YouthBuild Leadership Hike 2012

Each year, at the beginning of the YouthBuild term, each crew joins staff members for what we call a “Leadership Hike.” Corpsmembers and staff hike in Pike National Forest and participate in several leadership and team-building activities.
Lawrence, a current YouthBuild Corpsmember describes his experience:

 

My leadership hike was great. It was good to get away from the city for once and enjoy the great outdoors. We went to Bailey and I expected nothing less than a good time. We started to hike up the hill and soon reached our destination. First, we walked around by ourselves and just became one with our surroundings. Then we had to grab an object that best describes ourselves. After we got together and played some competitive games with our crew.

I learned a lot about myself. I found I had the potential to bond with others even though I don’t know them that well or even if we were all complete strangers. I also learned that MHYC really wants us to see a different view of life and the beauty it can show no matter how ugly it may seem. I learned that being a leader takes a lot of self-confidence. Lastly, I learned that the environment is a very unique thing to be around. It’s totally different from anywhere else in Colorado and also that it is just the most amazing and peaceful place to be around.

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I would have to say I grew more positively as a person from this experience. Just being on the hike and witnessing nature again helped me realize that everything isn’t always hard and these little things are naturally self soothing and can really help an individual who hasn’t experienced nature. The hike really helped me get me start my term on the right foot.

“Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.” I think that this quote describes our experience because if you live in the city your whole life and experience something as amazing as just being in the mountains away from society and everything that annoys you, it gives you time to reflect on life. It’s because you put yourself in the middle of nowhere when you think the most. This hike put us all in positive surroundings and let us think positively instead of the negative surroundings of the city.

The hike helped me prepare for Leadership Council because I got to bond with my crew positively and see a whole new view of things. This leadership hike really helped me take on challenges with my team and grow as an individual.

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Hiring for 2013 Crews!

MHYC is currently hiring for crews that will begin this January.All Corpsmembers will experience a great team-based, leadership experience, receive a living stipend throughout the program, and be eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award. There are two separate programs that we are accepting applications for until all positions are filled, so if you or someone you know is interested in this program follow the link below to complete your application. http://www.milehighyouthcorps.org/green-jobs/current-corpsmember-positions-available

The AmeriCorps Leadership and Conservation Crew gives ACLC’s to build leadership skills, work on a variety of land, energy, and water projects throughout the 11 month program. The ACLC’s will also have the opportunity to be peer leaders on the land crews throughout the summer and fall months.

The Energy and Water Program offers Corpsmembers the opportunity to build their “green” industry skills, work on small teams doing respective energy and water projects in affordable housing. For these 5-month programs there are also positions where Corpsmembers can additionally build their office experiences by working in our Bryant street location and working on the projects with their crews when needed.

Both of these Programs offer College and Career Readiness training, life skills training and an opportunity to become a part of an impactful agency at Mile High Youth Corps.

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Opportunity Nation Summit

This post is guest authored by Gabe, an ACLC Corpsmember and Assistant Crew Leader of the Trail Blazers.

We landed in Washington D.C. – our nation’s capitol – on a rainy Tuesday morning. A long walk through the airport, a stuffy ride on the Metro, and a drizzly-walk down many blocks to our hotel. Dry off, change of clothes, and a quick lunch in the hotel. We had our first meeting of the trip that afternoon with The Corps Network – the organization that had brought us from Mile High Youth Corps to D.C. for the Opportunity Nation Summit. We were representing one of several Corps from across the country that was brought out for the Summit. We had a chance to mix and mingle with Corpsmembers from Brooklyn to San Francisco  and discovered that all of us are working to make a difference in our communities through the conservation projects at our Corps. We learned what to expect the next day at our Summit: lots of information, lots of people from all over, and free breakfast and lunch.

The summit was a bit of a blur. There was countless presentations and speakers. Young people from across the country, from all different walks of life, telling their stories. Most of them spoke about an opportunity afforded to them throughout their life that changed their focus or their direction. They all told passionate stories, nearly all of which resonated with the young people in the audience. Other speakers were not so young, politicians from Iowa, Florida, and Massachusetts. These politicians also spoke of opportunity, but rather than the opportunities in their own life they spoke of the importance of creating and maintaining opportunities in the lives of young Americans. After all of these presenters and speakers one thing stands out: the set of initiatives put forth by Opportunity Nation.

1. Engage employers as part of the solution – one of the main goals is for young people to be employed. So it only makes sense for employers to collaborate towards figuring out how young people can fit the need of their job openings.

2. Incentivize innovation through an Enterprising Pathways Program – this federal Enterprise Pathways Program would fund career and technical education programs through a competitive grant.

3. Reauthorize and reform federal policies to improve Career and Technical Education (CTE) – CTE programs should rely more on the collaboration between secondary schools, post-secondary schools, and the working industry.

4. Pair college planning support for low income students with asset development – Access to affordable college for high school students should be much more readily available.

5. Boost Mentoring – increase the amount of youth mentoring programs across all communities.

6. Drive community collaboration to reconnect youth – an increase in the efforts and approaches to re-engaging high school dropouts and other disconnected youth is imperative.

7. Increase pathways to secondary and post-secondary success for all youth – States and school districts should support multiple pathways to secondary and post-secondary success by encouraging flexible scheduling and recognizing competency based learning.

8. Invest in current programs that work – Federal policymakers should significantly scale investments over the next five years to expand programs that have a consistent and proven track record.

