An ISP Weekend

Yesterday I went with some NCCC members to the Boys and Girls Club. We took down a haunted house. I was the only Sun Unit member there. They fed us pizza for lunch and it was great! I got a total of 7 hours. I went to Wal-Mart later with a friend. The bus ride was $1.00 to the lightrail station! We then walked to the Wal-Mart, which took about 5-10 minutes.

Today was quite awesome. I slept in till 9am. I had to be ready by 12:30pm for an ISP at the Denver Police Department. They had a haunted house, a haunted bus, and a whole bunch of other things that gave children a chance to get candy. The reason the police did it was because it wasn't a safe part of town and they didn't want children knocking on random doors at night. They ended up giving 2 tons of candy away! All the volunteers had chili for lunch and/or dinner. It was really good. My job was to take pictures of the children with police officers. I even got a picture with one. It was fun. I got to see all kinds of costumes. At 7pm we helped pack up and left at 8pm. I got 8 hours today! I now have 24.5 hours. 55.5 more hours to go!

Like a G6.

Today the team went rock climbing!! It was indoors, but it was still awesome. We were there for about two hours. I did it and went all the way to the top! I couldn't do the harder ones. They were slanted and there were ledges. I had fun though! That's all we did today.

Later there was a Halloween Party. I didn't dress up, but it was fun. There were a lot of different costumes. One of my favorite events that happened were when The Greasers and The Barbershop Quartet had a dance off. The Quartet were members and The Greasers were team leaders(TLs). Another favorite was when two Sun Unit TLs stripped in the middle of the dance floor(not completely). They were wearing skin tight outfits. Brandon was green and Matt was yellow. I have an ISP tomorrow, so I left early. I'm off to bed!

Work, work, work!

Today has been pretty good. First, the new team went to the Boys and Girls Club to do a service project. I was putting "instant asphalt" down and raked leaves. The asphalt was for a spot in the parking lot that had a big crack. It had to be packed down once it was leveled correctly. A couple of members and I went to the front of the building to rake leaves. There were a lot of leaves. We ended up having about ten trash cans full.

After all that was done, we went back to campus. I ate dinner and later went with a group to 13th Floor Haunted House. They had thirteen levels of scariness. On special days, you can get your money back if you go all the way through. That wasn't today though. We waited for about an hour and a half to get in. It was really awesome! I didn't get scared, but many others did. One guy was terrified. There are more pictures, but I have to get them from someone later.

Uneventful Days

Yesterday was boring. All the Sun Unit did was learn about safety and tool safety. It wasn't much more than that.
Today, was a little more eventful. Just a little. The Sun Unit had media training in the morning. In the afternoon, we had an Intro to Projects and Service Learning lecture for FIVE hours. UGH. We switch teams after the lecture by playing a game.
Later I went with a group to Hobby Lobby. I was teaching origami in Art Club today, so I had to get a few things. Art Club started at 8:00pm. It went on till 11:00pm! I knew the earrings would take a while and only three people were able to finish them. Some people even joined in although they aren't in the Art Club. It was fun! Now I need to go to sleep. I've stayed up later than usual.

Training

This week is all about training. Today was more American Red Cross(ARC) training and also training from Save the Children(STC). It wasn't as boring as other lectures.

The Sun Unit started with ARC training. We were to participate in a simulation to get the idea of things. We were victims of a fire in an apartment building. ARC had a shelter set up for us to use(in Stage II). We registered first. After I registered, I went and registered another person so I could get a better understanding of things. It continued on until everyone did it. When I was done, I went into the "shelter" and set up cots. These are not your normal-type cots. They are extremely hard to put together. It was faster once I got the hang of it. I had fun though. We sat through a presentation and learned more of what to do at the shelter.

After that, we went upstairs and learned more of shelter work. We got to split up into teams and pretended we were responding to a disaster. There were many roles and I took on the role of Dormitory Management. I was in charge of setting up cots, bedding, making sure the clients knew the sleeping hours, and having them keep their items together. I liked the job.

After lunch, we went back to Stage II and met with a woman from Save the Children. STC worked with ARC and focused more on the children. They made big care packages for 20 children that could last up to 5 days. There were things for younger and older kids. We learned on what to do if there were children at the shelter. They have to find a good playroom and make sure it is safe enough, but fun. They may even remodel some rooms. The kids have to be potty-trained to play in the playroom. If they aren't, the parent can join them in the playroom. The same goes for the more serious special needs kids. There are many precautions for the children as well as the volunteers.

