February 2009 Corpsmember of the Month

D’Arcy Bertrand and Henry Wallace

Supervisor: Jonathan Lucha, Youth in Environmental Service Supervisor

Crew: Youth in Environmental Service (YES)

Length of time at CCNB: 5 months

Reason corpsmember was selected:

Developing teamwork through service in teams is one of the goals of the AmeriCorps program, and D’Arcy and Henry excel at creating a sense of teamwork in our service crews. Together, D’Arcy and Henry have educated dozens of youth through the Chavez Club at San Jose Middle School and been instrumental in the launch of Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden at College of Marin’s Indian Valley Campus.

Through these roles, D’Arcy and Henry have developed great working relationships with all the departments at CCNB, as well as our partners. D’Arcy and Henry are invaluable as members of the Indian Valley Farm team, working with the UC Cooperative Extension - Marin and College of Marin to prepare the farm for activity, support our first college level farming course at the farm, and prepare the farm for the summer and fall activity. In addition, they bring the farm lessons to the classroom by teaching about healthy eating, organic foods, gardening, and by bringing experts such as David Herlocker from Marin County Open Space District to teach the youth about native wildlife.

If that isn’t enough, both D’Arcy and Henry are active volunteers in the community and are continuing their education. D’Arcy helps the gardening at Pleasant Valley Elementary School, and Henry has participated in gardening and seed propagation training in the Presidio Native Plants Nursery in San Francisco and is a member of the Timber Framing Guild.

Skills training received at CCNB:

Henry: Farming and Greenhouse operations, Growing for Native Plant Restoration and Seed Propagation, Defensive Driving, Naturalist Training, Conflict Management, CERT, Sawyer Training

D’Arcy: Naturalist training, training in gardening and farming, and first aid, Defensive Driving, Conflict Management.

Leadership roles at CCNB: San Jose Middle School Cesar Chavez Club, Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden at College of Marin’s Indian Valley Campus.

Favorite project: Both Henry and D’Arcy feel particularly fortunate to be a part of the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden project.

Favorite educational component:

Henry: Learning farm operations and strategies for native plant propagation. He looks forward to utilizing these developed skills in the near future.

D’Arcy: Learning how to garden, farm, and teach from many teachers

Favorite aspect of working at CCNB:

Henry: Great people and no end to the work that needs done. A very unique template for people to develop their own work, and contribute their personal experience and skills to the projects.

D’Arcy: Hands on learning experience

Future plans:

Henry: Hopes to continue with the Farm project through the development of the farms infrastructure and future Timber Framing Event. Other goals include more advanced training in the field of wilderness medicine and outdoor/environmental education.

D’Arcy: To teach children about the environment and many other things through gardening.