My Job

Here's the job description for the job that I'm going to be doing in New Hampshire.
Education and Trail Crew Member

January 5, 2009 – October 22, 2009

The mission of SCA New Hampshire Conservation Corps is to serve the communities and lands of New Hampshire by accomplishing significant conservation service projects, enhancing and protecting natural areas and providing environmental education to promote the understanding and stewardship of these natural areas. In the tradition of the Civilian Conservation Corps, members perform direct hands on service while building their leadership skills and developing their ethic of service and citizenship.

From January through April, members develop and implement hands-on experiential science based curriculum for 4th and 8th grade classrooms in and around Manchester and Allenstown, NH. The schools of Manchester, NH are the most diverse in the state and reflect the changing face of modern New England. Corps members will also serve in multiple after school programs in the area as mentors, tutors and counselors.

As spring arrives in New Hampshire you will transition onto one of our Conservation Crews. From April through October, corps members work on conservation crews that conduct spring cleanup, trail construction, rock staircase and wall construction, restoration and maintenance, shoreline restoration, bridge construction, and painting and historical restoration projects. A typical hitch will consist of working as part of a 6 person crew for 24 days (including 4 days off) in the field doing conservation projects throughout the state. All members return to our basecamp in Bear Brook State Park at the end of each hitch for a rendezvous and debrief followed by an additional 4 days off.

The SCA NH Conservation Corps program is residential by nature and we are based in a camp facility in the heart of 10,000 acre Bear Brook State Park in central New Hampshire. Surrounded by rolling hills, wetlands, ponds, brooks and pine and hemlock forests, our basecamp is an ideal place to live, work and play. You will serve as part of a Corps of 30 members and will share small cabins and a large community lodge. All members assist with camp chores such as facility maintenance, cleaning, cooking, food ordering, administrative duties, snow shoveling, splitting wood, etc… Members who partake in this program will work hard and are expected to contribute and serve as active community members. Together, we will model a sustainable and positive community work ethic.

Members will receive the following trainings and certifications: Wilderness First Responder, CPR, Comprehensive 3-week Education training, Conservation Workskills technical trail skills), Leadership and Conflict Resolution, Grip-hoist and Rigging, Chainsaw certification, teamwork skills, and minimum - impact camping.

Members will receive room and board, health insurance, $75 weekly stipend, $4725 AmeriCorps educational award and pro-purchase opportunities. Members will reside in rustic housing (gas lighting, woodstove heat) and will tent on - site during projects.

Here's the slide show that they sent to me. It shows where I'll be living and what I'll be doing: http://picasaweb.google.com/scanhcc/SCANHCCSlideshow