An NCCC Atlantic Region Publication

Get to the PointGet to the Point July 25, 2012July 25, 2012

Community Relations Office

Sam McKenzie,

Community Relations Specialist,

SMcKenzie@cns.gov

Tristan Fowler,

Community Relations Support Team Leader,

TFowler.Guest@cns.gov

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NCCCATLANTICREGION

AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps

(NCCC) is a full time team–based residential program

for men and women ages 18 to 24. The mission of NCCC

is to strength communities and develop leaders through

direct, team-based national &

community service.

For more information about NCCC

Visit www.americorps.gov/nccc or call 1 800 942 2677

I’m an member of the Na-

tional Civilian Community

Corps, an AmeriCorps

program. N-triple-C

members are 18 to 24 and

spend 10 months getting

things done for America

while developing their own

leadership. We serve on

teams to help communities

to prepare for and respond

to disaster, build homes and

help the environment. To

learn more, or apply, visit

americorps.gov/nccc

2

Get to the Point

COVER: CENTER: RAVEN 1 WORKS WITH MRS. MARKELL, WIFE OF DELA-WARE GOVERNOR MR. MARKELL AT THEIR “WOMEN’S BUILD EVENT” TOP; LEFT, R4 ,RACHEL GONZALEZ RIGHT, FF 2 DEREK BOWERS DIGS LINE BOTTOM; LEFT, B3 MERCEDES AND B2 DEANGELO HELP PARK CARS IN DELAWARE MIDDLE, M1, IS PUT-TING SOME MILES ON THEIR BOOTS RIGHT, B4 USES SOME TEAM-WORK TO MOVE THOSE TREES.

The Mighty Ra-oose 1 (Raven 1 and Moose 1) team joins together for

the Habitat for Humanity New Castle County dedication ceremony.

GET TO THE POINT ATLANTIC REGION, PERRY POINT, MD

VOL. XVIII, ISSUE 7

333 THE AMERIBROTHERS AND THE WALL

by Romerio Scott

4 4 4 MEMBER OF THE ROUND AWARD

ALUNMI SPOTLIGHT

555 GETTING BACK TO BLACK by Phoenix 2

FROM THE VAULT—CLASS XVII TEAM SPOTLIGHT

666 PHOENIX 3XL AND THE LATERAL WEST WILDFIRE by Class XVII Alum Colin May

7 7 7 THE SCOREBOARD

QUICKIES

SHOUT OUTS 8

NEWS 10

AMERIMAP 11

3

Get to the Point

THE AMERIBROTHERS

AND THE WALL

Based on the true story of three

men on Raven 1 and their epic saga

of removing a foundation wall from

the ground to make room for post

holes for a fence.

by Romerio Scott

Three AmeriBrothers faced adversity

this week. Completion of a simple task

halted by a wall of stone embedded in

the infinite earth. The early morning

air filled the breath of the AmeriBroth-

ers giving them life to tackle this an-

cient wall. They chipped, axed, and

hammered, but yet the wall remained.

The afternoon sun beat down its heat

on their backs and faces zapping their

strength from them and testing their

will and still they hammered on. But

yet the wall still remained. The day was

done, but the battle was not.

Another day came to the Ameri-

Brothers and with that day came the

wall unmoved and unchanged. And

so the fight raged on, axe to stone,

and hammer to earth. With weary

bones and sweaty bodies, the Ameri-

Brothers powered through the day

and yet the wall still remained un-

moved and unchanged.

The AmeriBrothers came the next

day drained, devoid of strength, and

their muscles screaming to rest. They

were motivated by only one thought:

Today is the day, the day the wall

moved. The day the wall will change.

This day the wall will fall. Each

AmeriBrother gripped their axes and

hammers so tight their knuckles

turned white. They attacked the wall

with a new fire and determination.

There was no time. There was no

pain. The only sound they heard was

metal to stone. Then they each

stopped suddenly at once when a

marvelous sight came to their eyes.

