VYT Voices Spring 2014

Dear Friends,

Spring is here and with it, the second issue of VYT Voices.

The 27 Vermont Youth Tomorrow A*VISTA members scattered across our state

have accomplished an unbelievable amount in just eight months. In this

newsletter, they reflect on their accomplishments within the context of the

VISTA mission of alleviating poverty.

In service,

Anna Houston

VYT VISTA Leader 2013-2014

VYT VOICES

Vermont Youth Tomorrow A*VISTA Program

The 2013-2014 VYT Team!

Volume 12, Issue 2

Spr ing 2014

I ns i d e th i s i s s ue :

Kate Cahalane 2

Mark Hengstler 2

Alison Siegel 2

Hilary Watson 3

Alaina Wermers 3

Anna Berg 4

Marcella Houghton 4

Ashley Piatt 5

Michelle Sayles 5

Daron Blake 6

Justin Henry 6

Ashton Kulesa 7

Chelsea Ambrose 7

Sara Pierce 8

Robby Salorio 8

Stephanie Olsen 9

Julie Markarian 9

Ryan Morra 10

Amanda Udoff 10

Emily Johnson 11

Allie Pflughoeft 11

Alex Prolman 12

Hannah Reckhow 12

Victoria Davis 13

Caitlin Wyneken 13

Training Photos 14

Ameripalooza! 15

able housing neighborhoods. Our

support includes attending weekly

mentor meetings, attending Friday

activities, building relationships

with community partners, and facil-

itating conversations between men-

tors and the families of mentees.

From this support, youth broaden

their worldviews, expand social

horizons, increase social capital,

and increase their self-reliance.

These direct results comprise

DREAM’s Theory of Change, which

describes our approach to alleviat-

ing poverty. At Bolton, our role

included participating in Teen Win-

ter Adventure Camp, where we

were reminded that our support,

though often behind a desk, pro-

vides space for both mentors and

mentees to stand up on their own.

After Sharks & Minnows, Emily in-

vited us to ski a small portion of the

Catamount Trail. Expecting many of

our teens to feel overwhelmed,

unready for the challenge, we were

surprised to watch every teen,

It was a bright afternoon at Bolton

Valley Ski Resort where 22 pairs of

teens and mentors clicked into their

borrowed cross-country skis and

screamed as they slid down the

small practice hill hidden behind the

lodge. Teens fell; mentors fell. They

wobbled back up to stand on the

loosely-packed snow then fell

again. As Emily, an AmeriCorps

member serving with the Cata-

mount Trail Association through the

Vermont Housing Conservation

Board (VHCB) prepared for our first

game of Sharks & Minnows, the

three of us circled around on our

cross-country skis, tentative, still

getting the hang of it, assisting the

mentors and teens who fell and

could not get back up.

Thinking back to this moment, we

can’t help but reflect on our roles

as Program Empowerment VISTAs

with The DREAM Program. We sup-

port DREAM’s Local Programs

across Vermont, which pair college

students with youth living in afford-

Kate Cahalane, Mark Hengstler, & Ali Siegel, VYT A*VISTA members

The DREAM Program (White River Junction, Burlington, & Bennington)

including the three who opted for

snowshoes, begin the unsteady trek

across the parking lot. It was an

entirely organic decision: we would

brave the trail together. After an

hour of more skiing, more falling,

and more bonding between these

teens and mentors from across

Vermont, we began to slowly en-

courage them to turn around, back

toward the far-off lodge. After only

a few hours on the trail, there was

a noticeable shift in confidence

among both teens and mentors. We

returned to our offices exhausted

and with a reassured confidence

that our VISTA service makes a

difference in the lives of DREAM

youth.

Teen WAC (Winter Adventure Camp) with DREAM mentees, mentors, and

Program Empowerment VISTAs. Kate with a mentee at Teen WAC.

How many of you feel like you

learned something valuable to your

professional lives outside of the

classroom? My guess is that most

of you would raise a hand in

agreement. Me too. In fact, I

would say that the majority of the

pivotal decisions I have made about

my next academic or career steps

have stemmed from something or

someone I worked with in my com-

munity. This is why I am so pas-

sionate about AmeriCorps and the

service work I do with Navicate.

Through AmeriCorps VISTA, I have

a position at Navicate that allows

me to work with high schoolers all

across Vermont providing them with

real world learning opportunities to

get them thinking about, planning

for and exploring the type of profes-

sional they want to be. Essentially,

I help them do what AmeriCorps

VISTA is doing for me.

I help young people find internships

where they can develop a voice in

their own learning, connect to their

community, support each other, find

mentors and gain valuable work

experience that will better prepare

them to be successful in tomorrow’s

jobs.

