Getting things done: Vacant Lots

Pictured above are the sisters of the Zeta Delta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha next to a tree planted March 3rd

The sisters of the Zeta Delta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha from the University of Tennessee recently chose to serve with CAC AmeriCorps’ Vacant Lots program. With generous donations from Stanley’s Greenhouse, Wal-Mart and the City of Knoxville the sixteen ladies planted two willows oaks and a spring bulb garden in the Western Heights on a March 3^rd. CAC's Vacant Lots program is an initiative to beautify vacant properties in the City of Knoxville.

AmeriCorps member Conner Westby leads the effort to coordinate clean-ups of 11 vacant properties in the Mechanicsville, Lonsdale, and Beaumont community of Knoxville. He has removed mounds of invasive species, reintroduced native species and pollinators with the help of the fantastic volunteers of Knoxville such as the ladies of AKA.

If you'd like to be involved in the project contact CAC AmeriCorps at cacamericorps@knoxcac.org.

UPDATE: positions are getting filled

Currently we have 20 sites:

Organization	Number of members
CAC Beardsley Community Farm	3 (3 positions filled)
City of Knoxville Parks and Recreation	2
East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition	2 (1 position filled)
Farragut Stormwater Engineering	1 (position filled)
Goodwill Industries	1
Great Smoky Mountains National Park	2
Ijams Nature Center	4 (2 positions filled)
Keep Blount Beautiful	1 (position filled)
Keep Knoxville Beautiful	2 (1 position filled)
Knox County Air Quality Management	1
Knox County Solid Waste	4
Knox County Stormwater Engineering	7
CAC Vacant Lots	2
Legacy Parks Foundation	2
SEEED	1
Tribe One	1 (position filled)
UT Office of Sustainability	1
UT Outdoor Recreation	1
UT Recycling	1
UT Water Resources Research Center	1 (position filled)

Alumni of Water Quality Team

Nicki Cagle in Tanzania (Dec. 2006)

Dr. Nicolette Cagle's blog

http://web.duke.edu/~nlc4/teaching_Mar08.html

It is great to see Nicki doing such great work!

Water Quality Team Alumni

Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Program Associate

Kirby Rootes-Murdy is a Program Associate with the Sustainable Markets team. Working on a variety of programmatic activities in the Seafood Choices program, Rootes-Murdy provides support in the organization and logistics planning of events such at the Seafood Summit and Seafood Champions. He also contributes to SeaWeb’s communication efforts by highlighting emerging topics in marine science and policy. Rootes-Murdy joined the Sustainable Markets team as an Intern in September 2011. Prior to joining SeaWeb full-time, Rootes-Murdy worked as a Seafood retailer at Whole Foods Market.

Rootes-Murdy completed his master's degree in Coastal Environmental Management at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina. While at Duke, Rootes-Murdy wrote his master’s thesis on coastal water quality management in North Carolina and organized an interdisciplinary discussion panel on the U.S. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Market. Prior to graduate school, Rootes-Murdy worked as an Environmental Educator and Community Organizer with CAC AmeriCorps in Knoxville, Tennessee. He graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Religious Studies from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2008.

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Appleby kindergarten spends the day at McCoy Wash

Special to the Times BLYTHE - Felix J. Appleby Elementary kindergartners spent an adventurous day Dec. 3, exploring McCoy Wash on 6th Avenue. While there they engaged in hands-on activities to further support their in-class curriculum. Appleby Elementary recently received a $9,023 grant through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation titled "The Nature of Learning." Funds from this grant will be used to engage children and enrich learning experiences by connecting curriculum to the local natural surroundings. Relevant hands-on activities will be developed and implemented at local natural areas. Later in the year, knowledge from these experiences will be used to restore a section of the new school grounds to a natural landscape where these activities and others can be continued. For the kindergarten class, meshing curriculum with the natural surroundings involved their reading theme, 'Friends Together,' and how this relates to the way land, plants and animals work together to survive in the desert. Along those lines, at a different station students identified unique rock features in the wash while at the same time using these rocks to build words with a short /a/ sound. Instead of chairs or carpet, sand was used to sit on for story time. Then at the art station, students used a variety of unique desert shapes and objects to create personal landscape drawings. Determination also became a lesson for the day when at the end, both students and teachers had to overcome a large sandy hill to make the trek back to the buses. Additional trips for all grade levels are currently being planned with teachers and grant coordinator, Jesse Yonkovich. --------------------------

recruiting so far- 145 applications

We have started our interview process. I will not interview every person that applies, because some of the applications are poorly written, do not have enough information to warrant an interview, or their reference forms are not completed.

By May 1st, I will receive well over 400 applications for 40 positions. I will only conduct about 110 interviews.

Each application will be reviewed for spelling and grammar. If you have typos, grammar/spelling issues, or incorrect capitalization on your application, I count these mistakes as a failure to complete the application correctly. In other words, be very careful and check your application for errors. Some applicants don't capitalize proper nouns (like a person's name) - this is a red flag for me. Those applications with gross errors are never interviewed.

We conduct two (phone or personal) interviews and request a writing sample. If offered a position, we conduct an FBI background check, drug screen and physical. If you do not pass the FBI/TBI background check and drug screen then you are not eligible for our corps.

MLK Day of Service

CAC AmeriCorps was host of two service sites for the 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. At Ijams Nature Center members cleared invasive species, repaired trails, and prepared heirloom seed packets for low-income individuals. We were joined by AmeriCorps members and VISTAs from Appalachia CARES, Appalachian Habitat for Humanity, Emerald Youth Foundation, and AIM (Achievement. Independence. Motivation.) Center.

Some highlights from Ijams:

At Morningside Community Center, AmeriCorps members were engaged in painting the inside of the building as one of the first steps in restoring what was once a community staple. CAC AmeriCorps's partner, S.E.E.E.D. (Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development), will be moving their offices and programming to this building in the near future.

Highlights from Morningside Community Center:

More about the Morningside restoration:

http://www.wate.com/story/16528605/knoxville-non-profit-honors-mlk-with-day-of-service-at-community-center

http://www.volunteertv.com/news/headlines/SEEED_inspires_kids_in_new_building_137424253.html

Recruiting blog update

We have received over 20 applications over the last few days. Thanks for your interest in our program.

We are working on the service descriptions they should be up shortly.