 

We all had a great time at the Summit in D.C. and we left with a wealth of knowledge to bring back to our Corps. This was a great opportunity to meet with other young people like ourselves who are out there making a difference in their own communities. Thanks to MHYC for giving us this opportunity to represent our organization and thanks to Nancy for taking us out to see all the amazing sites!

 

“I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps to be used in simple work…”

“…More important, however, than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work.”

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BOO-Yah!

Last Friday was our annual Halloween party, BOO-Yah! Take a peek at the slideshow below and see some our of great costumes!

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To see more photos from BOO-Yah, head on over to our Facebook page. Leave us a comment and tell us who you think should have won the Costume Contest!

Happy Halloween!

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2nd Annual Career Day

Last week, MHYC’s Leadership Council hosted our 2nd Annual Career Day!

Corpsmembers from across the agency had the chance to sit down with staff members in small groups to learn what makes MHYC run smoothly. Staff members from each department explained their roles within the organization and answered Corpsmembers’ questions about work experience and higher education. Corpsmembers also used the time to discuss their plans for life after MHYC.

Check out this quick slideshow below to get a peek into the inner workings of MHYC!

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Leadership Council Elections

Two weeks ago, as we welcomed in a new class of YouthBuild Corpsmembers, we also got to meet our four new Leadership Council representatives. As is tradition at MHYC, each new crew has the opportunity to nominate Corpsmembers to represent them on Leadership Council. The nominees prepare a letter of intent, a letter of reference, and a short speech explaining why they would be a good fit on the Council.

After some fantastic speeches, the votes were tallied and we were pleased to welcome our new YouthBuild representatives: Julian, Lawrence, Jerry, and Jacob!

2012 Leadership Council Reps from Water, ACLC, and YouthBuild

These four have hit the ground running with Leadership Council, joining our Water Crew and ACLC  reps for what is a jam-packed fall schedule. Here’s a slideshow of a few of the great things we have coming up in the next few months:

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Corpsmember Spotlight: YouthBuild

As this year’s YouthBuild term draws to an end, we would like to take the opportunity to share the journey of one remarkable young Corpsmember, Eloy Martinez. I sat down with Eloy last week and he was kind enough to share his thoughts on the program.

During his term, Eloy completed over 450 service hours, earned his GED and was awarded an AmeriCorps scholarship of nearly $1400 for higher education. He also earned several certifications from the Building Performance Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, OHSA, and PACT among others. Eloy served as an invaluable member of Leadership Council where he dutifully represented his crew and helped to organize many successful programs and events for MHYC.

We are all very proud of Eloy and his accomplishments over the last nine months. This is certainly one of the best YouthBuild graduating classes in recent memory. We would like to congratulate the YouthBuild Corpsmembers on all of their hard work during this term and we wish them the best after graduation!

Check back next week when we will have video clips and stories from tomorrow’s graduation!

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Leadership Council Elections

At the beginning of each term, we give Corpsmembers the opportunity to nominate and elect their peers to MHYC’s Leadership Council. This is a group made up entirely of Corpsmembers to act as a liaison between staff members and the crews. Leadership Council works to implement policy changes, host and coordinate events like Career Day and our Halloween party “Boo-Yah,” and relay information between Corpsmembers and staff.

In January, three crews began their terms at the same time and when we mentioned the opportunity to take a leadership role in the organization, many Corpsmembers jumped at the chance. The prospective council members were asked to prepare a letter of intent, a letter of recommendation, and also a short speech which they would deliver at the monthly Community Meeting. Corpsmembers on each crew voted for who they wanted to represent them.

Below is a video compilation of the winning representatives’ speeches:

The newest Leadership Council members have been hard at work with the rest of the team since March and we are incredibly excited to have them on board. Joining us from the ACLC crew are Gabe, Casey, and Emily, from the Energy crew we have Jack and Jackie, and our new representative from the Water crew is Brandon. They will be joining the representatives from YouthBuild and the Leadership Council Advisors in working to “Build individual Corpsmember strengths to ensure Corps success.”

Best of luck to our newest representatives!

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MHYC goes to Urban Farm

On Friday, members of Mile High Youth Corps Leadership Council headed to the Urban Farm in East Denver for our monthly service project.

We met lots of interesting animals and helped clean up the farm for an event the nonprofit organization was hosting this past weekend.

The Urban Farm works to improve the lives of urban youth by providing a place to develop self-esteem and a strong work ethic.

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Congratulations New Leadership Council Members

Mile High Youth Corps has a Leadership Council made up of Corpsmembers from all crews who have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills. The council meets once a week to discuss agency policies and procedures, plan service projects and address issues brought up by their fellow Corpsmembers.

Last Friday we gathered in “the barn” for speeches from the Energy and Water Conservation Corpsmembers who were nominated to be on the council by their fellow Corpsmembers. After amazing speeches, Corpsmembers and staff voted for one Energy and one Water Conservation Corpsmember to join the council.

It was a tough decision because everyone presented such passionate, compelling cases for why they would be great representatives for their crews, but in the end Mike Smith from the Water Conservation Crew and Chelsea Cain from the Energy Conservation Crew earned their positions on the Leadership Council.

Mike is currently serving his second term on the Water Conservation Crew and talked about the importance of leading by example. Chelsea gave a heartfelt speech about her yearning to be a part of the council and left us with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson to consider:

“What is it to succeed? To laugh often and much. To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children. To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others. To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition. To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. That is to have succeeded.”

Welcome to the council Mike and Chelsea, we’re excited to have you!

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