AmeriCorps VISTA has reiterated

the importance of community in my

life. It is through this new lens that

I have developed a renewed appre-

ciation for the strength, encourage-

ment, support and breadth of

knowledge found in our surround-

ings.

We, as VISTAs, fight poverty each

day by building bridges and open-

ing doors for those we work with so

that as individuals move forward,

they feel supported, prepared and

inspired to achieve their next steps.

critical need in our community

where the only supermarket closed

several years ago and fresh produce

can be very expensive. Winooski

has a very high poverty rate in

comparison to surrounding commu-

nities at 25% living at or below the

poverty line. Additionally, Winooski

is home to many New Americans for

whom fresh vegetables are a staple.

As I sit here writing my article for

the spring newsletter, we are busily

getting ready for the upcoming

growing season here in Winooski.

Spring (and fresh fruits and veg-

gies) will soon be upon us. The City

of Winooski operates two communi-

ty garden sites; one at the O’Brien

Community Center and one at

Landry Park. These gardens serve a

It can be difficult for New Americans

or any residents who do not drive or

own a car to access fresh produce in

our city.

During my year and half at my site,

I have expanded and sustained the

Winooski Community Garden pro-

gram in several ways. First, I

worked with current gardeners to

create a strategic plan for the gar-

dens, which included creating a

garden team and two garden man-

ager positions. We also expanded

the number of plots available, and

we still had a waiting list last year!

This is truly encouraging to me as it

shows that people want fresh pro-

duce. We will continue to expand

this year in order to make fresh

produce more accessible to

Winooski families!

Hilary Watson, VYT A*VISTA member

Navicate (Burlington, VT)

Alaina Wermers, VYT A*VISTA member

Community Services Department—City of Winooski (Winooski, VT)

A TIPS (Training Interns & Partnering for

Success) student learning valuable jobs

skills through her internship at a local

dentist office.

Volume 12, Issue 2

The Winooski Community Garden at the O’Brien Center.

Volume 12, Issue 2

As Youth Leadership Coordinator for

the Youth Development Program,

the biggest part of my role is

creating pathways for youth in the

Youth Development Program to be-

come leaders in their communities

and their own lives. These youth

have all suffered traumatic pasts,

and many are still facing incredible

challenges to living a “normal”

adolescent or young adult life.

Youth who age out of foster care

without permanency – that is, with-

out at least one caring adult who

will stick by them for the long

haul – are at a disproportionally

high risk for homelessness,

substance abuse, and overall poor

health and wellbeing. The number

one goal of the Youth Development

Program is to help every youth tran-

sitioning out of foster care find per-

manency, but we also work with

youth on accessing higher educa-

tion, making connections in their

community, and developing a

myriad of personal skills – all of

which empower them to forgive

their past and work towards more

positive futures. The area that I

focus on takes that empowerment

piece one step further by helping

youth become advocates for change

in the child welfare system. We do

this in a number of different ways.

Our Youth Development Committee

meets once a month and is made up

of a dedicated group of youth from

around Vermont. At YDC meetings

youth participate in various

leadership activities and trainings

and serve as an advisory board to

several groups of child welfare and

juvenile justice professionals. In

addition to these meetings we also

organize youth panels and form

partnerships with groups around the

state who we think should include

youth voices in their work. These

activities allow youth to share

directly with people who are capable

of making real changes, which is

incredibly empowering and helps

them reframe their past into

something that they no longer feel

will hold them back.

Interface, as we’ve dubbed it, is a

portal for volunteers, a tool for

coordinators, and a data-collecting

platform to measure the scope and

impact of gleaning statewide. As

‘project manager’ for the Interface

I worked closely with both the vi-

sionary and the lead developer to

guide the site’s construction, test

its function, and create materials

for its users. Toggling between the

vision’s ideals and the constraints

of code proved an interesting chal-

lenge, and it’s clear that this site

will continue to evolve.

As icicles dripped outside, heralding

the thaw to bring another gleaning

season, the Collective members

discussed how to make the Inter-

face--and the Collective itself--

most effective. I’m grateful indeed

to be part of an initiative that so

easily zooms out to reveal its solid

purpose.

March third dawned sunny as we

drove to Montpelier to host the first

quarterly meeting of the Vermont

Gleaning Collective. It was an excit-

ing day, as it officially linked food-

rescue efforts in four regions and

culminated years of planning by

Salvation Farms, one of my service

sites. My role was to unveil the

Gleaners Interface, a project I’ve

focused on for a good chunk of my

service.

Gleaning is the act of gathering

edible, surplus food that would oth-

erwise go to waste. Gleaners in

Vermont are capturing about 15%

of food available for gleaning.