The wall cracked. They looked at

each other and smiled. The unspoken

thought of victory entered their

minds. Today was the day.

Again the sound of metal to stone rang

in their ears along with the welcome

sound of crumbling rock. The Ameri-

Brothers hit faster, hit harder until

there was nothing left to hit the wall

was gone. Nothing but dust, rubble,

and invisible memory was to be lost in

the dirt. The AmeriBrothers stood

among the ruins of their formidable

enemy and breathed a great sigh of

relief, letting the silence of their victory

humble their young and tired hearts.

They released their tools from their

aching fingers and placed them on the

shoulder of the brother next to them.

The day was done. The battle was won

and the AmeriBrothers stood proud.

―It takes as much courage to have tried

and failed as it does to have tried and

succeeded.‖

Emily puts the final touches on a house

with Habitat for Humanity New Castle

County. Raven 1 worked with Moose 1 for

several weeks of Round 2 on these homes.

From left, Henry, Michael, and Maddi are hard at work with Habitat for Humanity

New Castle County or with their constant push-up competitions they frequently do.

4

Get to the Point

MEMBER OF THE ROUND

Units honor outstanding CMs

The Raven Unit would like to award Ashley Peoples for

“Corps Member of the Round” for her positive attitude, sense

of humor and her genuine caring nature.

"The team and myself have voted and we have decided that

Ashley Peoples is extremely deserving of CM of the round.

Ashley challenged herself each day at Habitat this round,

leading volunteers in areas that she was not completely

comfortable in, reaching out to members in the communi-

ty, staff, and, of course, within our team. Ashley is not only

extremely hardworking and assertive, but she developed

her ability to lead others in a respectful manner. Ashley

brings a special energy to the team that is contagious,

whether this occurs in her uncontrolled bursts of laughter,

her sense of humor, or her genuine interest she puts into

individuals. Ashley's actions speak much louder than her

words; Ashley is always willing to step up and lend a help-

ing hand, but also recognizes when she needs to let others

lead. Ashley's non-judgmental and authentic attitude

draws others to confide and trust in her. Ashley is much

more than a deserving, hardworking member, but she has

taught us all the value of loving others without restraint

and the power of a positive, determined attitude."

~ TL Crystal Keiper

The Moose Unit awards

Sarah Sadowski for “Corps

Member of the Round.”

S- Sassy. Sarah‘s first nick-name in the Corps was "Sassy Sarah" and is a very important part of who she is on Moose 4. A- Available. Sarah is always around to help with anything, whether it is something I need, the team needs, or a specific CM needs, she is always available and wants to help. R- Radiant. :) A- Accountable. Sarah is always accountable she is always 5 steps ahead. H-Humor. No matter what the team is doing there never is a dull moment when Sarah is around. D-Dedicated. Sarah dedicates herself to everything that she does and doesn't stop until it is done. O-Observer. Sarah watches things on the team and sees where she can benefit most. W-Wisdom.—She has a lot of knowledge about things that she is always willing to share. S-Silent Leader. "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" - Martin Luther King, Jr. K-Kind hearted. Sarah always puts others before herself. I-Inniative. Sarah is never without something to do because she sees what needs to be done and does it. ~ TL Casey Ashlock

The Buffalo Unit

awards Lydia Boote for

“Corps Member of the

Round,” for her con-

stant leadership, hum-

ble attitude, and her

ability to continue to ask

to do more when others

ask to do less.

―To be a ‗Member of

the Round,‖ it takes

the ability to take on

the demands of your

supervisors, your team

and your sponsor, and

above all, produce re-

sults. It takes the ability to teach people how to live,

how to work and how to learn. Most of all it takes

the ability to seek responsibility instead of avoiding

it. This Corps Member reminds us that most of the

leaders in the Corps probably wear grey. Humble

quiet leaders who posses integrity and perseverance.

