A beach park may seem like a vacation, but there’s so much more that goes on just below the surface. There is a lot of hard work that gets done at Assateague Island National Seashore. As our site’s CVA, I’m privileged to have a first-hand look at the hard work being done.

August 5, 2019 |  Rodney Flora's job is a bit nostalgic - he uses traditional masonry techniques to build structures at historic National Park Service sites in the Mid-Atlantic region.

August 5, 2019 |  Henrietta Marks is an AmeriCorps member serving in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) WaterCorps Program in Fort Defiance, Arizona with the Water Resources Branch of the Navajo Nation, and is tasked with assessing drought impact. 

August 5, 2019 |  Current AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate, Katie Stanley is serving a 10-week term with the Piney Creek Watershed Association (PCWA) in Beckley, West Virginia. Only five weeks in to her service, Katie has been busy fostering environmental stewardship in her community. 

August 5, 2019 |  The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and the Stewards Program have a years-long partnership through which dozens of interns and AmeriCorps members have gained experience with the agency. 

In a time of conflict in our nation, where every issue is controversial and multi-faceted, at least one thing can unite us: monarch butterflies. Butterflies have been used for thousands of years in religions and societies across the world to symbolize the human soul, transformation, renewal or rebirth, the journey to the afterlife, or death.

The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park sees thousands of kids each year. However, out of those large numbers, very few of them attempt to make another visit. As a CVA I am tasked with connecting our youth population while transferring historical and cultural knowledge to them. 

As a CVA, between attending community events, doing outreach, and training student interns, I often have my hands full. But I enjoy every minute. When I found out about my selection to serve as the park CVA, I was very excited. I knew what my first project was going to be right away

What makes an event successful? Can an event be successful if only one person shows up? Can it be successful if you end up far short of your goal of number of trees planted? What if everyone needs to shelter in vehicles because of a storm for more than half of the time of your event?

It felt good to be able to experience, first hand, a program which I played a small part in creating. It was such a fantastic feeling to see it come to life after watching those who made it possible work so hard during its creation.