population. Todd and I decided that a

great way to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. would be to host an anti-bullying

event. At our event we created an anti-bullying mural, a clothesline of anti-

bullying t-shirts, we had a letter writing booth where youth wrote letters to peo-

ple in their life explaining how bullying has affected them or apologizing to a

peer whom they had bullied, and we also discussed cyber bullying and how it

affected them.

The event was a huge success. We had 12 kids participate in all of the stations.

Several kids were able to talk about how bullying has affected their lives.

Since our event, the artwork has been displayed at the community center and has

received rave reviews from parents and children alike. The kids who participated

have talked to their friends and we are being asked for another similar event.

Several kids have felt comfortable to talk about incidents that have occurred out-

side of teen center and Boys and Girls Club.

We have not seen overwhelming change in the attitudes or behavior of local

youth but we are making ground in the communication around bullying. We are

neither passively accepting nor accepting without protesting the evil that bully-

ing creates. The teen center will continue to address the bullying issue until it no

longer needs attention and our community will be a better place because of our

actions.

AmeriCorps Member

Winooski Teen Center

Winooski, VT

“We are

neither

passively

accepting nor

accepting

without

protesting the

evil that

bullying

creates.”

A


he O’Brien Community

Center, which houses

our Teen Center, started

the New Year with some ob-

stacles to overcome. One of

the things that Molly and I

used to get over these early

hurdles was the planning and

execution of our Winooski-

based Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day of Service.

Together with Donna Kohut,

the AmeriCorps VISTA at our

site, we planned our Martin

Luther King, Jr. Day of Ser-

vice around an anti-bullying

campaign. The day was a success as we were able to serve a lot of our youth

with our mid-afternoon activities. The VYDC Member Support Coordinator,

Lauren Pyatt, volunteered to come in and work with the youth on these activi-

ties. The kids participated in decorating t-shirts with anti-bullying slogans

such as “Haters are my Motivators,” “No-bully Zone,” and “Don’t Hate, Ap-

preciate.” We also created a large poster which was a filled with positive im-

ages and messages. We have continued to add to the poster by hanging it

where our youth can easily get access to it. We also held a forum, where the

youth discussed what it means to be bullied and how to help others being bul-

lied. Afterwards we provided the youth who participated with pizza and juice

and received positive feedback about the day!

Todd

Lavigne Updates from t

“He who passively accepts evil

is as much involved in it as he

who helps to perpetrate it. He

who accepts evil without pro-

testing against it is really coop-

erating with it.”

~Martin Luther King Jr.

AmeriCorps Member

Winooski Teen Center

Winooski, VT he Underground

Anti-bullying T-shirt created by youth at the Winooski Under-

ground Teen Center.

T


Margaret

Lambert

have never organized a

service project before, so

if you had asked me back

in the fall if I would be taking a

lead in organizing and carrying

out a day of service in which

sixty community members par-

ticipated in projects at ten dif-

ferent sites, gathered for a free

community lunch, and watched

and discussed a film about Dr.

King, I probably would have

said flat out, “No.” However,

this past January 16, 2012 on

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in

the granite-gray town of Barre,

VT, that is exactly what went

down.

I hardly ever think of service as something that needs to be “planned” and tend

to think of service as something “to be done.” However, after participating on a

service day planning committee made up of AmeriCorps State and VISTA

members, I see the importance of a well-planned project. During the month

leading up to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the planning committee met approxi-

mately four times and exchanged enough emails to publish a novella. During

these meetings we brainstormed sites in and near Barre where we could send a

group of five to ten volunteers for a few hours of service. Once we had gath-

ered the list and called around, we soon found that we had ten service sites and

twenty-four volunteers and needed about double that number to meet our mini-

mum. It was time to reach out to the community. Through distributing flyers,

posting an ad in the local papers, putting word out on Facebook, and talking to

folks face-to-face at a local social networking event, we got the word out. I’ll

admit I was very nervous about not getting enough volunteers. We were

awarded a $1,000 grant to provide a free community lunch for 100 and I was

worried we would only get thirty people. It was a big push the week before to

talk to friends and co-workers. Right up to the weekend before the Monday

AmeriCorps Member

WCYSB - CityScape Afterschool

Barre, VT

Margaret Lambert welcomes community volunteers at the Aldrich

Public Library for MLK Day service projects in Barre, VT.

I


Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event, I was getting emails from people I had never

met saying they heard about the event in the newspaper or from a flyer and

wanted to come out and bring their child(ren). I was awestruck and relieved and

felt like my hope for humanity was restored when I showed up on Monday and

found we had a very dedicated, punctual team of forty people.

The moment I remember most vividly, was in the afternoon when I was working

as part of a team at the ReSTORE* in Barre to reorganize the kitchen goods. I

was working with a community member and his ten-year-old daughter who had

come to volunteer after reading about the event in the paper. I watched this man

and his daughter gently place drinking glass after glass into a box only to move

it across the warehouse and unpack the box of drinking glasses onto a table.