Gathered by volunteers from farms

fields, rescued produce becomes a

low-cost, healthy supplement for

food pantries and institutions. A

robust gleaning program allows

farms to reduce waste—and links

more people to food grown in their

own communities. The Gleaners

Anna Berg, VYT A*VISTA member

Youth Development Program (Montpelier, VT)

Marcella Houghton, VYT A*VISTA member

Laraway Youth & Family Services and Salvation Farms (Johnson, VT)

Tim Clifford, lead developer for the Gleaners

Interface, Theresa Snow, founder/director of

Salvation Farms, and Marcella at the first

meeting of the Vermont Gleaning Collective .

Volume 12, Issue 2

The Volunteers in Service to

America (VISTA) program is part of

AmeriCorps and provides indirect

service that focuses on alleviating

poverty in communities throughout

the nation. At Cornerstone,

alleviating poverty is focused

through education and K-12

success by creating programs and

partnering with local organizations

to provide skills training and

educational activities to promote the

overall well being of the youth in

Richford. More than 75% of youth in

Richford elementary school are con-

sidered low-income.

After creating the program or or-

ganizing the partnership, I then

work to recruit, train, and manage

volunteers so that the program is

run by locals. Another large part of

my service is ensuring the financial

sustainability of Cornerstone

through fundraising and grant

writing. Cornerstone is a fairly

new organization and lacks a sta-

ble stream of funding and I am

creating ways to ensure vital pro-

grams can be created and sus-

tained over time.

In addition to a few other organi-

zations and programs,

Cornerstone has been a great help

to a slowly improving the

community. The population that I

mainly serve is youth through

coordinating programming for

teens/young adults with Vermont

Adult Learning, training volunteers

to run the preschool playgroup

Building Brighter Futures, an

intergenerational mentoring

program, partnering with the local

elementary school to offer a space

for game/activity instruction and

cooking/snack instruction, and

Ashley Piatt, VYT A*VISTA member

Cornerstone Bridges to Life Center

(Richford, VT)

offering an Open Center for upper

elementary kids to learn skills.

Other programming that

Cornerstone offers to the

community is through senior

activities and monthly meals.

They also organize a town-wide

program that provides low income

and in-poverty families and

individuals with food/gifts for the

holiday season called Operation

Happiness.

My service as a VISTA with VAHC

has shown me an even broader

landscape of the ways in which

folks find themselves secure and

at home. For many people, af-

fordable housing is scarce and

available housing is financially

unattainable. In Chittenden

County for example, there are

only 37 affordable rental units

available for every 100 extremely

low-income households that need

Michelle Sayles, VYT A*VISTA member

Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition

(Burlington, VT)

them. This leaves many people

struggling to find secure housing.

Others who find themselves in

affordable housing may fear for its

stability.

As a resident organizer, I have

been striving to bring neighboring

tenants together to form a support

network for those living in afforda-

ble housing developments. The

core of my work has been building

relationships with residents

through regular one-on-one inter-

action and gathering information

on tenant needs. These relation-

ships have started to grow into a

renewed sense of engagement,

with new resident leaders begin-

ning to step into leadership roles

in their communities. During a

recent tenant association meeting,

one resident expressed interest in

holding a holiday dance party, so

I helped her to organize and get

the word out to the rest of the

building. The strongest successes

in my organizing are when I help

residents to connect with each

other and realize their own priori-

ties and interests. One key piece

of this realization comes when

people share their stories.

Through a new program called the

Postcard Project, I am collecting

and sharing the stories of afforda-

ble housing residents and helping

to empower the voices of the

people I work with.

Richford community members inside the

Cornerstone Community Center.

Michelle and Justin gave a presentation in January about

their November trip to the Neighborworks Conference in St.

Louis, MO.

My VISTA position serves two differ-

ent organizations. I am stationed at

the Vermont Affordable Housing

Coalition (VAHC) in Burlington.

VAHC is a statewide membership

organization dedicated to ensuring

that all Vermonters have safe,

adequate, physically accessible and

affordable housing, particularly the

state's low and moderate-income

residents, people with disabilities,

those homeless, elders, and families

with children. The other site I serve

is at the Vermont Coalition to End

Homelessness (VCEH), a member-

ship organization made up of local

Continuum of Cares from all across

the state. A Continuum of Care is a

planning body that coordinates hous-

ing and services funding for homeless

families and individuals, working to

promote community-wide engagement

to the goal of ending homelessness.

