Nevada Outdoor School (NOS) is a well-recognized organization amongst Nevada’s rural areas for their wide-reaching efforts to educate adults and children about respecting and preserving nature.
But what people may not know about NOS, is their capacity to connect people with opportunities to travel, gain invaluable experience and training, and even pay for college through their affiliation with AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is a federal program created to aid in combating poverty, senior citizen assistance, natural disaster recovery, and various other community needs that funds NOS through grants.
NOS provides AmeriCorps services in rural Nevada, so their ties to the federal entity helps connect volunteers with communities in need of service and their efforts in working with other various non-profits around the country supplies them with many different resources.
According to Melanie Erquiaga, Nevada Outdoor School’s Executive Director, AmeriCorps members who serve just one full-time year with NOS, receive not only a modest living stipend, but up to $6,495 towards college, paying off existing student loans, going to trade school, or other education opportunities, all while learning about the outdoors.
Members who stay on longer have the opportunity to receive more and there are currently full-time and part-time positions open.
“AmeriCorps is definitely about community support. We keep doing it year after year because we can truly support the communities that are important to us,” explained Erquiaga.
By having established multi-focused partnerships with host sites—Friends of Black Rock High Rock, Pershing County Senior Center, Pleasant Senior Center, Frontier Community Action Agency, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, and Nevada Outdoor School— NOS can place AmeriCorps members where they are most needed as outdoor educators after they receive proper training.
NOS pays for training costs, travel, food and stay. Then, educators can then help with things like outdoor reclamation, educating children, assisting the ederly with various things, operations of food pantries, and many other service related activities.
These opportunities are extended to anyone with a capacity to serve, whether they are fresh out of high school or have high school students of their own.
Those that are over 55 years of age and successfully complete a term of service have the option to transfer their education allotment to someone else, like a child, grandchild, or foster child.
This, along with schedule flexibility and other numerous benefits, make serving nonprofits that much more edifying.
“We invest a lot of training into [the volunteers] because we want to deliver high quality programs. We also want to prepare them because we’re hoping that they go on to be professional individuals,” said Erquiaga.
Many AmeriCorps members, according to Erquiaga, have gone on to have very successful and enriching careers in not only Nevada, but across the country and even in other parts of the world.
The experiences and training, from lesson planning to survival skills, that members receive through the program give them an edge amongst others after their service that is looked upon favorably by both schools and employers.
The modest living stipend — $17,000 — helps ground the volunteers and serve from a place of both connection, but also a place of sensibility.
By applying at americorps.gov, volunteers can take the first step to getting involved.
“It’s exciting, especially when you get to be a part of something bigger — being a part of making other non-profits better and being their support,” said Nevada Outdoor School Communication and Marketing Specialist, Jacklyn Orr, who served as an AmeriCorps member before taking her position at NOS.
Having the opportunity to work with NOS allows members to participate in good stewardship on the outdoors and teach those good practices to others. Nevada’s proclivity to surprise and amaze with its grandeur is reason enough to encourage others to experience it.
Having an established love for the outdoors is not a required prerequisite for service, but being open to learning about the outdoors is.
“It’s really cool to be able to expose [people] to Nevada’s beauty. If you like to get out and explore, this is the place,” said Erquiaga, and later added “We want people to go out, get exposed, get outside and learn about [the outdoors]. Once you do, you learn to love it and once you love it, you want to share it.”
Interested persons may apply for the program at americorps.gov or call Nevada Outdoor School at (775) 623-5656 for more information.