Alumni Stories
Where are they now? Amy Levander
Amy Levander, a 1990 Summer Youth Corps alumna, recently added Corps Volunteer to her title as she helped out at the 2014 St. Croix Boom Site Cleanup event led by current SYC participants. Levander was eager to volunteer with the Corps 24 years after her service because she strongly believes the Corps is an important program. “The Corps does great work not only by helping clean up our natural areas, but also by helping young people discover who they want to be,” she said. Levander attributes her experience in the SYC to helping her grow up -- learning a lot about herself and figuring out the kind of person she wanted to be. Read More
Where are they now? Sean Wickhem
During his four years of service in the Corps, Sean Wickhem did everything from documenting scenic easement parcels by canoe to leading youth in community service, training people how to camp to installing solar panels. Read more. Read More
Where there is a way…there are obstacles
During my three months as a solar heat outreach specialist, I have worked to make connections with community resources while figuring out exactly how my job works. Lately, I feel a lot more like I know what I am doing. I performed my solar furnace presentation for a crowd at an event called Solar Day, which I had devoted much of my work time to since starting. Despite my newness, everything went well. I managed to start a couple of relationships with groups interested in using solar furnaces for themselves and had fun sharing with various others. I even got to be on the local news! It was satisfying to see the payoff of jumping right in. That day is definitely a highlight of my service so far. Read More
Where Are They Now? Thomas Hark
Thomas Hark’s Corps experience stretches back to the federal Youth Conservation Corps, where he served as a crew leader in 1979 in Young… Read More
Where Are They Now? Jane Sunram
Though Jane Sunram served in the Corps more than 30 years ago, she still remembers her summer in the Young Adult Conservation Corps as a great opportunity that included hard work and changed her relationship with nature. Her crew was based in cabins at Lake Itasca, working days in the field. Read More
Where Are They Now? Dain Spurgeon
Before his service in the Corps, Dain Spurgeon never imagined he would end up a professional firefighter. Read more. Read More