Whatever problems she faces on her team, she steps

up. Every task assigned to her, she responds with

immediate action. She leads from the front. She

leads by example. She leads through selfless service.

I am proud and humble to name Lydia Boote

‗Corps Member of the Round.‘‖ ~ TL Taft Barnett

5

Get to the PointAlumni spotlight

Getting back to Black

Jordan Black is a Class VII alum

from the now closed Washington,

DC Campus. During his 10-months

of service, he trained as a wildland

firefighter, and now assists the At-

lantic Region firefighter program

with fire training and in the field.

He now works at Mackey Island Na-

tional Wildlife Refuge.

Jordan Black is an alum of NCCC

and was a part of the now extinct

Washington, DC campus. He origi-

nally joined NCCC in order to gain

new experiences and go to new

places, reasons many Corps Mem-

bers can relate to. At the Washing-

ton, DC campus he was part of

Class VII and became part of their

fire team, Fire team 5 Skrats.

Through his NCCC experience,

Jordan not only gained fire train-

ing, but also learned how to work

with people in a team setting,

interpersonal skills, and how to

build houses.

During his time in NCCC, Jordan par-

ticipated in several projects. Jordan

deployed on two wildfire assignments

in northern Virginia and Maryland.

He also worked with the Salvation Ar-

my Toys for Tots in Washington, DC ;

Habitat for Humanity in Danville, VA;

Shenandoah State Park in VA building

trails and campsites; tutoring kids and

developed after school programs in

DC; Susan G Komen three-day breast

cancer walk and other little projects

along the way. However, his most

memorable project was when his team

went to Wheeling, WV to work at a

summer camp. As a camp counselor,

he really enjoyed his time playing with

the kids there. His favorite memory

during this time also happened in West

Virginia. While stationed there doing

flood relief work with FEMA, his team

was mucking and gutting houses that

were damaged. While working on the

house, the team found a bike, which

belonged to one of the kids. Jordan

and his team returned the bike to the

young boy, and who had thought the

bike was lost and gone. When the boy

saw his old bike,

Jordan says he will always remember

the smile on the boy‘s face.

NCCC impacted Jordan‘s life in other

ways as well. Without NCCC and its

fire program, Jordan may never have

become a Wildland Firefighter and

joined the fire team. His experience

led him to get a career in fire and has

been doing it since. Jordan‘s favorite

part of his job is getting to travel to all

parts of the country. He also enjoys

working with really great people (like

AmeriCorps NCCC members, he loves

us!). In his career, Jordan has worked

in various places including the Great

Dismal Swamp in Suffolk, VA, the site

of our campuses current fire round.

He currently works at Mackey Island

National Wildlife Refuge located in

North Carolina. He is the only fire-

fighter there and asks for help from

surrounding communities for help

with his fire management duties. He is

leaving Mackey Island in September to

go to the Great Smokey Mountain Na-

tional Wildlife Refuge to work on their

Fire Use Module,

BLACK—CONTINUED ON pg. 6

Jordan Black, seen here with a Flex Trac, is a Class VII NCCC alum. He served at the

now closed Washington, DC Campus, where he was trained in wildland firefighting.

He currently works at the Mackey Island National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.

Jordan, at the Lateral West wildfire in the

Great Dismal Swamp in Suffolk, VA gives

a thumbs-up to a Class 17 Corps Member

6

Get to the Point

BLACK—CONTINUED FROM pg. 5

which he is very excited about.

While in his firefighting career, Jor-

dan has done various trainings to

improve in his work in the field. He

has become an airboat operator, a

helicopter crew member, and has

even been a firing boss. Jordan met

his fiancé while at an airboat training

course at Loxahatchee National

Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach,

FL. They will be getting married in

October of 2013.

