Green Crew Update

After our project in Wagon Mound ended, the Green Crew had a summer intensive training week which consisted of: hauling and splitting wood; camping and hiking at the Great Sand Dunes National Park; visiting a solar array in Southern Colorado; visiting the Earthship Biotechture visitor center; learning about indoor air quality risks; and Wilderness and Remote First Aid training. Through these trainings and field trips we learned quite a bit about nature, alternative energy, off grid housing, toxic chemicals and head/neck/spine injuries.

Last week Green Crew partnered with Taos County Housing Authority. We've been working with recycled newspaper insulation. It has been hard but rewarding work and its nice to work with non-toxic materials. We have to break down the insulation into fluffy pieces and feed them into the insulation blower machine. Two people must go into the hot, cramped attic spaces and blow a few inches of insulation over the existing insulation. This will save the home heating and cooling energy by increasing the R-value of the insulation. Even though the materials are non-toxic, we have to wear goggles and face masks to prevent the tiny particles from getting into our eyes and lungs. Wearing proper gear does add to the heat factor and makes it little harder to see and breathe. This work definitely makes for a good night's sleep and a clear conscious!

Today is day two of Education Block. Ed Block is one week of intense education and training for all corpsmembers. Yesterday consisted of preparing for life after RMYC, like learning proper interview techniques and setting up our AmeriCorps online accounts to access our scholarships after graduation. My $2700 will go straight towards my existing student loans. Some RMYC graduates will be putting their scholarship towards their first years in college or vocational training. We also discussed the preparation needed for our Presentations of Learning (POL) that we do at graduation. POLs are five minute presentations we do as individuals to explain our experience and growth during the program and to share what our next steps are.
The rest of the day was held at UNM-Taos' campus where we played some icebreaker games, received a self-defense lesson from IMPACT Personal Safety out of Santa Fe, and chose from several breakout sessions like "The Roots of Violence", Media Literacy and a Parenthood Panel. The day ended in the computer lab where we prepared and printed resumes and cover letters.

Stories From Questa

A month and a half into our AmeriCorps term, Crew 11 is working efficiently and steadily towards our summer goals. We have finally reached the bottom of La Junta Trail at Wild Rivers! Awesome, right?! We continue moving rocks and clearing the trail to help hikers navigate a little easier. Looking back on the beginning of the program, we have improved significantly in our communication and teamwork. We're even having more enjoyable conversations with the hikers using the trail than we were at the beginning of the program. We are now a well-oiled machine who also has fun at work!
I'd like to share a couple of stories, one of which is frustrating, another which is hilarious. The crew was all really disappointed the day after we did some cement work on the trail when we found a vandalized inscription, "OSU 2011" etched into the fresh cement. It was really not cool, considering how hard we work! On a lighter notes, one of our fellow crewmembers, Micaela, learned an important lesson when she left her lunch out one afternoon and found that a squirrel actually chewed THROUGH her bag and stole all of her candy!
We continue to grow as a crew and as individuals and continue to make an impact on our community and the environment. One good word that sums up our experience so far: BOOYAH!

MariaElena Martinez, Crew 11, Questa

Fun. Friends. Future.

As the past few weeks have gone by, Questa Crew # 11 have done excellent work on the La Junta Trail. We've been fixing and preparing the trail for the summer hikers to walk down to the river and see the natural beauty of nature. We've installed six water bars, built rock walls and steps along the trail, removed large rocks and smoothed out the trail and making the slope less steep. All of this is to make the trail easier to walk down. The crew has put strength and energy in the creation of this trail and we'll continue to use our skills and teamwork to make it a safe and easy trail. We are making a difference!