They repeated this same task for what seemed like forty-five minutes, never tir-

ing or slowing down. That little girl, while she wasn’t able to carry much of the

heavy kitchenware was attentive and present and seemed happy to be part of

what was going on around her. She was soaking up the feeling of service like a

sponge and the unity of doing a

huge task quickly and efficiently

with a large group of people.

What a lesson that is!

Back in the beginning stage of

planning for the 2012 Martin Lu-

ther King Jr. Day of Service, I

didn’t think of people her age

helping out. I planned on attract-

ing older folks who bought into

the benefit of doing service al-

ready. It slipped my mind that

service is something that is prac-

ticed and if it’s not learned and

practiced at an earlier age, it does

not come as easily later in life. I

feel like most of the credit must

be given to that father, who

brought out his daughter on a

cold January day to serve for two hours in a warehouse moving kitchenware.

Everyday heroes like him make me thankful and proud of the community work

I do and hope to continue doing for the rest of my life.

*(The ReSTORE takes gently used household goods and uses them to provide job and life skills training and essential house-

hold items to families and individuals in crisis)

“She was

soaking up the

feeling of

service like a

sponge and the

unity of doing

a huge task

quickly and

efficiently with

a large group

of people.”

AmeriCorps members and community volunteers move shelving units at

the Barre ReSTORE.


he morning started out cold. The coldest morning in an otherwise mild winter.

I nearly had everything in order, but then the car failed to start. Not a big deal.

We lost five or ten minutes because of it. Margaret (a VYDC AmeriCorps

member) picked me up and we drove to the vacant lot where two of the service vans

were parked. Nicely crusted in ice and snow, the first van started right up. The turn-

ing of the key in the second van merely resulted in that all-too-familiar clicking sound

that can only be the sign of a dead (or nearly dead) battery. Even with jumper cables,

it wasn't going to give us what we wanted that morning. We lost another ten minutes.

The third van was warm and running by the time we got to Return House. Fortu-

nately, two was all we ended up needing.

I poured a cup of coffee and

crammed a donut in my mouth

when we got to the library.

Most everyone else was already

there and waiting.

“Has anyone here not signed in

yet?” my mouth still filled with

coffee soaked donut. We

waited for the remaining volun-

teers to show up and I grabbed

another donut.

I thought I knew the way to the

Food Bank; perhaps it was the

snow or direction I was coming

from, but I missed the turn and

had to rely on one of the passen-

gers to tell me how to correct

my mistake. I tried to crack a

joke to make up for the missed

turn, but it was either still too

early in the day or I had mis-

judged my humor for this occasion because the van merely became quieter.

We were twenty minutes late to the Food Bank, but it was made up because our num-

ber and our effort exceeded expectation.

Too many of us started out sorting meat. There were not enough gloves to go around

and the residue of several different cuts of meat ended up on my bare hands. People

were soon reassigned to make the most of our time. Jake (a Vermont Housing and

Tyler

Farry

AmeriCorps Member

WCYSB - Basement Teen Center

Montpelier, VT

AmeriCorps members from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board

along with community volunteers sort donated food items .

T


Conservation Board AmeriCorps member) and

I were sent to pack 30 pound boxes of soap. I

lost track of the number of boxes we filled, but

by the time we had to go we had finished off 1

½ pallets. Goodbye meat juice!

Being an AmeriCorps member whose site, the

Basement Teen Center, directly benefits from

the Vermont Food Bank, I felt that I was able to

get a much better idea of their process by being

there and I really enjoyed being able to help out

for the day.

I remembered more clearly the way back from

the Food Bank to the library and we made it on

time. The basement room of the library was

already filled with a good number of commu-

nity members and volunteers. I was happy to

see that a couple teens who go to the Basement

Teen Center had come to volunteer to set up the

lunch.

After lunch, we broke up into different groups

again. I joined Sam's (an AmeriCorps member

with VYDC) team at the ReSTORE. Records

needed to be taken down and fixtures moved

around the store. Shelves were wiped down

and taken apart. A volunteer was cut on his

arm while moving a mirror. It wasn't more than

a scratch and I ensured that he was properly bandaged. There were thousands

of records, but when Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, and John Lee Hooker passed through

my hands while re-stacking, I just had to set them aside. Despite my desire to sift

through more records, we worked quickly and efficiently, so much so that we were

done half an hour ahead of schedule. The folks working at ReSTORE were very im-

pressed and grateful, remarking that it would have taken them several days for what

took us a couple hours. Sam, a VYDC member, was pleased that a couple of students

from Maple Hill School unexpectedly showed up to volunteer. A couple guys from

Return House, a reentry/transitional living program for men returning from jail, pulled

more than their weight helping out and it was a pleasure having them there.

We finished up and I brought the guys back to the Return House with the van. I

walked back to the ReSTORE to catch a ride home, feeling good about the day and

looking forward to future service opportunities in my community.

Tyler Farry loads household items onto wooden pallets.


n the classic The Velveteen Rabbit by

Margery Williams, there is this

scene:

"You must have your old Bunny!" she

said. "Fancy all that fuss for a toy!"