Although he graduated from the NCCC

program he still ―carries this commit-

ment with him this year and beyond‖

by training new AmeriCorps NCCC

firefighters, which is something that he

will miss when he leaves for his new

position at Great Smokey Mountain,

although he will try to make it up. He

also never misses a chance to talk up

AmeriCorps to people who are looking

for something to do.

FROM THE VAULT—CLASS XVII TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Phoenix 3XL and the

Lateral West Wildfire by Class XVII Corps Member Colin May

The Lateral West Fire on The Great Dismal Swamp covered

less than ten acres when it was discovered on Thursday,

August 4. The wildfire had grown to 100 acres when mem-

bers of Phoenix 3 rode out to the fire line two days later to

assist with direct attack.

Kiera and Chelsea joined members of the crew from the

Black Water Wildlife Refuge in Maryland; Tristan found

himself sitting in the office of the fire compound working

the radios as dispatcher; Mike, Pat and Andrew worked lo-

gistics, mostly in charge of refueling bulldozers and waiting

around for something to do. Ben climbed into the copilot

seat of a GX-7 FlexTrac, a tank-like transport with wide,

flexible tracks capable of riding over the rough dozer line

that led to the fire line from Interior Ditch. The operator

was Jordan Black of the Mackey Island Wildlife Refuge in

North Carolina. Any member of this year‘s Phoenix class

will remember Jordan as the NCCC alumnus turned Hot

Shot turned engine boss who taught us how to operate

pumps back at fire training in March.

Megan and Colin climbed on the back of the FlexTrac with

Steve Hubner and held on. The loud, bumpy ride

through a mile of forest lasted thirty minutes— then all of a

sudden they emerged from the woods, and they saw the

smoke covering the barren hellish landscape, a reburning of

an old fire scar. Phoenix 3 was finally fighting a wildfire.

A week into the Lateral West Fire, the blaze has grown to over

6,000 acres and the incident has over 400 people working on

it. The entire team is out on the fire line, working on three dif-

ferent type 6 engines, mostly involved with protecting Interior

Ditch, the road that leads to Lake Drummond, the source of

water that will keep Lateral West at bay until a hurricane puts

it out. The soil in the Swamp burns persistently and with fire

on both sides of Interior Ditch, the road was in great danger of

being eaten away. After days of mop up, hoses and hand tools,

the road is fully protected, thanks to Phoenix 3.

The most inspiring moment happened the week before,

while the fire was still just 150 acres. Ben, Megan and Colin

were back with Jordan on the FlexTrac, patrolling for

spots to put out with water from their tank. After patrolling

their half of the line once, they found a spot fire in the

brush across the fire line. So Jordan suited up, and the Hot

Shot appeared before them like a timeless hero, his black

fire pack like a cape, his aviator sunglasses reflecting the

developing flames as he marched fearlessly into the thick

smoke, charged hose in leather hands.

Jordan Black, center with black hat, performs an After Action Review

with Corps Members of Class XVII Phoenix 3 at Lateral West Wildfire.

7

Get to the Point

Shout-Outs:

Thank you to the great team Macho Meer Kats for all their amazing

help with the video of the Atlantic Region Campus. Your flexibility ,

creativity, and passionate acting truly made the video a HUGE success.

Thank you to the members of Moose 3 (Jared Karp and Heather Gorman) who took the time out of the last hours before

summer break to download pictures of your team for the Advisory Board meeting in Washington, DC. And a big shout-

out to Heather Mann for having patience with me while putting the slideshow and voiceovers together. All of your efforts

did not go unnoticed!

Reminders:

Mickey McGlasson is the Scramble Round CAP Coordinator. This means that he will be assisting all teams

with reaching their unique focus goals, and helping to coordinate CAP events with new sponsors such as military instal-

lations. He will focus his attention on the following teams: Moose1, Buffalo 1, Buffalo 2, Raven 4 and Moose 2.