When the lecture was over, we did another simulation. We split into two groups and had to find a good area for a playroom. Once we found one, we had to set it up. Each team received a care package so we could decorate the area and put in certain stations(crafts, games, physical activities, reading). Everyone enjoyed it.

Today was a good day. It rained some time before lunch and then got really cold. It's freezing every time I go outside. I might need to start wearing gloves since winter is almost here.

PS- The picture is from my window. I put my hand on it and it fogged immediately.

The Butterfly Pavilion

I had today off. Instead of sleeping in and resting, I volunteered with a group at the Butterfly Pavilion for an ISP. ISP stands for Independent Service Projects. We have to have a total of 80 hours of ISP. It has to be volunteer work with a non-profit organization. I think I earned 10-12 today.

At the Butterfly Pavilion they were having a Bug-A-Boo event. The kids came dressed up and got a chance to get candy, play in a maze, and other fun stuff. There was a section for butterflies, spider/arachnids, and sea creatures. I saw mostly everything. Some of the cockroaches participated in a race.

We arrived at 8am and got to look around for an hour. We had a thirty minute orientation on what to do and then we started. My first job was to greet the guests and give the children a bag for treats. I did that till 1:30pm with a lunch sometime in between. After that, I went to the Spider Myths table. I gave candy to anyone who participated. While there, I held a Rosie Tarantula and a Hissing Cockroach. The Rosie Tarantula can live for around 30 years. I want one.

It closed around 5pm and we cleaned up. The whole exhibit was awesome. I would like to go again. The group took one last picture with the praying mantis in the front.

Mullein

Today was awesome! We left campus around 7:30am to go to Cherry Creek National Park. It was about 30 minutes away. It's HUGE. Once we were there, we walked to our destination by using the trails. It was quite a walk. Everyone had to wear their steel-toed boots too. I should have broke them in earlier. My feet were killing me.

Once we were at our destination, we were taught of some tool safety and more of what we were doing. The teams split into two. On my team, there were five people. After we got organised, we were brought 400 six graders that would help us. They had to walk about a half mile from their school. Five students joined our team. Their names were Yanni, Tasha, Bommi, Elan, and Sarah. We did an awesome ice breaker that they taught us. It was called Ninja. Then, we were on our way to start our mission.

The Sun Unit was going to, as they called it, "thrash" Mullein. Mullein is a weed that is taking over the park and keeping other plants from growing. It can be up to 6ft. tall. We first cut off the top part that held all the seeds and put it in trash bags. We then cut the stem from the root and just left it in the field. It helps prevent it from growing more. All the teams were assigned a specific spot. I must say, ours was the biggest. It was more than twice the size of other teams. We cleared it all out though. It was awesome! We had a total of 7 bags filled. The students did a great job. They also had a lot of fun.

At lunch, we went back to the main area. After eating, the students had to go back to class and the NCCC members had to finish the trail building. It was originally assigned to a different unit, but they didn't get to finish. We had it all done within an hour. I can't believe it. We were filling wheel-barrows with dirt in 3 seconds! I wish you could have seen the team work.

We got back to campus before dinner. I was glad that I finally got to do more than just sit through presentations all day. It was a great experience.

Day of Meetings

Today was full of meetings and presentations. They were each about an hour or longer. The first was with all the units. It was about a project we are doing tomorrow. I will tell more of the project in tomorrows post. The next speaker talked to us about disaster awareness. I don't feel the need to mention more. After that, we all split up into our units. The Sun Unit went to Stage 2 were we met Vanessa Davis. She told us about the Education Award. I also got to ask her some questions about things I had some problems with online. We got it all figured out.
After lunch, we went to the East Dining Hall were we learned about getting college credits and some awards. I can get a total of 9 hours. The credits are for Service Learning and Diversity in Service. The last one, called American Humanics, requires a course online. If a non AmeriCorps NCCC member tried for this, they would have to have 300 hours of internship as well as a couple of very long portfolios. When I finish the course, I would receive a Certificate in Nonprofit Management. It is very helpful when applying anywhere that deals with nonprofit organizations.
The fourth meeting was about sexual harassment. Need I say more? The last was about the history behind AmeriCorps. When we were all done, we said the AmeriCorps NCCC pledge. And that's all!!! I went to dinner and will be going to Wal-Mart in a bit. I have to wake up super early tomorrow.

PS- The picture above is my upcoming schedule.

