SCA Massachusetts

After graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelors Degree in Wildlife Conservation, Ryan Pennesi is excited to be an environmental educator and crew leader with the SCA Massachusetts Forests and Parks Americorps program this year. Ryan grew up in Central Massachusetts, where he discovered his passion for nature and all wild things. During the past summer he worked as a residential crew leader for the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps and lived in the Green Mountains of Vermont for 7 weeks! In addition to trail work, Ryan has worked as a Tour Guide, Animal Handler, and Presenter for Animal Adventures Exotic Zoo and Rescue Center. He has had the opportunity to wrestle American Alligators, feed baby Coatis, scratch behind the ears of a Canadian Lynx, and play with Ring-tail Lemurs! Ryan is passionate about animals and would love to share stories about his experience as a zoo employee. On a typical day you may find Ryan exploring the forest, playing soccer, throwing the disk with friends, or playing some jazz on his trumpet.

Alex Nawrot is a New Jersey native who recently graduated from Boston University with a degree in Environmental Science. She has worked as a children's program coordinator at Rutgers University's Botanical Garden where she organized a community vegetable garden for local urban youth groups. She also spent a summer as a research assistant at an agricultural research farm specializing in pepper and tomato hybrids. Her current interests include water resource management and bio-remediation. Alex plans on attending graduate school and continuing her education in water diplomacy.

Brooke Mueller is from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. She recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with a comprehensive major in Ecology and Environmental Biology. She has taken many classes to learn about plants, involving identifying, understanding their distribution, and their anatomy. Over the course of the summer she had an internship at the Cape Cod National Sea Shore as a coastal forest monitoring intern. She has also enjoyed the classes she has taken classes in the physiology of birds and mammals. The section on birds was most interesting to her and she has since taken a class on and has done her own birding. All of the classes she has taken involving biology and dealing with the environment have fed her excitement of the outdoors. Every since she was little, she has loved being outside and has found enjoyment in sharing that feeling with others.

Katie Avery was raised in Oakland, California and Lugano, Switzerland.
Growing up, she spent a lot of time hiking, camping and skiing with her family, forming an appreciation of the outdoors and wild spaces. Her
interest in environmental conservation began while volunteering in her
high school’s Living Laboratory for her environmental science class. After graduating from the University of California with a degree in Anthropology she traveled through South East Asia, working on organic farms along the way. She is excited to begin working to inspire in children the same love and respect for nature that she developed as a child.

Danielle Bilecki is a recent Graduate from the State University of New York at Geneseo, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Environmental Science. She loves hiking, backpacking, kayaking, dancing and laughing. This is her second stint with the SCA, her previous being with a trail crew in Virginia where she did a great deal of rock work. Not only is she excited to get her hands dirty with some more trail projects, she is also pumped to start instilling a love for the out-of-doors in the classroom!

Last week, our 17 SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps members visited their 10 school placements and 4 internships to observe, introduce themselves, begin to get to know the students, and play games.

From December until March, the members will be spending their weeks teaching science and environmental education to 3 year olds up to 14 year olds, engaging the students in service learning projects, and leading afterschool programs. As one of our cooperating teachers said, "the corps members get to teach the way we [the teachers] which we could teach" with hands on lessons, outdoor experiences, games, and of course costumes!

Check out the latest SCA Massachusetts Newsletter and find out what the 2011-2012 crew has been doing: service learning projects, Boston Service Week, and more!

Jessica Harwood is in her fourth year as a program staff member and is responsible for coordinating the education placements and programs, overseeing education training, and supervising corps members in their education placements. Jessica studied Geology and Biology in college and has a Master’s in Education. She was a corps member in this program during the ‘02-‘03 season and has worked as an environmental educator, youth counselor, and classroom teacher. Jessica started a business delivering local food and coordinates a gleaning program. She has also led three high school trail crews and is a work skills instructor.

Vickie Leavitt is the Program Coordinator. She manages the kitchen and all things food-related, as well as overseeing the facilities and vehicles. This is Vickie's first year as a staff member at SCA Massachusetts. She previously led a national crew with SCA in the North Cascades of Washington. She has also taught marine science in southern California, was a wilderness therapy instructor in Utah, and worked as a head cook at Star Island. She has a B.S. in Outdoor Education from The University of New Hampshire.