The Boy sat up in bed and stretched out

his hands.

"Give me my Bunny!" he said. "You

mustn't say that. He isn't a toy. He's

REAL!"

It captures, doubtless, for most of us, a

very real and important memory of our

childhood--and in this case, through a

favorite book. For whom cannot recol-

lect with great fondness a cherished toy, object, or book, imagined or real, from

his or her youth? And most of us still have those old, worn friends with us to-

day. Our stuffed animals were our best friends, our deepest confidants, our co-

captain in quests. And yet, there are some children in the state of Vermont, who

may not have a favorite stuffed animal friend or book readily at their side.

It was with consideration of these sentiments, that the Bookmobile staff com-

menced the planning of our Martin Luther King Day project in Franklin County.

The importance, developmentally, of the presence of books, stuffed animals, and

toys, in a child's life has been proven; and as a non-profit vehicle chock-full of

books and stuffed animals we provide opportunities for children to interact with

these, the arguable tenants of childhood, everyday.

In our day of service, we decided to continue with our mission as an organiza-

tion to promote literacy and healthy early childhood development by allowing

children pick out books and a stuffed animal of their choice to keep.

Our concept defined, our event planned, and close to 400 donations acquired, we

Karyn

Norwood

AmeriCorps Member

Franklin Grand Isle Bookmobile

Swanton, VT

I


had a two hour drop-in in Swanton, Vermont, where children and their

families could pick out books and stuffed animals, and listen to a Martin

Luther King, Jr. story on the Bookmobile. The youth were greeted by a

mound of stuffed animals and books to pick from, and cheery volunteers to

help them with their difficult decisions.

Books and bears may be quite traditional toys (and some may say boring),

but, I would contend, if you have ever seen a toddler dragging around a

well-beloved stuffed animal, or a child's face light up with the recognition

of a favorite story character, the significance is at once understood and re-

membered.

Karyn Norwood (right), Franklin Grand Isle BookMobile staff, and community volunteers

display the almost 400 donated items for their Books and Bears event.


artin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service was, unexpectedly, one of the

highlights of my year of service so far. It was a bitterly cold day and

the number of confirmed volunteers for my project at the ReSTORE in

Barre was less than what I had hoped. What turned my day into such a positive

experience was that three of the Maple Hill students showed up to give their

time to volunteer for my project on MLK Day! Earlier in the fall, I had organ-

ized a school trip to do a service-learning project at the ReSTORE. The Maple

Hill students really enjoyed volunteering their time to help the ReSTORE or-

ganize different sections of the store and to help break down and move lumber

out of the yard. Students had a great time and plans were set in motion to or-

ganize a weekly service-learning elective. So, when AmeriCorps members

from Central Vermont mobilized to arrange a day of service projects on MLK

Day in Barre, I offered to head up a project at the ReSTORE.

What surprised me the most and made the ex-

perience so memorable was that some of the

youth I have been serving, took the initiative to

arrange their own transportation and spend

their day off from school to give back to their

community. I had done my best the week be-

fore to spread the word at school about the

event and a couple of students showed mild in-

terest in attending. I know that a day off of

school is something that I used to treasure, so

while I was hoping that the students would

show up, I was not sure whether they would

come. However, when the students arrived to

volunteer on their day off from school, I felt

that in some way that my service this year has made a positive impact on the

youth that I serve. Not only did they show up but they participated alongside

other community members and I was really proud of them! In the end, it was

quite a successful day with more volunteers than expected and having com-

pleted a huge amount of work for the ReSTORE.

Samantha

Lederfine

Paskal

AmeriCorps Member

Maple Hill School and Community Farm

Plainfield, VT

M

Samantha Lederfine Paskal moves household goods

and cleans shelving units at the Barre ReSTORE


s AmeriCorps members, we are all expected to devote Martin Luther

King, Jr. Day to service. At first, I will honestly admit I grumbled a lit-

tle. But, my irritability quickly wore off, as the day was a cheerful re-

minder of the importance of building community through service. The local

Brattleboro AmeriCorps members teamed up to serve together. We decided to

lend a hand at the local Boys and Girls Club. When we arrived that cold Mon-

day, the club was already packed with youth, and the sounds of basketball and

laughter rung in our ears. Our task was to supervise the painting of a Martin

Luther King, Jr. mural. We worked with about 10 kids, ages 8-14. They had

chosen where they wanted the mural, and the image of Dr. King to paint.

We used a projector and projected the image on the

wall and the kids took turns tracing the image. There

were patient reminders of the importance of

“waiting one’s turn” and discussions about why

Martin Luther King, Jr. was important, because “he

taught people that everyone was equal.”

Next, we got to paint! The kids jostled over who

would get to paint which color, “I get to paint his

suit,” or “I want to use the red!” Eventually, we got

(almost) every request fulfilled and their mural

came together beautifully.

