March 2011 Corpsmember of the Month

John Thornburn

Supervisors: Eileen Jones, AmeriCorps Coordinator, Jennie Pardi, Recycling Coordinator, and Henry Wallace, Farm Crew Supervisor

Crew: Youth in Environmental Service

Length of time at CCNB: 7 months

Reason corpsmember was selected: John is a corpsmember in the Youth in Environmental Service (YES) AmeriCorps program and has been placed at Loma Verde Elementary School and the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden. Loma Verde is a new partner with CCNB and the principal and teachers at Loma Verde have been singing John’s praises. One of Loma Verde’s goals this year was to have more students working in the school garden. Thanks to John, every class is now engaging in lessons in the garden. He has been working on installing a rain catchment system at Loma Verde and also worked with other corpsmembers at the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden to successfully install a rain catchment system on the green house. John was selected for his strong work ethic, positive can-do attitude, and sincerity and for successfully establishing a solid relationship with a new partner.

Skills training received at CCNB: Practices in Sustainable Agriculture, team leadership, environmental education, career development.

Leadership roles at CCNB: Garden Educator and Green Team leader for Loma Verde Elementary; Greenhouse team member at the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden; Project ReGeneration team leader.

Favorite project: Design and construction of the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden’s 1,500 gallon water catchment system.

Favorite educational component: Development of the Loma Verde School garden program.

Favorite aspect of working at CCNB: The plethora of learning opportunities and the diversity of knowledge within the Corps.

What did Corpsmember do before joining CCNB? Graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Environmental Studies. Undergraduate work focused on sustainable agriculture with an emphasis in the field of Agroecology. Thesis report on water management at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) at UCSC. Selected for the 2009-2010 Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program as the representative of the UC Santa Cruz Site Stewardship Program (an on-campus environmental restoration organization).

Why they joined CCNB: To continue his training in sustainable agriculture and to increase his work experience while simultaneously serving his community.

Future plans: Graduate studies in the agricultural field.

How CCNB has changed their life: CCNB has exposed John to the many different career opportunities in the environmental field. The Corps has increased his knowledge and helped him outline his future goals.

Life lessons learned: Get stuff done! Apply yourself and pursue your passions.

Advice for young people: Set your goals high and work hard.

Most important thing learned: Get involved and invest in yourself by expanding your knowledge.