June 2009 Corpsmember of the Month

Nelson Miranda

Supervisor: Tucker Kelley

Crew: Natural Resource Crew 5

Length of time at CCNB: 10 Months

Reason corpsmember was selected: Outstanding work in the field, exemplary work as crew 5’s safety officer, fantastic attendance, dedication to recycling, perfect attendance month after month.

Skills training received at CCNB: Nelson has learned to use all of our power tools here. He achieved our highest sawyer certificate, sawyer III, felling large diameter trees safely. Nelson is skilled in Chipper operation, Bobcat operation, and power carrier operation. He is skilled in our annual creek cleaning operations for the county and cities of Marin, at our annual fire-fuel reduction projects. He has participated in projects ranging across Marin and Sonoma Counties. Since arriving he has learned about native plants and animals.

Leadership roles at CCNB: Safety officer since January, 2009

Favorite project: Cleaning creeks in Petaluma and finishing construction of a horse trail in Olema.

Favorite educational component: Conversations with other people.

Favorite aspect of working at CCNB: Learning to use all the power tools.

Future plans: Try to find a better job, maybe in construction or landscaping.

What did Corpsmember do before joining CCNB? Worked in construction.

Why did Corpsmember join CCNB? Some friends told him to join.

How has CCNB changed your life? My English has improved. I’ve got some work skills, some tool skills. More responsibility.

What life lessons has the Corpsmember learned from the experience? I’ve learned a lot.

Any advice for young people wanting to join CCNB? Be patient and hopeful.

What's the most important thing you've learned from this experience? Greatly improved English, and good to learn to use many kinds of tools.