My favorite part was at the end, when the youth

signed their names. "Can I use any color I want?" Of course! I host a weekly

meal for youth ages 16-22 at the Boys and Girls Club, and every week the mu-

ral makes me smile, especially, the huge child-scrawled signatures underneath.

It is a wonderful reminder that youth can, and given the opportunity, make a

positive impact on their community.

Jessica

Southard AmeriCorps Member

Youth Services, Inc.

Brattleboro, VT

Brush Strokes for Change:

Painting at the Boys and Girls Club

A

Community youth help create a mural at the Flat

Street Boys and Girls Club in Brattleboro


his Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was a very memorable experience for me.

Several weeks before our day of service, I began to reach out to the youth

here at Spectrum Youth and Family Services. My plan was to bring a few

of our youth to Essex CHIPS to make cards and friendship bracelets for sol-

diers. There was a lot interest from the youth, but like many of the other pro-

grams we run, there is no guarantee that the attendance will match the interest.

On the morning of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day there were hardly any youth in

our drop in center. I had six youth who had signed up to go to Essex with me,

but none of them showed. It was a little disappointing at first, but to my sur-

prise three other youth decided to go with me! When we arrived at Essex

CHIPS there was already a great turnout. There were young children making

cards for soldiers with their parents and some of our AmeriCorps members

Lindsay

Smith

AmeriCorps Member

Spectrum Youth and Family Services

Burlington, VT

T

Lindsay Smith and a community volunteer create Honor Cards for members of the

military.


making friendship brace-

lets for soldiers. Music

was playing and people

were talking and laugh-

ing. All around there

were good vibes.

Two of the youth that I

brought decided to make

friendship bracelets and

the other one made cards

for soldiers. I really en-

joyed serving with them.

I feel like this gave me

an opportunity to get to

know them better. I now

know that one of them is

very artistically talented.

It was nice to hear a vol-

unteer compliment my

youth on how good his artwork was on the card he was making for a soldier.

I think my most memorable moment during Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was

working with one of my youth who is deaf. I have a basic knowledge of Sign

Language and have used it regularly in our drop in center to communicate with

him. When we arrived at Essex CHIPS, he had decided that he wanted to make

friendship bracelets for soldiers, but wasn’t exactly sure how to make one. I sat

with him and started to teach him how to make a certain bracelet. In the past, I

have taught youth over and over how to make bracelets, but this was the first

time I couldn’t verbally explain how to do something. It was definitely a chal-

lenge for the both of us, but in the end he learned how to make a friendship

bracelet and I learned that we can still communicate with each other even when

there are barriers. It was definitely a rewarding experience for me and some-

thing that I feel can be applied to a lot of things I do during my service. In sum,

my service on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was a very memorable experience for

me and is a day I will continue to serve on in the future.

Young volunteers create friendship bracelets to be given to military service

members.


his past Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I didn’t spend the day lounging

around the house or hitting the slopes like I normally would for this na-

tional holiday. Instead, I spent the day serving. I did not sleep in; in fact

I got up early to travel from Middlebury to Essex CHIPS in Essex Junction.

Despite all this, I couldn’t have been

happier with how I spent the day.

When I arrived at the teen center,

some of my fellow AmeriCorps mem-

bers were there along with volunteers

setting up for the multiple service

projects going on around town. As

we set up our supplies and waited for

volunteers from the community to

participate in our activities for service

members and their families, I wasn’t

sure what to expect. Would we have

a lot of people? Would we only see

other AmeriCorps members? I was

pleasantly surprised by the commu-

nity members who donated their time.

As I walked around the room I could-

n’t help but stop and smile. Through-

out the day we had 58 youth and

adults donate at least an hour of their

time to making cards and friendship

bracelets for service members and

their families. By the end of the day,

the ping pong table that started with 1

or 2 cards was now over flowing with

cards made by the volunteers. Not

only was there an overflow of cards,

but some of the youth wrote messages

Allison

Baldowski

AmeriCorps Member

UVM Extension 4-H Afterschool Programs

Middlebury, VT

T

A young community volunteer shows off a card she

made for military family members.


that would melt anyone’s heart instantly. My favorite one said, “Dear Hero,

Thank you for risking your life to give us freedom. I want to give you a valen-

tine because you are very special to me and you will always be special. From

your secret admirer, Beverley.”

After our activities at the teen center, we headed over to the community dinner.

Most of the people in the room had donated their time doing various activities

in Essex throughout the day. As I sat eating dinner, exhausted along with a few

other AmeriCorps members, I looked down at the placemat under my plate.

The inspiring Martin Luther King, Jr. themed placemats had been made by

youth and it made me realize that no matter how exhausted I was, and how

much I was dreading my long drive home, I wouldn’t have wanted to spend

MLK Day any other way. It hardly seems fair to say that I will serve only one

day out of the entire year in honor of Dr. King, so without a doubt I will serve

and encourage others to serve once a year on the national holiday celebrating

Dr. King along with every other day of the year.

Finished Honor Cards and Valentine ’ s Day cards for soldiers and their families.