My daily activities on behalf of both

Coalitions includes developing the

communication strategies and dissem-

inating information to each coalition’s

members and the public. Longer term

projects I have assisted in have in-

cluded the creation of a new website

for VCEH, an updated and improved

blog for VAHC, and securing donated

spaces for coalition meetings. I have

also taken a lead role in developing

this year's Point-In-Time (PIT) Count

We estimate that there are over

15,500 young people in Vermont

who are in strong need of a mentor.

I’m honored to serve with dedicated

mentoring programs across the state

which recruit and retain mentors to

support these youth. January is Na-

tional Mentoring Month, and there

was a flurry of mentoring activity

throughout Vermont. At Mobius, we

organized the reading of a mentor-

ing resolution by Representative

Anne Gallivan on the State House

floor on January 14th, as well as

Governor Shumlin’s signing of a

mentoring proclamation on January

22nd. These events were education-

al experiences for mentees, and as

the VISTA at Mobius, I coordinated

with mentoring programs to make

sure everyone in the mentoring

community was aware of these op-

portunities. As part of the Mobius

office, I also attended and supported

As the AmeriCorps VISTA member

serving at Mobius, Vermont’s Men-

toring Partnership, I directly assist

mentoring programs across the

state, helping them provide quality

mentors to youth who can use a

reliable, adult friend. Children and

teens who have a mentor are less

likely to skip school or to use drugs,

and are more likely to form trusting

relationships with family members.

Last month, MENTOR, the National

Mentoring Partnership, released a

study on the effects of mentoring.

Based on the research, Mobius has

determined that 1 in 3 young Ver-

monters will reach age 18 without

having a formal or informal mentor.

Justin Henry, VYT A*VISTA member

Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition

Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness

(Burlington, VT)

Daron Blake, VYT A*VISTA member

Mobius, Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership (Winooski, VT)

the fundraisers, mentor appreciation

dinners, bingo nights, galas, and skat-

ing parties that brought mentors,

mentees, and supporters together

during the chilly Vermont Mentoring

Month!

of the state's homeless population.

My involvement in the PIT count has

included assisting in an improved

design of the survey form, developing

and facilitating all of the state's train-

ings for PIT volunteers, researching

and presenting best practices for im-

plementing the count, and assistance

in writing the to-be released report

from the information we collected.

I have learned much and am lucky to

have met so many folks dedicated to

housing and homelessness issues and

look forward to my continued service.

Daron and Dee Johnson, mentoring

coordinator for Spectrum Youth and Family

Services, get creative during a mentoring

fundraiser at American Flatbread.

The past few months at the

Willowell Foundation have been full

of planning and writing grants.

Recently, I helped write a successful

application for a Vermont Farm to

School Planning Grant that allocated

$5,000 to Vergennes Union High

School (VUHS). This grant is making

it possible for VUHS and Willowell to

spend a year planning a comprehen-

sive Farm to School partnership that

Ashton Kulesa, VYT A*VISTA member

The Willowell Foundation (Monkton, VT)

Hi, my name is Chelsea and I am

an AmeriCorps VISTA member with

the All-4-One program in

Springfield, Vermont.

I recently made the move to

Vermont from Oregon, where I ran

a before and after school program

for students K-6. I've come to

All-4-One because of my faith in

education. All-4-One provides

before and after school programs,

Summer camp, and weekend trips

for children in the Springfield school

district. The program engages stu-

dents creative, academic, enrich-

ment, and recreational clubs and

activities that incorporate literary

Chelsea Ambrose, VYT A*VISTA member

All-4-One (Springfield, VT)

and math skills. In Springfield,

59.48% of students qualify for free

or reduced lunch.

I know that students benefit greatly

from successful programs outside of

school and I understand many of the

challenges that these programs face.

I am excited to strengthen All-4-

One's curriculum building ca-

pacities. look forward to meeting

and collaborating with those in-

volved with the school system and

with community members to incor-

porate what students are learning in

the classroom into All-4-One's cur-

riculum.

Additionally, I hope to continue to

develop our volunteer program and

to further integrate All-4-One into

the Springfield community.

I am really excited to be in

Springfield and to serve with All-4-

One this year-- to work together to

raise a generation of productive,

happy, respectful, and responsible

problem solvers and world citizens.

Around the World on a Plate Club with

will bring much more local pro-

duce into the cafeteria, establish

food systems education in class-

rooms, and get kids out to Wil-

lowell’s Educational Homestead to

be part of their food production.

1 in 6 children in Addison County

are food insecure. We hope this

partnership will be especially

helpful to low-income youth, who

may not have access to healthy

meals and nutrition information at

home.

We are also working to serve low-

income youth by creating summer

camp scholarships for families in

need. Programs like Jedi Camp,

Lord of the Rings Camp, Coyote

Clan, Flight & Flame, and Girls

Empowerment Camp provide out-

door skills, problem solving oppor-

tunities, and experiential learning

for local youth.