On Track

I finally feel like we are starting to get on track with everything. Today, we all had to cram into the Little Auditorium for three hours. It was hot in there. The first speaker was a police officer. He told us everything we need to be aware of in Denver and what to avoid doing. The second speaker was a woman from Planned Parenthood. She talked about sex education and all that jazz. The last speaker was a woman from American Red Cross. She had done AmeriCorps NCCC in Denver too. She told us her stories and experiences she had on spikes. One of her roles while on spike in Louisiana was to talk to the important people(governor, mayor). After leaving AmeriCorps NCCC, she was offered a job with American Red Cross. Now she's in charge of the Mile High Center.

After that, we were sent to a parking lot with the team leaders and their vans. We were taught everything we need to know about the van. My team leader named hers Beatrice. We checked everything to make sure Beatrice was running good and dent free. We even changed the tire and put chains on the back tires for the icy-type weather we may encounter. It was awesome! I had fun getting my hands dirty for once. I felt like we were finally getting this show on the road. I'm ready to start building houses!

I had fun today. I'm glad we are getting things started. It was about time. I found out some people are being sent home tomorrow because they failed the drug test. -sigh- I just don't understand some people. I also went to the Art Club. It is great! I get to teach origami next week.

PS- The picture above is my schedule for the first two weeks. Feel free to comment if you'd like more information on what something is. Also, if you click the picture, it will enlarge.

Boulder

Okay. So, today the Sun Unit went to Boulder. It's a really awesome town. The University of Colorado at Boulder was giving me some new ideas. We went to the shopping area on Pearl Street. I stopped at a couple of bookstores. I couldn't buy much because I don't get paid till November. I still had a good time though. After that, we went hiking up in the mountains. There were a couple of trails. I didn't go all the way up to the top. It was long and we only had an hour and thirty minutes to hike. From where I stopped, the view was amazing! You could even see Denver in the distance. I'm worried I may not want to leave Colorado.

And that was most of my day! I did laundry earlier. It took a while. Some of the other people waiting played Phase 10 with me to pass time. A couple of guys even brought an Xbox in and played that. It was interesting.

On the Road Again

Today was a rather slow day. The Sun Unit switched teams. I'm still warming up to them. Everyone had to watch a driver's safety video as well as listen to a safety speech. It was very long. After that, the leaders took their new team to have some driving tests. The test was optional. I didn't take it. I don't even have a licence. About 5 people did it. We drove around Denver with each person taking about thirty minutes. We even went to the top of a mountain where Buffalo Bill's grave is. It was interesting. Not much else happened. I went to a book club meeting earlier. We decided to read "I, Lucifer" by Glen Duncan. It sounds like a good read. I need to buy it though. I'll have to make a trip to The Tattered Cover later this week.

PS- I put the link up if you'd like to see more pictures. It's called Americorps NCCC Pictures. Check them out.

Exploring and More

So I thought it over and decided that I will update more while I'm in Denver. While on spike, I will try to update about once a week. It all depends on where I am. The picture to the left is the campus that I'm staying on. It is really nice. You can even see the bell tower from the Light Rail Station and a little ways off. It's mostly AmeriCorps NCCC members on campus, but every now and then you may see a few students.

Today was fun! I had the day off, so I went downtown with a couple of friends. We took a bus to the Light Rail Station and then a Light Rail to downtown. In total, I spent $4 for transportation. It would have been $2 if I had my student id. We also walked to the capitol, but it was closed. Luckily, there was an event going on right across the street. It was called Rock n' Roll Marathon. Rock music played on the radio and by bands while the marathon went on. It was pretty cool. We went to the gate and hi-fived the runners as they were about to finish. There were a lot of people there. We walked over to 16th Street Mall which can also be known as an outside mall. It's really awesome! We went to some souvenir shops and REI. We had to get back by 5pm to have our tb shot checked. I was all clear! I don't think anyone has it. I planned to do laundry today, but I'm so tired. I'm still adjusting to the altitude, I guess. I know I'm doing better than some others.

As for the days before this, not much happened. I did a drug test and got my tb shot. There was a team tour of downtown Denver. We had a meeting that was VERY long about everything in the member handbook. There isn't much else. Tomorrow is going to be more eventful.

So long for now! I'm going to put up a link to my AmeriCorps pictures if you would like to see more. Email me if you have any problems seeing them.

My oh my.

So it's the second day. I must say, it has been VERY long. I'll start with the yesterday first.