“My favorite

one said, ‘Dear

Hero, Thank

you for risking

your life to

give us

freedom. I

want to give

you a valentine

because you

are very

special to me

and you will

always be

special. From

your secret

admirer,

Beverley.’”


here is a young boy who participated in The Collaborative’s Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day On! event named Carter. He is 6 years old, small, blond, and to say he has a ton

of energy is an understatement. For The Collaborative’s MLK Day On!, our site’s

Vermont Youth Tomorrow VISTA member, Cara Melbourne, and I planned and facilitated a

free day of childcare to help working families in our community.

We planned a day of team building games, craft projects, a history lesson on Martin Luther

King, Jr., free-play in the gymnasium, a service project for Flood Brook Union School

(FBUS), the location at which our event was held, and wrapped up the day with a screening

of How To Train Your Dragon.

When planning our event, Cara and I knew we wanted to do something that would both

benefit the community and show our young participants the importance of service. We

reached out to the custodians at FBUS and asked if there was a project that our group could

do for the school during MLK Day. They were only too

happy to find us one.

When the time came for the service project, we gathered

everyone around to talk about why people choose to be

of service. Cara asked the group, “How do you feel after

you have helped someone?” Hands shot up and the

youngsters shared that helping others made them feel

good, useful, and worthwhile. Satisfied with the an-

swers, we split into two groups, and shared the project

with them—cleaning the desk and table tops in the mid-

dle school science and math classrooms. Enter Carter.

“Ew. Why do I have to do that?” he said. “I don’t want to

do that!”

I reminded Carter that as a part of the school community,

we help each other and that this was our way of helping

out. His reaction made me think of some of my own, less

graceful, and past reactions to the prospect of service

(and what’s more embarrassing for me was that I was a

great deal older than Carter when I had them). I would drag my feet, complain about what-

ever was going on and how everything was going on. It was very clear to everyone around

me that I had better things to do. I could be earning money at work, catching up on my

chores around the house, or be a couch potato. I could be and should be doing anything but

this.

And yet, there inevitably came the point in whichever service activity I was involved in that

my protestations stopped, my mind focused on the task at hand, and the importance of help-

Kerri

MacLaury

AmeriCorps Member

The Collaborative

Londonderry, VT

Youth at the Collaborative watch a service learning

presentation on Martin Luther King, Jr.

T


ing others came into

view. There would be

peace in my heart and

mind, and I would stop

worrying about the

little things with the

words ‘I’ and ‘me’

attached to them.

Our first three minutes

in the middle school

science room were

chaos. There were

two squirt bottles, only one roll of paper towels, and six kids. You do the math. The com-

plaining started, the arguing, the spazzing. I had a couple of flashbacks to those past, less

graceful moments of my own and just sighed. By the time I was done sighing, the young

participants had all hit that inevitable point when service took over, and they forgot about

what they wanted. Even Carter got into the spirit of scrubbing, and partnered with two of his

group mates to clean a tall counter top.

They started sharing the squirt bottles, the arguing stopped, the cleaning was moving along

without a hitch. We finished in about ten minutes and everyone burst out into the hallway.

The kids ran down the hallway and into the Language Arts room. “Now can we do these ta-

bles,” one of them yelled down the hall at me. “Absolutely,” I said, and knew that the ser-

vice bug had bit them. By the end of the time we had set aside for the service project, all of

the middle school classrooms had clean desks and table tops.

As the service project wrapped up, it quickly de-

volved into a seething ball of kid-energy. Cara and I

knew we needed to get to the gym to do free play as

soon as possible. We released the kids and they

surged toward the gym. As they took off down the

hall, I wondered if they had felt that great moment

or inevitability during the service project, when they

settled into doing and forgot about wanting. That

moment when all was right with the world, and even

the kid who didn’t want to do it, ended up happily

sharing his squirt bottle with his classmates.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Not everybody can be

famous but everybody can be great because great-

ness is determined by service... You only need a

heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”

That is what keeps me coming back to service.

Grace, love, and that inevitable moment in the peace

of selflessness.

A community volunteer cleans a counter at Flood Brook

Union School.

Kerri MacLaury leads youth in a game on MLK Day.


&

ach year, Essex CHIPS plays a huge role in Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Ser-

vice. The committee that met once a week from October through Martin Luther

King, Jr. Day was made up of individuals that joined for various reasons, but

many had simple desires to become involved. Many admitted that before learning

about CHIPS’ involvement, they thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a day off,

only to learn the motto: “It’s a day on, not a day off.”

The committee, run by VISTA member Heather Vendola, included Ray, the Director

of CHIPS, other AmeriCorps members, and everyone from high schoolers to college

professors. This year the committee formed

two subcommittees: Volunteer Opportunities

and Community Dinner. The dinner was given

its own spotlight because it is an annual free

dinner generally held at the high school. Where

a cast of volunteers prepare a meal and coordi-

nate other activities. This year there was a pi-

ano player while we ate gumbo, a recipe con-

ceived and overseen by Essex’s own Chef

Courtney. There was a speaker that discussed

her life in the time of Martin Luther King, Jr.