This round is almost over! No, I‘m not crying wolf, and the sky isn‘t falling, but seriously, we are two weeks into a six

weeks round. You only have 30 days to reach your CAP and Media goals. End of round paperwork is due August

27 and teams return August 29.

Focus on HOMETOWN PRESS RELEASES! All media reps

should be working on their project press release (unless other-

wise communicated—you know who you are), and then begin

sending out Hometown Press Releases to alumni, club or

other organizations, such as faith-based newsletters, high

schools and college newspapers, alumni magazines, etc.

CAP & MEDIA UPDATES

The Scoreboard Shout-outs, Tips and the weekly progress report. All the info

you need to stay on top of your CAP and Media work.

CAP

Events

Media

Hits

Alumni

Events

Elected

Officials

Buffalo 1 0 0 0 0

Buffalo 2 0 0 0 0

Buffalo 3 0 0 0 0

Buffalo 4 0 0 0 0

Moose 1 0 1 0 1

Moose 2 0 0 0 0

Moose 3 0 4 4 0

Moose 4 0 0 0 0

Moose 5 0 0 0 0

Raven 1 0 0 0 0

Raven 2 1 0 0 0

Raven 3 0 0 1 0

Raven 4 0 0 0 0

Raven 5 0 0 0 0

Phoenix 3 0 0 0 0

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Get to the Point

Raven 3: Woot, woot! to Ishy for GEDing things done. Also

to Ben and P3 for doing a tree-mendous job on their first

fire!

Raven 4 - Raven 4 had some very special guests on the

worksite and in housing this week! Thanks for visiting and

helping us out at work today, Jen and Amelia! We loved

the company; come back and demo with us again soon!!

Moose 5 - Moose 5 has really been enjoying the work in Bmore, conducting work at scrimmages and seeing kids com-pete against other robots has been absolutely amazing, Not to mention helping ‘em build ‘em too! Buffalo 4 - Buffalo 4 is having an amazing time working with Coastal Fairfield County Habitat for Humanity! Shout out to Jessica, we are all looking forward to you rejoining the team soon!

Moose 1 - Not to brag but MOOSE 1 is Living the Life with 4 televisions all with cable, blue ray players, dvd players, wireless internet, I pads, air conditioning, and a RED CROSS Vehicle to drive! What more could we ask for! Moose 1 has been hooked up with beach passes so we will

be taking full advantage of the wonderful beaches that

Rhode Island has to offer!!!!!!!

Phoenix 3: Phoenix 3 traversed a raging river into the Great Dismal Swamp for the initial attack of the Insurance West Fire, achieving 100 percent contain-ment within mere minutes. Shout outs to our permanent teams: Bobby: Hey Moose 3, What the crap nana? Liz: Moose Money, I hope you are getting your fair share of Skittles Emlayyy: Cheers to you all, Moose 1 Erick: Hey Raven 2, Go away, I do not want to see your face. Maddi and Andrae: Hey Raven 1, You’re talking about stuff…why? Ben: Raven Threedom, How’s Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh NEW HAMPSHIRE!? Rebecca: Buffalo 3, Enjoy the beach and the temperate weather.

Moose 3 - Moose three loves our staff mascots, Aaron

and Laura! You guys are the best of all possible mentors!

Raven 2: Moose 5: Raven 4 got our first taste of “wuder”

ice in Camden, NJ, today! Thanks for the tip, Toby! Ra-

ven 5 & Buffalo 2: Thanks for leaving us with a sweet

house, guys! We’ll take great care of it!

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Get to the Point

Raven 5: Garmin GPS is way better and cooler, smarter, more hip, sexier, and just plain better then iPhone GPS THE COOLEST TEAM IN THE WORLD LOVES THE BEST STATE IN THE REGION AND THE COOL WEATHER AND THE COOL TRAILS AND THE COOL CORPS MEMBERS AND THE COOL PROJECT AND THE COOL WAY WE BOAST.

