Rocky Mountain Youth Corps

Programs: Programsrmyc programs focus on two primary outcomes: successful youth and sustained environment. Rmyc provides life-changing experiences for over 500 youth each year to develop successful, self-sustaining life skills that lead to productive and responsible community members. Our programs provide a progression of civic engagement, employment and education opportunities that lead to successful careers. A participant can begin this journey at age 11, and continue to gain new skills to age 25. We are one of a small minority of corps across the nation that incorporate an intentional education curriculum specifically designed for each age group we serve, focusing on job readiness, resume building, career development, leadership and life-skills, physical fitness, health care, nutrition, environmental education, and civic and social responsibility. Rmyc is unique in the world of service and conservation corps in that we are the only corps in the state of colorado that engages corps members for extended (10 weeks +) 24/7 experiential work and living opportunities. Youth develop strong, healthy lifestyles by working on meaningful community service projects that protect habitats while maintaining outdoor recreational amenities that coloradoans enjoy. We provide unique project services and training around higher level hard skills such as chainsaw certification, wildland fire fighting certification, high altitude sites (colorado fourteeners), intricate rock work, historic preservation, and wilderness specialty work such as cross cut saw use. We provide an affordable work force for public lands maintenance with trails, wildlife habitat, fire fuels reduction, beetle kill mitigation, historic preservation, noxious weed control, and more. Rocky mountain youth corps is the largest employer of youth in northwest colorado. Youth corps programs:service learning crew (slc) is a youth community service program that provides education and experience in citizenship, volunteerism, community service, and self-development to routt county youth ages 11-13 annually. Slc sessions are two weeks, monday thursday, generally seven hour days, with a camping experience on the last day. Slc provides entry-level job skills while enhancing the resiliency skills and personal development through experiential education and meaningful service projects for public benefit. Slc was created in 2010. Number of youth served: 89 in 2017. Community development crew (cdc) serves northwest colorado local youth ages 14-15 on local projects. Members are paid a modest wage while completing priority projects on public lands and engaging in the education curriculum. Cdc sessions are two weeks, monday friday, with the first week operating five 8-hour days, and the second week operating a residential, 24/7 camping experience. During the session, members live in tents and learn basic independent living skills while working on public lands projects during the day. Cdc was created in 1994. Number of youth served: 99 in 2017. Regional service crew (rsc) serves youth ages 16-18 years from throughout northwest colorado. Members live and work 24/7 for the entire two-week session, becoming fully immersed in the experiential impact of the program. Like the slc and cdc programs, members work for public land managers on service projects that benefit the general public. Rsc members are also paid a wage, and some are eligible for americorps education awards for higher education. Rsc was created in 1993. Number of youth served: 31 in 2017. Young adult corps programs:conservation corps (cc) serves young adults ages 18-25 years old annually through four crew types, according to the primary conservation work projects that the crews focus on: trail crew, chainsaw crew, historic preservation crew, and fire crew. Conservation corps members are paid a wage and earn americorps education awards while completing priority projects on public lands and engaging in a comprehensive service learning education program. Participants live in groups of 8-10 for 4 to 28 weeks in the outdoors, and work building and maintaining trails, bridges and fences, fire fuels reduction, habitat restoration, wildfire rehabilitation, and mountain pine beetle mitigation. Number of youth served: 106 in 2017. Other youth programs:yampa valley science school was developed in 2000 and serves all routt county sixth graders and 20-30 high school students each year. Students are immersed in this five-day residential, educational curriculum, culminating with a community service project. The curriculum includes co dept. Of education content standards in science, as well as social and civic responsibility, leadership, healthy nutrition, and physical fitness. Junior leaders (high school students) engage as mentors and facilitators of the curriculum which focuses on science but incorporates other academic disciplines such as math, writing, history and art. The residential experience promotes social development. 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. Number of youth served: 295 in 2017. 2017 outcomes:youth corps and conservation corps participants demonstrated increases in problem-solving skills. Youth corps and conservation corps participants demonstrated significant decreases in their previous 30-day use of alcohol and marijuana. Youth corps and conservation corps participants demonstrated increases in job-related skills. Youth corps and conservation corps participants demonstrated significant increased desires to engage in civic service in their future. Youth corps and conservation corps participants reported a significant increase in environmental behaviors and efficacy. Sixth grade yampa valley science school participants demonstrated an increase in education understanding of 60% based on pre-post education test results. 95% of sixth-grade yvss participants reported that attending yvss made them excited about science.