As a thank you, nice soap (graciously donated)

as given away to gave away to participants.

The firehouse is next door to CHIPS, and the

men that work there were nice enough to pro-

vide space for one of our projects, to make Lit-

tle Libraries, which is a project derived from

three separate, although simultaneous, thought

processes:

Kat Redniss is the town’s Youth Librarian, in

the building next door to CHIPS. She had been

reading up on “library pods,” or free “take one,

leave one” pods around town for people to util-

ize as they wished to. The initiative at the li-

brary is to have people reading— it doesn’t

matter how, and so she was too happy to find that pods were a real and active thing.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle Smith, an active member of the community, had read about Lit-

tle Free Libraries, a nonprofit in the Midwest. In fact, she knew the two folks who

Johnny

Powell

Mischa

Tourin AmeriCorps Members

Essex CHIPS

Essex Junction, VT

Johnny Powell and Mischa Tourin help construct

posts to mount Little Free Libraries.

E


started the movement. It was her

intention to bring LFLs to Ver-

mont. The Midwest nonprofit

constructs libraries you can pur-

chase and set up; it also encour-

ages people to design and create

their own libraries. LFLs look like

large birdhouses, set on stands in

the ground throughout towns, and

much like the pods, offer “Take

one, leave one.”

Meanwhile, Johnny had been developing a library in the Teen Center under the same

principle, and after a meeting of the minds, it was decided that completing a library or

two during Martin Luther King, Jr. Day would help jumpstart the project, educate the

community on what LFLs were, and would be a hands-on activity for the day. Mis-

cha’s dad has a workshop, and offered it as a place to pre-fabricate roofs, doors, and

anything else needed for the libraries. The idea was to not start from scratch on Martin

Luther King, Jr. Day, but rather to put pieces together and complete libraries. Johnny

spent two weeks collecting donations—old kitchen cabinets worked best. They already

had doors and shelves, and they were the right size. Several cabinets later, there were

enough to build three libraries. Granted, the materials were less “hearty” than firstly

anticipated, and it took Johnny, Mischa, and Mischa’s dad significant time to disassem-

ble the cabinets and reuse the materials, but it was worth it because in the end the event

was a success.

In the end, Little Free Libraries be-

came the perfect example of Martin

Luther King, Jr. Day, a blend of

many individuals, from the librarian

to families redoing their kitchens,

that provided ideas, materials, time,

and effort into creating something

that will be around town, made by

many hands, providing the commu-

nity with a lasting reminder of ser-

vice. The libraries are also proof

that one man’s junk is another man’s

treasure, and that you need to not

have expectations, but you should

always have plenty of fun. A nearly finished Little Free Library.

A community volunteer nails wooden shingles to the

top of a Little Free Library.

“Many admit-

ted that before

learning about

CHIPS’

involvement,

they thought

of Martin

Luther King,

Jr. Day as a

day off, only

to learn the

motto: ‘It’s a

day on, not a

day off.’”


he director said,

Go back to your sites,

create a plan for this night.

And let that plan somehow inspire acts of service that surge like fire.

Marley

Balasco AmeriCorps Member

UVM Extension 4-H Operation: Military Kids

Burlington, VT

Will it even be genuine?

It is a day of required service, not some holiday.

I could do something original, but it might

absorb too much of my time.

I have 1700 hours total, only 800 left this year.

Essex CHIPS, just down the road, asked that

Operation: Military Kids provide an activity, and so

we did.

Four projects were created in honor of our soldiers:

Valentine’s Cards, friendship bracelets, honor cards,

and honor wall.

My site VISTA and I made examples of each and

sought donations,

just hoping the community might care to put them to good use.

It is not right to judge the

heart of others, because truth

is

more often than not, you’re

wrong anyway.

Whether the Essex commu-

nity came in support

of military families and sol-

diers or not,

they still came. Roughly 60

people chose to serve on this

day!

To create, play, talk, listen,

enjoy, and feel loved.

To share love, time, moments,

and joy.

“He said

without

hesitation,

‘well

everyone

should feel

loved.’”

T

A young volunteer writes a message for a

military service member.

Community volunteers creating Valentine ’ s Day cards

for members of the military.


See, my favorite was this mom and her little boy.

He was maybe 4, helping make valentines

and she asked him why it was important.

He said without hesitation, “well everyone should feel

loved.”

Yes, even - especially - those on the front lines.

And then there were cards

from a fourth grade classroom made

to cheer on our soldiers, no

our “heroes,” the kids’ cards displayed.

“Get the bad guys! P.S. Be mine? Love, Ginny.”

Sometimes I forget that it’s not about the service,

but our hearts. That our intentions precede our actions.

This fire, so pure, has long since been ignited.

So I invite you, like Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned,

to continue to create these opportunities

in which our communities can stand

United.

Completed Valentine ’ s Day cards for military service members.


Training

Train a Member for a Day...

