Program areas at Rocky Mountain Youth Corps
Conservation Corps highlightsthe conservation Corps fielded 15 summer and 7 fall crews with a total of 205 crew members ages 18-25 years. Personal development highlights:162 participants received americorps education awards for completing their full season totaling over $352,000! Crewmembers demonstrated significant increases in resiliency, confidence, job skills, problem solving, decision making, and healthy lifestyles choices.
Natural resource internship programour natural resource internship program is designed to engage Youth and young adults in valuable hands-on work experiences within natural resource public land management agencies and nonprofits. In 2022 we hosted 77 total participants with 88% of positions filled in fifteen locations from 340 total applicants giving us our biggest year yet! Positions included archaeology, hydrology, wilderness characteristics surveying, forestry technician, wilderness ranger and trail crews, recreation & interpretation, sage grouse monitoring, visitor information services, vegetation and soils assessment, inventory, and monitoring (aim), oil and gas monitoring, and survey/cadastral assignments in collaboration with usfs and blm.
Youth corpsyouth Corps provides leadership and hands-on workforce experience for Youth ages 14-18. Service learning crew engaged 109 participants ages 11-13 through a comprehensive community service program that provided 3,000 volunteer hours in routt, moffat and jackson counties. 104 community Youth crew participants ages 14-15 were paid while gaining valuable skills. Camping throughout northwest Colorado, 56 regional Youth crew participants ages 16-18 camped 24/7 with our long-term (4-week) crews receiving cpr/first aid certification. Our junior leader opportunity attracted 6 routt county teens ages 16-19 to develop leadership skills while working with Youth crews ages 11-15.
Other Youth programs:yampa valley science school was developed in 2000 and serves all routt county sixth graders (approximately 300) and 10-20 high school students each year. Students are immersed in this four-day, one-overnight experiential, place-based environmental science curriculum. The curriculum includes co dept. Of education content standards in science, as well as social and civic responsibility, leadership, healthy nutrition, and physical fitness. The lesson activities take place throughout the county at optimal locations for the curriculum. Junior leaders (high school students) engage as mentors and co-facilitators of the curriculum which focuses on science but incorporates other academic disciplines such as math, writing, history and art. Rmyc utilizes the connection of Youth to the outdoors to attain self-development assets they need at this transitional time, while igniting an excitement for learning. Yvss was created in 2000.