Et cetera : NCCC Corps Class 21 Spotlight: Bill Landis

Bill Landis from Schenectady, New York is serving on team Maple 4 in AmeriCorps NCCC Corps Class 21. He arrived in Vinton in February of 2015 to start his 10-month service term with the program. Maple 4 is made up of nine people from across the country who serve together around the Midwest.

Before his term of service, he attended Binghamton University, State University of NY and received a bachelor’s of science in Management concentrating in Leadership and Consulting and a minor in Environmental Studies. Afterwards, Bill completed two wilderness therapy programs in the Adirondacks and during a summer was a junior administrator for Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth summer program in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Finally, one of Bill’s most impactful extracurricular experiences was spending three months backpacking and sea kayaking in the Chilean Patagonia on a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) program.

Bill talks about his motivation for joining NCCC, “It fit perfectly in my career trajectory since I plan to learn a lot about leading service-learning projects so that I can use this experience as further foundation for eventually opening my own international gap-year, service-oriented program for young adults.”

Maple 4 served on their first project with the Nature Conservancy-Wisconsin in Dodgeville executing prescribed burns across the southeast and southwest parts of Wisconsin to protect native prairie. Aside from conducting prescribed burns, the team removed invasive species such as buckthorn, and repaired/created trails in the area.

For the first part of their second round, the team served with Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Spearfish, South Dakota removing downed trees and other natural debris. In addition, the team removed noxious weeds, and an invasive species known as burdock.

The team is currently in Hopkinton, Iowa serving with the Delaware County Historical Society refurbishing the interior of the Historical Society’s various museum buildings by performing maintenance tasks ranging from painting exhibit rooms to building the exhibits themselves. The team is also maintaining the exterior grounds by cutting grass and trimming bushes.

After completing the program in November, Bill has a few plans set up. First, he wants to complete a life coaching curriculum with the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). Next, he plans on spending the winter ski instructing and earning his Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) certification at Whiteface Mountain. Afterwards, he plans on going on a backpacking trip with his younger brother when he graduates from high school. Finally, he wants to sign on for an additional service year with NCCC for the Fall 2016 term.

Some fun facts about Bill:

Q: What is your favorite TV show and why? Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the writing is surprisingly good!

Q: What song best describes you? Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the song speaks to my independent spirit and drive to be both excellent and unconstrained by limiting beliefs in all I do.

Q: If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?Telekinesis, I could make myself fly and make others fly too!

Q: What is the most challenging and/or exciting thing you have done? My National Outdoor Leadership School experience in Patagonia.

Q: What is one thing you can’t live without? Intellectual stimulation.

Q: What is one thing you would like to try but have not had the chance? Sky diving