Professional

Development


YDC affords members the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive train-

ing regimen. Members from around the state gather monthly for specialized

training and team meetings, where they develop professional skills and build

esprit de corps. At these gatherings, members reflect on service experiences, receive

peer support, strengthen job skills, and build their commitment to service.

Since meeting the 2011-2012 VYDC team this past September at Orientation, we have

been engaged in the most enjoyable, education, and dynamic service year. Each mem-

ber not only brings unique experiences, skills, abilities, and perspectives, but also a

respect for others and a hunger to learn and share. Members are an active and integral

part of our monthly training sessions. They actively engage with presenters, asking

questions and offering observations; they hone their facilitation skills and teach each

other through AmeriShare and energizers; they eagerly participate in service projects;

and they seriously reflect on civic engagement and the impacts of their service.

Through their service, VYDC members help communities increase youth participation

in effective programs, encourage youth to build connections within the community,

and increase their own the belief that their service is making a real and positive im-

pact. VYDC members directly engage with Vermont’s youth in drop in centers, alter-

native classrooms, or after school program environments. As part of VYDC’s training

program, members participate in counseling theory, positive youth development, and

boundary setting training to increase their communication effectiveness and promote

youth leadership activities at their sites. Members learn how to incorporate various

techniques to appeal to all types of learning styles; they practice using kinesthetic as

well as quiet, self-reflective methods to engage youth; they learn about and discuss the

ways in which the deployment cycle affects military youth and families.

At each monthly training, members participate in a Team Meeting, giving members a

space to share accomplishments, challenges and insights, site updates, and upcoming

events. VYDC staff use various activities to facilitate meetings, allowing members to

learn different techniques through participation. These members are fantastic net-

workers, regularly sharing

ideas and advice, allowing

them to constantly refine

and enhance the programs

at their service sites.

VYDC members help build

the capacity and viability

of their organizations by

creating and implementing

effective, research-based

programs; counseling

youth; developing relation-

ships and support within

the community; recruiting

and managing volunteers;

developing public relations

tools; and seeking in-kind

and cash donations.

V

VYDC AmeriCorps members Samantha Lederfine Paskal,

Marley Balasco, and Mischa Tourin, share

accomplishments and challenges during a Team Meeting.


Through training, members establish and sharpen skills necessary to

effectively meet the needs of their organizations. They learn about

and share their knowledge about resource development, volunteer re-

cruitment and management, networking, goal setting, and grant writ-

ing.

Designed to give members the opportunity to plan and facilitate before

a group, each month at least one VYDC member presents an AmeriS-

hare and another chooses and leads and team energizer. Members take

these responsibilities very seriously, and in addition to fostering their

public speaking and facilitation skills, they provide their teammates

with an opportunity to learn something new.

As spring approaches, we are looking forward to upcoming SerVer-

mont events, such as the Civic Engagement Day in April and the an-

nual AmeriCorps Conference during early May. These opportunities

allow members to build rapport and collaborate with other Vermont

AmeriCorps State and A*VISTA members, share their connection

with and service in their communities, and reflect on the shared com-

mitment of national service’s goal of Getting Things Done for Amer-

ica.

Completed Training to Date

Date Topic(s)

28 September 2011 Orientation: Terms, Conditions, and Benefits of Service; National Service; VYDC Overview; Gallery Walk

29 September 2011 Orientation: VYDC Requirements; Mandated Reporting; Civic Discussion

25 August 2011 Orientation: Counseling Basics; Youth Wall activity

4 October 2011 SerVermont AmeriCorps Service Year Launch

26 October 2011 Creating a Budget

27 October 2011 Myers Briggs Type Indicators

8 November 2011 Goal Setting

9 November 2011 Positive Youth Development; Dr. King Day Discussions

7 December 2011 Civic Engagement Discussion; Experiential Group Facilitation

8 December 2011 Grant Writing

25 January 2012 Conflict Resolution and Effective Communication

26 January 2012 Operation: Military Kids: Cycle of Deployment; Credit Building

8 February 2012 Motivational Interviewing/Harm Reduction Theory; Mid Year

Art Reflection

10 February 2012 Bridges Out of Poverty

7 March 2012 Revisiting Goal Setting and Developing Resumes

8 March 2012 Mission Driven Volunteer Management

VYDC AmeriCorps member Tyler Farry par-

ticipates in a group discussion activity.

December training on

grant writing.


In future issues, we will discuss the

upcoming training. Below is a partial

list of the training opportunities in

which VYDC members have partici-

pated this year:

Myers Briggs Type Indicator

Presenter: Markey Read, Career

Networks Consultant

Members learned about the Myers-

Briggs Type Indicator model, which is

an assessment designed to measure

psychological preferences in how peo-

ple perceive the world and make deci-

sions. Members learned about their

own preferences and gained a better

understanding of how others approach

situations and how to better work with

all types.

Positive Youth Development

Presenter: Kreig Pinkham, Executive Director at the Washington County Youth Service Bureau

Members discussed the various factors that affect adolescent development (environmental, social, biological).