Jedi Padawan Camp (Summer 2013)

Wren’s Nest Preschool (Fall 2013)

Introducing the newest member of

the VYT team...

Volume 12, Issue 2

As a VISTA member, I serve with the

Franklin Grand Isle Bookmobile and

work to address the major needs and

concerns of the community. The

community I serve has a major prob-

lem with drug abuse, education lev-

els, job creation rates, and lack of

transportation in a very rural ar-

ea. We address these issues by pro-

moting a lifelong love of learning

and providing free books and

education to the youth of Franklin

and Grand Isle counties.

The children we visit are often very

excited to come on the Bookmobile,

listen to story time, and checkout

books. At one particular preschool,

a few kids always sit on my lap and

ask me to read them a book. These

kids also want to give out hugs be-

fore the Bookmobile leaves. These

kids also attend school in one of the

poorest districts in the state. My

role is to get kids excited about

books and learning at a young age

which will help motivate them to

keep learning and eventually gradu-

ate high school and overcome the

cycle of poverty.

Recently, I wrote and received a

grant that focuses on promoting

literacy by uniting a community

through a single story. Through

the grant, each community reads

the year’s chosen book and comes

together for events and program-

ming based on the story’s themes,

morals, and characters. I’m cur-

rently working on another grant

that emphasizes the importance of

early childhood education through

reading and story time activities

that will help support the

Bookmobile’s mission of promoting

a ‘lifelong love of learning.’

Sara Pierce, VYT A*VISTA member

Franklin Grand Isle Bookmobile (Swanton, VT)

Robby Salorio, VYT A*VISTA member

UVM Extension Migrant Education Program (Vermont)

The mission of the Vermont Migrant

Education Program is to provide edu-

cational resources and tutoring ser-

vices to migrant students and fami-

lies throughout all of Vermont. I am

proud to announce that we can now

officially say we are successfully

reaching students in all parts of the

state.

Thus far in my year of VISTA ser-

vice I have been able to place vol-

unteer teachers with migrant stu-

dents from Vernon, to Bennington,

to East Montpelier, to Addison and

Bristol, and Enosburg and Swan-

ton. It has been great to see the

impact the Migrant Education Pro-

gram has had on both volunteers

and students. A perfect example of

this would be one of the volunteers

who teaches with me on Mondays at

a farm in East Montpelier. This par-

ticular volunteer was unsure of what

his plans were after he graduated

from high school, but since volun-

teering with the Migrant Education

Program he decided to pursue

college and focus on Latin Ameri-

can Studies and also wrote his

college entrance essay on the ex-

periences he has had on the farm.

Another recent success the Mi-

grant Education Program has had

is helping a student who has an

interest in engineering by placing

him with a college volunteer who

is currently majoring in engineer-

ing. These are the stories that

make me proud to work with the

Vermont Migrant Education Pro-

gram. This is a program that is

doing all of the right things to

bring educational opportunities to

those who are marginalized in our

community and I am glad to be a

part of it and to help in its

success.

Robby with a new friend.

Sara with one of the many free books

the Bookmobile gives away.

As a second year AmeriCorps VISTA

serving at the Montpelier Parks and

Conservation Commission, I have

had the honor to see how my year

of service has contributed to the

success of at-risk youth living in the

Barre-Montpelier areas by getting

them out on the land, working on

trails, and learning about conserva-

tion. Being a VISTA is not always an

easy thing. We dedicate one year of

our professional careers to make a

difference in this world by helping to

alleviate poverty. How does one

“alleviate poverty”? One person

cannot do this on her own. It takes

strong-willed people who want to

help make this world a better place

working together to achieve this

goal. It is something that cannot be

done over night, and it is something

that can be done in many different

settings. After all, to “alleviate

poverty” is a broad topic that does

not go hand in hand with just one

line of work, but actually many

subjects that one may not expect.

I have a strong passion for

conservation and natural history. I

believe that nature has a way of

motivating people and gives a sense

of adventure, wonder and healing to

everyone who experiences nature.

I also believe everyone, especially

youth, can become great conserva-

tionists and become vital to the

health and quality of our natural

world. The great naturalist, conser-

vationist, and forester Aldo Leopold

once said, “What conservation

education must build is an ethical

underpinning for land economics

and a universal curiosity to

understand the land mechanism.

Conservation may then follow.”

