Greetings Friends!
While we did not watch the Friends Reunion show, we hope you read the title of this week’s post in Chandler Bing’s sarcastic tone….it was a busy month of good news. From seeing our pollinator meadow starting to bloom to obtaining high school diplomas, to receiving news of being awarded a $32,000 NJ DOT grant and having our NJYC grant renewed; a lot has been happening!
In June we observed National Pride Month, Great Outdoors Month, National Trails Day, and National Pollinator Week. We also celebrated with an in-person, outdoor graduation ceremony for every diploma earned through the pandemic. It was a busy month! Here’s a look at what we did:
Service Learning Project Highlights
June began with our last cohort of FY21 wrapping up. The crew was firing on all cylinders - starting the month off with our National Trails Day project, building and installing some puncheons along a section of the Morris Canal Greenway Trail in Hackettstown. The puncheons will allow hikers to traverse the landscape without getting their feet wet and muddy. Check out the video we made of our event here or by clicking the image the right.
In preparing for Pollinator Week, on June 17th, we worked alongside program partners NJ Audubon on a native plant installation outside of the Mars Wrigley facility in Hackettstown. This project was the 2nd stage of a planting that began last year. (See here for that video.) This year’s planting included donations from the Xerces Society - a science-based nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. NJ Audubon secured a grant from the Xerces Society for the planting materials. See a video from our planting here or by clicking the link above!
Speaking of Pollinator Week - check out the progress our pollinator meadow has made in the past year since we installed it! We compiled some footage from last year to this year - check it out! The growth since last year is impressive, and we’ll be thinning plants come the fall for propagation and future plantings.
Mission Accomplished!
Cohort 3 - the final cohort of FY21 completed the Stage One portion of the NJYC program on Friday, June 25th. (Succesful completion is obtained by maintaining 85% attendance overall, completing a 16-week Employability skills curriculum, and completing 140 hours of Service Learning Projects) We celebrated the collective achievements of Class 81, a group that averaged 156 hours of service per CM (140 hours is required to meet our benchmark), and earned 8 diplomas! You can see their happy, smiling faces here or by clicking on Jaden’s handsome face above. They all now begin Stage Two of the program, with eight of the CM’s securing employment, and two of them accepting placement of the Transition Team (formerly the Full-Time Crew).
Graduation!
On Tuesday, June 29th we were finally gathered to host our official Cap-and-Gown Graduation Ceremony - but boy, was it a scorcher! We picked the hottest day of the year, and amid the sweltering heat, we celebrated every diploma earned throughout the pandemic. Check out the video from the event here or click below.
‘NEW’ NJ Youth Corps programs!
It was a crazy pace to finish off the program year, but there is no rest for the weary. Fresh with the news of being awarded the NJYC program grant for FY22 - we now have 13 NJYC programs throughout NJ! Join us in welcoming Leaders4Life (Newark), JEVS Human Services (Atlantic City), and United Way of Greater Union County (Elizabeth) as new NJYC program entities! Welcome to the NJYC family!
We here in Phillipsburg have already started with a new cohort in Orientation for FY22! We began on Tuesday, July 6th, and will induct the newest cohort this coming Friday, July 16th. Hard to believe we’re starting a new group when it feels like the last one just began!
And so the cycle repeats.
Even as we start our 82nd class of Corpsmembers, there is excitement and anxiety in the air as we get to know our new recruits. we will keep you posted on them in the next post - so until then-
Be well, and stay cool!
Michael