Members gained knowledge about how to use that understanding to improve their work with youth in out-of-

school time.

Experiential Group Facililtation

Presenter: Jen Stanchfield, Educator and Author, Experiential Tools

Participants engaged in creative, practical activities and ideas for effectively leading and engaging groups

through experiential facilitation and teaching. They gained perspective on the role as an educator or group fa-

cilitator, and gathered techniques for creating a positive learning environment.

The Effects Of The Cycle of Deployment

Presenter: Stephanie Atwood, Program Director of Operation: Military Kids

Callie Frey, A*VISTA serving with Operation: Military Kids

Members became aware and responsive to the unique issues military families and kids face and gained a better

understanding of how the cycle of deployment affects the youth in those families.

Mission Driven Volunteer Management

Presenters: Aaron Kinnart, Senior Trainer & Performance Consultant at Cope & Associates, Inc. and

Kim Steinfeld, Director of Finance & Operations at Cope & Associates, Inc.

Participants discussed the importance of effective communication, recognition and acknowledgement of ser-

vice, and project management when working with volunteers. Members gained tips and skills to help them

better to increase both volunteer and overall program effectiveness.

VYDC AmeriCorps members Johnny Powell and Samantha Lederfine

Paskal create art sculptures during a mid-year service

reflection activity.


A

M

E

R

I

S

H

A

R

E

S

E

N

E

R

G

I

Z

E

R

S

&

AmeriShares are a way for

our members to gain experience

in planning and facilitating

through sharing personal exper-

tise and knowledge.

Energizers are short activi-

ties facilitated by our members

or program staff to break-up

training sessions and build es-

perit de corps

Giants, Wizards, and Elves: A full body version

of Rock, Paper, Scissors combined with tag.

Margaret Lambert teaches the team flat-foot

Clogging.

Magic Carpet Ride: Members attempt to flip

a blanket over with all members on top of it.

Jessica Southard shares a ser-

vice story on harm reduction.


By The Numbers

Total Youth Served 6,865

Military Youth Served 210

Civic Engagement Discussions Facilitated 88

Healthy Futures Programs and Activities 271

School and Workplace Readiness Program and Activi-

ties

134

Community Service Projects 81

Other Youth Programs and Activities 388

Community Volunteers Recruited and Managed 764

Community Volunteers Hours Generated 5,005

Value of Volunteer Hours Generated $87,787

Funds raised through non-federal grants, cash and in-

kind donations, and events

$92,850

Partnerships Developed with Community Stake-

holders

296

Public Relations Tools Developed or Enhanced

(Flyers, Posters, PSAs, Social Media Sites, etc…)

197

VYDC 2010-2011 Team At-a-Glance Accomplishments

The 2010-2011 VYDC Team was

tremendously successful. The

program exceeded all of its per-

formance measures; the outputs

showed the creativity and effort

of members, and the outcomes

showed the dedication, flexibil-

ity, and perseverance of the

members.

All 31 alums are either em-

ployed, in school, or reenrolled

in service. Four members were

hired by their sites, and one was

hired by City Year.

Programs and Activities Increase in

Participant Skills

and Knowledge

Positive Change

in Participant

Attitude or

Behavior Civic Engagement Discussions 89% 91%

Community Service Projects 89% 100%

Healthy Futures Programs (nutrition, physical activity,

agriculture and environment, substance abuse prevention,

abuse prevention, healthy development)

84% 95%

School and Workplace Readiness Programs (academic

help, job skills, college preparation, and communication)

94% 96%


P.O. Box 627 / 38 Elm Street

Montpelier, VT 05601-0627

Contact us:

Program Director:

M. Kadie Schaeffer

[email protected]

Assistant Directors: Meghan Jaird

[email protected]

Luong Huynh

[email protected]

Phone: 802-229-9151

Fax: 802-229-2508

The opinions expressed in the newsletter articles belong to the individual writers and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the site where the AmeriCorps State member serves,

Vermont Youth Development Corps, the Washington County Youth Service Bureau, the

Boys and Girls Club, SerVermont, or The Corporation for National and Community

Service (CNCS).

Staff Luong Huynh - Editor, Design, Art, Photography, Writer Meghan Jaird - Copy Editor, Writer M. Kadie Schaeffer - Copy Editor

Writers Hannah Mueller, Heather Simson, Molly Walsh, Todd Lavigne, Margaret Lambert, Tyler Farry, Karyn Norwood, Jessica Southard, Lindsay Smith, Smanatha Lederfine Paskal, Allison Baldowski, Kerri MacLaury, Johnny Powell, Mischa Tourin, Marley Balasco

Photography Tyler Farry, Brook Salls, Kelly Nolan, Cara Melbourne, Callie Frey, Ryan Stratton, Donna Kohut

Vermont Youth

Development Corps Program

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

vydc winter 2012 newsletter

Documents

day of service

military service members

families of service

service project

military families

americorps members

friendship bracelets

military kids omk event