Using his words, my knowledge, and

letting nature take care of the rest,

I have had the success of getting at

-risk youth to experience nature,

Sugarbush Mountain. Every Sunday,

we meet for practice on Mount Ellen,

stretching as a team at the begin-

ning of practice to warm our mus-

cles up, running through the brush

gates I set on the mountain, and

having a blast skiing together! I’ve

really enjoyed working with the 11

athletes and 15 coaches who come

out every Sunday, despite frigid

temperatures, icy conditions, or

crowded slopes to exercise,

compete, and play! The athletes are

all so much fun, and always come to

practice with a smile on their face

and a great attitude! The whole

team is very close, and they all look

forward to our weekly ski practice;

it’s amazing to see first-hand how

outdoor recreation can help people

build strong, healthy, and long-term

My name is Julie Markarian, and I

am the A*VISTA AmeriCorps mem-

ber doing a year of service with

Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports.

Over the past few months, I have

been filling in as the Head Coach for

the Vermont Adaptive Alpine Race

Team this season at

Steph Olsen, VYT A*VISTA member

Montpelier Parks (Montpelier, VT)

Julie Markarian, VYT A*VISTA member

VT Adaptive Ski and Sports (Vermont)

relationships with one another! We

are gearing up for the Special

Olympics Winter Games, which will

take place at Suicide Six in Wood-

stock, Vermont, and our athletes

and coaches all tell me that the

Saturday night dance is the abso-

lute BEST part of the Games! I have

truly enjoyed working with all of

these athletes and coaches, and

can’t wait to watch them all shine at

the Winter Games!

learn to love it, and to push them-

selves to thrive and to break away

from unhealthy life choices.

Steph and volunteers prepare for the North

Branch Nature Center’s annual midwinter

event “Ice on Fire”.

Julie (on the left in the teal ski pants) and the

VT Adaptive Alpine Race Team.

Volume 12, Issue 2

For as long as I can remember, I

was the kid in class who was never

expected to succeed. Whatever the

opposite of an honors student was,

that was me,” said John, a recent

graduate of Big Picture South Bur-

lington who now volunteers as a

mentor for some of our new stu-

dents. “The first day of Big Picture,

I walked into the room feeling

something I hadn’t felt for a really

long time,” John continued. What

John felt was community - that

there was a space for him, and that

his academic advisors cared about

him. While all educators in the larg-

er school certainly care about their

students, John was experiencing

was a more intimate level of men-

toring that can come through Big

Picture Learning.

Through my VISTA service, I have

seen a number of students come

into Big Picture being completely

disengaged from school and then

light up when they see the oppor-

tunity they have to design their

own curriculum and learn through

internships. By mentoring our stu-

dents as a whole person, we learn

about their interests and find out-

lets for them to explore those. I

have partnered students with over

a dozen businesses that have nev-

er had an intern before – let alone

a high school student – and both

the student and business have

said how much they have gained

from the partnership. These in-

clude nursing homes, auto shops,

art galleries, school classrooms,

television networks, social justice

organizations, and many more. I

am so thrilled to see the number of

community partners supporting Big

Picture Learning growing with each

click of my keyboard or phone call

I make on behalf of one of our

students.

hosting a bake sale to raise funds

for the Northfield Teen Center to

chopping carrots for the annual

WCYSB Thanksgiving Community

Dinner, I have been able to serve in

a variety of capacities that all serve

to alleviate poverty in my immedi-

ate community. The primary pro-

jects that I serve with are the Base-

ment Teen Center in Montpelier City

Hall and the Northfield Teen Center.

Through engaging with the youth as

well as the AmeriCorps members

who serve at the Teen Centers eve-

ry day, I am able to assess what

avenues of capacity building would

best serve our mission. From data-

base management to grant writing,

my service helps to create and

maintain programs that increase

access to education, economic op-

portunities and healthy futures for

In my six months of service as a

VISTA, I have had the chance to

effect change in various areas of

need for the Washington County

community. From collaborating with

the Northfield Middle High School to

Washington County youth.

One example of the way that my

service will have an impact is

through my role in planning the

annual Basement Teen Center

fundraiser, The Amazing Race. In its

fourth year, the Amazing Race gets

the community of Montpelier in-

volved in raising money for

programming for its youth

programs. The money that the

Amazing Race raises serves to fund

everything from field trips to flour

for baking. It is through this sort of

capacity building and fundraising

that I am able to use my year of

service to create positive change for

Washington County.

Ryan Morra, VYT A*VISTA member

Big Picture South Burlington (South Burlington, VT)

Amanda Udoff, VYT A*VISTA member

Washington County Youth Service Bureau/Boys & Girls Club Prevention Programs

(Montpelier, VT)

Baking is a favorite activity during the

long winters at the Basement Teen

Center!

Ryan with Big Picture staff member, Anna,

and Big Picture students.

