News : AmeriCorps Class 17 goes to work after induction

Pat Lyons thanked the NCCC members for the impact they have had on Vinton, Iowa and America.

Team leader Brittney Green makes closing remarks during the NCCC induction.

Pat Lyons congratulates Cedar 3 team leader Molly Murphy after she receives her certificate.

AmeriCorps Class 17 members recite the AmeriCorps Pledge Wednesday.

'I will get things done...' after the pledge, teams begin projects today.

The School Board President stood in the Vinton-Shellsburg High School auditorium and spoke to the class.

Other speakers talked to the members about what they had learned, the friendships they had made, and the impact they would have on the world tomorrow.

Class members shared their experiences and looked forward to the future.

But the ceremony at the high school last night (Wednesday, March 16) was not a commencement. It was a different kind of beginning: The induction of Class 17 into the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program.

The team leaders and team members are in 15-passenger vans today, driving to places like Warsaw, Ohio, where Maple 2 will help build improvements to a camp for people with special needs. They will even build a go-cart track and paintball field.

The teams will work in a variety of places, from inner-city YMCA facilities to restoring trails that will improve life and offer safe passage through an area of industrial and residential development in Evendale, Ohio.

But before they could get in the vans, they had to stand in the auditorium and recite the AmeriCorps Pledge:

The AmeriCorps Pledge

I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy,
I will take action.

Faced with conflict,
I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity,
I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment
with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done.

NCCC National Director Mikel Herrington told the new members that courage is defined by "letting go of the familiar." He told them they would see many unfamiliar things over the next 10 months as they work in a variety of projects in several different areas of the United States. Herrington said that people join NCCC for a variety of very good reasons. But what matters most, he said, is "not how you got here but the trajectory you will choose."

Vinton-Shellsburg School Board President Pat Lyons gave the keynote address. He told the members that "acts of service" is one of the "languages of love." He thanked the group for bringing diversity to Vinton and said the AmeriCorps has had a "staggering impact."