Buffalo 2: Connecticut Crew (Buffalo 4 & Raven 1): Let’s hang out! Mat – Wish you were here with us… Get well soon! Buffalo 2 is sweating hard-core on the Appalachian Trail! And the number of ‘vegetarians’ on the team is at its all-time high (3)!

Buffalo 1: Greetings from the Breakabeen Cemetery, the only place in town with enough cell phone service for our aircard to work. Buffalo One is eating healthy with plenty of fresh veggies and meat from the food pantry at our housing. As a team we got to Demo a house. It was both sad and a great stress/anger reliever.

Buffalo 3: MAINE!!!!!!!!!!!! B3 is working with kids, eating mostly veggie meals (thank you Tanglewood!), and we are within walking distance of the beach! Shout out to our cara-van buddies, Raven 5! Tony has discovered wild blueber-ries. BLUEBERRIES!!!!!!!!!! Moose 2 - Miss everyone al-

ready! R.I.P. Ed’s Pony

10

Get to the Point

N.H. officials expand hepatitis C testing probe

to more Exeter Hospital patients

(CBS/AP) New Hampshire health officials want to expand hepatitis C testing

to more patients of Exeter Hospital who may have been infected from an out-

break of the liver destroying disease tied to a former employee's drug use.

Thus far, 30 patients of Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization lab have

tested positive for the virus. Traveling lab tech David Kwiatkowski, 33, stands accused of stealing syringes of the power-

ful anesthetic fentanyl, injecting himself with them, then putting back the syringes with a different liquid for use on cath-

eterization patients.

Dr. Jose Montero, New Hamphsire's public health director, announced that health officials wanted to cast a wider net on

testing, expanding it to include anyone who had surgery or was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Exeter Hos-

pital between April 1, 2011 and May, 25, 2012.

Previously officials had only recommended testing for anyone treated at the cardiac catherization lab between October 1,

2010 and May 25, 2012. That amounted to fewer than 1,300 people while the new recommendation may cover about

6,000 former patients. The testing recommendation doesn't include patients of the hospital's ambulatory surgical center.

"As health care providers, our focus is first and foremost on our patients' care and safety," said Nancy Baese, president of

the hospital's medical staff. "We would rather that thousands of our patients be tested by the state even if they all turn up

negative than to miss one patient who might have been infected by this alleged criminal."

James Holmes Bought

Rifle After Failing Oral

Exam

Accused movie theater gun-

man James Holmes pur-

chased a high-powered rifle

hours after failing a key oral

exam at the University of Col-

orado, ABC News has learned.

Holmes added the weapon to his already growing arsenal June 7,

hours after he took a key oral exam at the college. ABC News

station KMGH-TV in Denver reported that he failed the exam.

Three days later, he dropped out of the neurosciences program

with no explanation.

Holmes, 24, is being held without bond in connection with the

shooting, which left 12 people dead and 58 injured July 20 dur-

ing a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."Experts say

it's possible Holmes had an underlying mental illness that was

triggered by the stress of failure.

"All of those things could actually make dormant schizophrenia

come out, and come out relatively quickly," said Marisa Randaz-

zo, a psychologist who studies targeted violence.

North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un Gets Married

11

Get to the Point

Buffalo 1 Taft— Breakabeen, NY

Buffalo 2 Tomoyo— Torrington, CT

Buffalo 3 Tony— Linconville, ME

Buffalo 4 Tiffany— Bridgeport, CT

Moose 1 Patrick—Warwick, RI

Moose 2 Megan— Rutland, VT

Moose 3 Jami— Wilmington, DE

Moose 4 Casey— Kingston, NH

Moose 5 Toby— Baltimore, MD

Raven 1 Keiper— Hamden, CT

Raven 2 Davey— Newcomb, NY

Raven 3 A.T.— Manchester, NH

Raven 4 Millena—Camden, NJ

Raven 5 Dan— Bangor, ME

Phoenix 3 Ben— Suffolk, VA