Yesterday was pretty good. There was a slight flight delay, but only by about thirty minutes. I arrived to the Denver airport around 1:30pm and arrived on campus around 3pm. I checked-in at the front office in Welsh Hall and received my key and room number. My roommate was not here at the time, so I unpacked and got my boxes that I had shipped earlier. After that, I went to dinner around 5pm. The cafeteria food is pretty good, but the team leaders said that food on spike is better.
At 8pm there was a unit meeting where we went over rules, regulations, etc. It was kind of long, but it was interesting. Everyone introduced themselves and we all talked of how we discovered AmeriCorps NCCC. I even saw some familiar faces from when we had talked on the Denver campus Facebook page. When it was over, we had a quick team meeting then we were done for the day.
I was tired and jet-lagged. I wanted to go to sleep right when I got back to the dorm, but I didn't get to. My roommate showed up sometime later. She's 24 and from Arizona. We talked for a little while she prepared her area. We went to bed shortly after. I slept like a rock.
Today has been long. I started out with breakfast and went to a meeting shortly after. It wasn't long. We broke up into teams and did everything we needed to do today. I got my uniform, turned in paperwork, listened to more presentations, and more. I can't believe it's only the second day. Sometime in between all that, I had my first ride in a team van. A few members and I went to Target to get some last minute items. When everything was finally done, there was free time. The older members went to a bar down the street. I'm not quite sure what I want to do, but I know I'm tired right now. It may be the altitude change. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

That is all I have right now. I will try to update as much as I can. Tomorrow we will take a tour of the campus and Denver, so I'll post some pictures soon.

All About AmeriCorps NCCC

So I'm going to tell about everything one may need to know about AmeriCorps NCCC. Or at least about what I know so far.

1. Overview (from Welcome Packet)
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a residential national service program for men and women between the ages of 18 and 24. Approximately 1100 members serve nationwide annually.

For 10 months, members serve on teams to meet urgent community needs through projects that support the environment, infrastructure improvement, energy conservation, urban and rural development, and immediate and continuing disaster response, which is our priority project area. AmeriCorps NCCC has responded to every national disaster since the program began in 1994. Projects operate through partnerships with non-profit organizations, state and local agencies, and other community and faith-based groups. Teams will work on a series of different projects, allowing members to experience a variety of service work as well as different communities and cultures.

2. Units and Teams
There are four units. They are Earth, Fire, Sun, and Water. The name has no relation to what projects are assigned. Each unit will probably have about 7 teams with 12 members in each. The teams are all assigned a certain number (Water 4, Sun 2). Some teams are specialized to fight the forest fires, but I didn't want to do that. I got a call about two days ago and found out that I'm in the Sun Unit. I will probably stay there through the whole program.

3. Corps Training Institute (CTI)
During the first four weeks I will be stationed in Denver. While in Denver, I go through specialized training. I will learn MANY different things that I will use while on spike (see below).

4. What is a SPIKE?
From Welcome Packet- A SPIKE is when a team undertakes a service project which is more than a one hour drive from campus. You will not be housed in the campus dormitories while on SPIKE. SPIKE accommodations have included staying at community centers, churches, military facilities, youth hostels, camping, etc. If you are without a bed you will be provided a sleeping bag and sleeping mat. You may or may not be cooking your own food. You may have to share a single bathroom or shower facility among your teammates. Come prepared for any of the above and beyond. SPIKES usually last six to eight weeks.

The first spike will be shorter than the others. There are usually 4-6 spikes during the service year. I kind of hope we won't have to go to the Texas coast, but if I have to then I will get over it. The southwest region is mainly what the Denver campus covers, unless a major disaster happens.

5. Miscellaneous
Packing- UGH!!! That was one of the most time consuming of all. It was a LONG list. I had to pack for all seasons as well as the different weather conditions. I've never even had to really worry about cold climate before. I got it all done with the help of friends and family members. I really appreciate it.

Process- Ever since that day I turned in my application about a year ago, I have been standing on pins and needles. Flexibility is a must. First, was the interview in March. The service projects I did in high school really helped with that. Next, was the waiting period. A very long waiting period. That waiting period ended up with me on the waitlist. -sigh- Finally, in July I hear from them. I had been accepted. That was the ONLY information they gave me. Where was I going? When would I find out? I ended up calling the next day. I was on hold for an hour and transferred through many people till finally I was told that I was assigned to Denver and will leave in October. All the stuff after that involved paperwork, more paperwork, and some more phone calls.


I really am excited to finally start this new adventure. I will try to post when I can. Thanks to all who are reading this and continue to read. Please comment or send an email! I hope to hear from any of you!

5 Days?!

Things I've Done/Accomplished Before Departing
-I got my hair cut. It's very short.
-I found out that I'm in the Sun Unit! I believe it's only temporary.
-Received my itinerary. Only a two hour flight! AND it's a direct flight.
-I shipped my boxes.
-I finished getting EVERYTHING that I may need.

That's about it right now. 5 more days! I can't wait!!