Volume 12, Issue 2

very good. I can tell you that the

dumplings were a big hit at

lunchtime and that even the picky

eaters were digging into the tasty

morsels.

The greatest success that I have

had in my role as a VISTA has been

facilitating the students at the

Schoolhouse to understand where

food comes from. Whether it’s

cleaning up the kale beds with the

farmer at Bread and Butter Farm or

helping to prepare lunch, once a

week we are getting our students to

play an active role in their food

system. There is something magi-

cal that happens when a kid is sud-

denly involved in producing their

This morning, as I bent over a table

wetting the edges of small squares of

dough, one of the kids helping to

make lunch exclaimed, “I LOVE mak-

ing dumplings!” Another piped in,

“These are going to be so delicious!”

despite the fact that about 20

minutes earlier they were discussing

how they didn’t think the tofu-carrot-

cabbage-green onion filling tasted

If I were discussing the VISTA pro-

gram with a group who knew little

about the program, I would put it

into simple terms: it is a program

that combats poverty with passion

and tries to uproot it from the core.

Poverty is complex and VISTA tries

to attack it from many different

angles. My specific site within the

VISTA program is the Franklin

Grand Isle Bookmobile. Our mission

is to promote a lifelong love of

learning and building community

connections by providing greater

access to books, information, activi-

ties, and fun. We serve daycares,

schools, elderly care homes, and

outreach stops, and every stop

makes our mission worthwhile.

One of our outreach stops is a place

that provides emergency shelter

and transitional housing to people

without other options or resources.

One time at this site, three sets of

fathers and their kids came in for

their first time ever on the Bookmo-

bile. The kids were absolutely over-

joyed to have books to read. One

little girl told me reading was her

favorite thing to do and I was so

happy we were able to help these

families out. When it was time to

go, one girl did not want to leave

Emily Johnson, VYT A*VISTA member

The Schoolhouse Learning Center

(South Burlington, VT)

Allie Pflughoeft, VYT A*VISTA member

Franklin Grand Isle Bookmobile (Swanton, VT)

the Bookmobile and her fa-

ther had to pick her up and

promise her they would come

back another day. Getting

kids excited about reading

will hopefully lead to them

doing better in school which

will help them in life down

the road. Franklin and Grand

Isle are both very rural coun-

ties and some people do not

have easy access to books or

resources, and we try to help

out with that. My main mis-

sion with capacity building is

organization. I want to help

make the Bookmobile as

organized as I can so it can

run as efficiently as possible.

In this way, I hope to make a

lasting positive impact and help

keep the Bookmobile ‘traveling

miles to see people smile.’

Allie helped plan the Stuffed Animal Sleepover which

recently took place at the Swanton Public Library.

Emily makes bread with

Schoolhouse students.

food, whether it is tending a kale

plant while it grows or cooking it into

something they like to eat. Suddenly

there is enthusiasm in trying new

things that they helped grow or pre-

pare, and the change is most appar-

ent with healthy, vegetable-based

food that they used to never even

try.

I believe in the old saying “you are

what you eat,” and I am confident

that through our program, these kids

are becoming more aware of what

they eat and are learning

culinary skills that will help them

pursue healthy futures.

From 2007 to 2010, the City of

Montpelier ran enVision Montpel-

ier, a project designed to put

Montpelier on a path to become

the nation’s first sustainable state

capital.

enVision Montpelier sought to

include the voice of every group

or individual in the Montpelier

area to create a long-term com-

munity vision and sustainability

action plan for the next 30 to 100

years. The results of the project

include specific goals, targets,

strategies, indicators, and a plan

for implementation that represent

the community’s shared vision.

In 2010, the results of the enVi-

sion process were crystallized into

the City’s Master Plan, intended to

guide Montpelier’s future develop-

ment towards that shared vision.

Our role as enVision Montpelier

VISTA members is to help the

City’s citizens achieve the goals

they had collectively set a few

years back. We serve with the

volunteer committees who devote

their free time to making Mont-

pelier a better place to live in.

Because of the decades-long

timeframe, and the generally long

-lasting impacts of municipal de-

velopment, small successes today

may lead to significant improve-

ments in the quality of life years

down the road. By the time to-

day’s youth receive the keys to

the City, they will inherit much

more than Montpelier.

One of the groups we serve with,

the Central Vermont Food Sys-

tems Council (CVFSC), is a part of

the food movement working to-

ward long lasting change in the

Montpelier area.

By pursuing projects that not only

work toward increasing the con-

sumed amount of locally-sourced

food but a more inclusive look at

the accessibility of local foods, the

CVFSC is fueling economic devel-

opment for a more equitable capi-

tal area. We support the CVFSC

by planning quarterly food educa-

tion events and community

meals, helping to establish com-

munity gardens, and supporting

the creation of school gardens for

health and food systems educa-

tion.

