VineCorps News and Stories
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Summer 2018 — Service & Adventure on the Job!
This summer, VineCorps partnered with Prince George's County, Prince George's Community College, and eight local nonprofits and churches to employ our teens full time for six weeks! Last year, the Prince George's Youth@Work! Summer Youth Enrichment Program (SYEP) expanded to include select nonprofit organizations as host job placement sites for summer youth employees, which now includes VineCorps. The County hires and pays the youth employees, Prince George's Community College provides Job Readiness training and Career Pathways trainings, and VineCorps employs and supervises the young workers. "Community-based Nonprofits: Mission-Focused Jobs & Careers" was VineCorps' SYEP theme. In addition to coordinating VineCorps' own Summer Leadership Adventures (SLA) program, our SYEP team also worked with nonprofits to plan and perform a variety of service projects, including river clean-up and restoration with Anacostia Waterfront Society and Bladensburg Waterfront Park, reorganizing and stocking the food pantry at SEED, inventorying and distributing school supplies for the Mount Calvary Thrift Store, serving dinner to the homeless at Holy Redeemer, fixing up rain gardens for Cheverly United Methodist Church, and serving as Peace Camp counselors with Little Friends for Peace.
VineCorps structured the summer program (both SYEP and SLA) to focus youth on the eight 21st Century Skills badges developed by the Education Design Lab: Initiative & Leadership, Collaboration, Creative Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking, Intercultural Fluency, Empathy, Oral Communication, and Resilience. Each day required exercising and reflecting on all of these skills, and the youth evaluated themselves on their growth in these areas.
2017
Congratulations to Our Graduates!
Congratulations to our high school graduates! Years of effort at school both in and out of the classroom, on the job, in the community, and at home, capped with an intensive process of exploring, applying to, and financing college, has finally born fruit. This fall, these VineCorps students will be attending Montgomery College, Morgan State University, Mount Saint Mary's University, Prince George's Community College, Saint John's University, and Villanova University. Special congratulations to all those who have done their families proud by becoming first-generation college students! VineCorps will continue to stay in touch to offer encouragement and provide academic, personal and financial support in this exciting next leg of the journey. Once a VineCorps family member, always a VineCorps family member!
Outdoor Leadership Adventures
Our adventurers have hiked over 12 miles and 3000 feet of elevation in
a single day this summer that included both summiting Old Rag Mountain and climbing Cedar Run to swim in its waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park. They have scaled the cliffs at Carderock with a climbing harness and rope, shot down the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains through rapids swollen by an unusually wet July, and camped out on the beach for 3 days at Assateague National Seashore. The group has encouraged one another to overcome long, exhausting days, serious physical exertion, hot and otherwise uncomfortable weather conditions, and wicked swarms of mosquitoes and other biting insects, while nonetheless seizing all the good humor and fun to be had. Still to come are mountain biking and a community service project.
2016
VineCorps in New York City
Leaving Mother Nature behind for a few days for a change, VineCorps' 2016 Summer Leadership Adventure Series culminated in our first-ever trip to NYC! In addition to seeing sites such as the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the World Trade Center, Union Square, Lincoln Center, Central Park, Times Square, and the Top of the Rock, we also toured Fordham University and volunteered at the Community Kitchen of West Harlem, where we worked in the pantry and prepared a hot lunch. Perhaps most popular, however, was our stop at "Come for Kicks", a vintage basketball shoe store we stumbled across while walking through Harlem.
. . . and at The White House
On November 21, VineCorps' College & Career Prep Senior Team attended an intimate, four-hour College Essay / Personal Statement writing workshop at the White House! The event was run by 826 DC, a partner we are working closely with this year. With centers in many cities, 826 has exceptional expertise in teaching creative and expository writing to youth. We teamed up with the DC chapter this fall to offer our seniors a seven-week seminar with individualized coaching focused on completing their college essays and other application writing requirements. This workshop was the capstone! Alas, the First Lady's speech-writing team was not available for tips.