In addition, we support the work of

the Montpelier Energy Advisory

Committee in improving the access

to alternative energy and weather-

ization options and lowering ener-

gy costs for residents. We also

serve with the Bicycle Advisory

Committee and Pedestrian Adviso-

ry Committee in building a com-

plete and equitable network of

facilities and removing transporta-

tion barriers for all potential users.

Through our work with the

volunteer citizens of Montpelier,

we’re taking steps to transform the

way our municipality is organized.

In the long-term, they - and future

developments that build on their

success - will go a long way in

shaping how the citizens of Mont-

pelier live, work, and play. This is

the way that we address poverty

at our site.

Hannah Reckhow and Alex Prolman, VYT A*VISTA members

enVision Montpelier (Montpelier, VT)

In-Sight Photography project’s

mission is to provide photography

classes for youth ages 11-18,

regardless of their ability to pay, in

the southeastern corner of

Vermont. My service is an

extension of this mission. I am an

essential part of the organization in

that I help reach and engage more

youth and volunteers in the

program.

Photography is a versatile medium

and has the capability to engage

multiple kinds of learners. For exam-

ple, some of our students have a

propensity to be drawn to the tech-

nical and scientific aspects of pho-

tography, while others become en-

gaged with the artistic components.

Part of my service is to work on cre-

ating programs that can cater to

both these kinds of students and to

draw them in and continue to

take classes.

Most of our students say that they

first heard about In-Sight through

their friends, which tells me that

once a student has a positive experi-

ence here, they want to spread the

word. Volunteer Teachers are intrin-

As an A*VISTA at the Kellogg-

Hubbard Library, I’m mostly helping

with the programs and fundraisers

that allow us to keep offering our

services. We work with all sorts of

organizations to put on programs

that can give people something fun

to do, like with a ukulele concert we

had recently, or raise awareness of

important topics, like with our Com-

Victoria Davis, VYT A*VISTA member

In-Sight Photography Project (Brattleboro, VT)

Caitlin Wyneken, VYT A*VISTA member

Kellogg-Hubbard Library (Montpelier, VT)

munity Cinema film series. Fund-

raisers like An Evening at the Li-

brary, which we held in December

2013 with Archer Mayor, a mystery

author, let us keep doing what we

do. Though I don’t typically work

with kids, I am upstairs in the

Children’s Library and see the

youth who come to the many

programs or just to hang out after

sic to this experience. I coordinate,

recruit, and train volunteers and pair

them according to their strengths

and photographic skills. During this

year of service I have implemented

a new volunteer training manual

and advocated for teacher training in

order to better serve our students.

Our classes are small (maximum 8

students on-site) and I’ve often seen

our volunteers fill the role of both

instructor and mentor. When a class

works well together, the

energy from that feels almost

tangible.

In-Sight students take photos outside. Current staff and volunteer Polaroid wall at In-Sight.

school. Just seeing that library is

a place for all kids in the

community to go lets me know

we’re making a big difference for

them as well as adults.

A member gives an

AmeriShare

presentation about a

service trip he took to

Nicaragua.

Member write down the

dreams they have for

VISTA and their sites as

a part of a January

AmeriShare

presentation.

VYT members

participate in a yoga

AmeriShare.

The opinions expressed in the articles in this newsletter belong to the

individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the site where the VISTA

serves, Vermont Youth Tomorrow, the Washington County Youth Service Bureau, the

Boys & Girls Club, SerVermont, or CNCS.

PO Box 627 / 38 Elm Street

Montpelier, VT 05601-0627

Vermont Youth Tomorrow

A*VISTA Program

Washington County Youth

Service Bureau/Boys &

Girls Club

Phone: 802-229-9151

Fax: 802-229-2508

Kadie Schaeffer

Director of National

Service Programs

[email protected]

Kirsten Brewer

Assistant Director of National

Service Programs

[email protected]

Callie Frey

Assistant Director of National

Service Programs

[email protected]

Jessi Engelke

Assistant Director of

National Service Programs

[email protected]

Anna Houston

VYT VISTA Leader

[email protected]

VYT is sponsored by the

Washington County Youth

Service Bureau/Boys &

Girls Club.

Ameripalooza 2013!

Members practice

designing a fundable

project.

Final group photo!

More than 60 VYT, VYDC, SerVermont, and VHCB members came together for a resource

development and grant writing training in November 2013.

https://www.facebook.com/vermontyouthtomorrow

VYT Voices Spring 2014

Documents

Transcript of VYT Voices Spring 2014