At the time Brent Holloway was hired by the GVCC in 2019, he knew his dream job was in a state park. Brent started off as a corps member, and in a short time worked his way into a crew leader position. There he excelled by supporting natural resource projects, recycling collections and waste diversion events. In 2022, when GVCC became the first local conservation corps to begin a formal agreement with the California State Parks, Brent was selected immediately to begin supervising a restoration team at Carnegie State Vehicular Recreational Area and Mount Diablo. Impressed by his work ethic and dedication to conservation, California State Parks offered Brent a position as a forestry aide. He is currently loving what he does and still gets to work alongside GVCC members on State Parks projects.

After starting her conservation career at the GVCC headquarters in Stockton, Ann Sleight decided to enroll into Columbia College. She stayed with GVCC and transition to the teams based in Sonora. Her goal: land a position in the forestry industry. After supervising teams, acquiring additional postsecondary education and working on a variety of fuel-load reduction projects, Ann was able to earn a position with the U.S. Forest Service as a Field Technician. She spent the majority of the summer traveling to various wildland fires up and down the state, including the Radford Fire in San Bernadino County (pictured).

Katie Yang enrolled into the Greater Valley Conservation Corps to learn job skills, life skills and receive industry recognized training while working her way through San Joaquin Delta College. GVCC was a logical choice for her employment plan because of the flexible schedule offered and an added opportunity to earn while she learned. As a corps member, Katie excelled at each task that she took on and quickly became an environmental steward during waste diversion amnesties, city cleanup projects and community outreach events. Just prior to graduating from Delta College, Katie won the GVCC Scholarship Program and used the dollars awarded, along with multiple AmeriCorps education stipends, to support her admission into California State University, Sacramento. Katie continued to work and commute to GVCC while successfully finishing her bachelor’s degree. She’s moved on from the GVCC but her passion for youth-development programs led her to a new opportunity. She is now a fulltime crew supervisor with the Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps.

Before joining GVCC, Parker was a member of the California Conservation Corps Delta center, where he quickly grew fond of natural resource projects and environmental stewardship. In 2022, he met with CTE Program Specialist Torri Keever during a campus tour of Columbia College and learned all about the GVCC and Columbia College Forestry and Conservation On-the-Job Training Program in Sonora.

Parker was excited to learn that as a part of this program he would be able to receive tuition assistance, paid work experience, academic instruction, and multiple certifications. This was the exactly what Parker had been looking for, and he decided to enroll into Columbia College and apply to GVCC as a forestry technician.

Parker immediately fit right in with the team at GVCC and began supporting ongoing natural resource projects in Tuolumne County while keeping up on his college courses and taking part in GVCC certification classes, including OSHA-10, CPR and First Aid, Caltrans Roadside Safety, and S-212 Basic Chainsaw Operations.

His tireless work ethic, coupled with a knowledge of conservation and natural leadership qualities, eventually landed him a GVCC Corps Leader position by the end of 2022. There he began supervising forestry crews on various fuel loads-management and restoration projects at the West Side Trail, Depot Trail, and Summerville High School in Tuolumne County.

"What I enjoy most about the program are the opportunities and the people. Finding myself in the most absolute beautiful, life changing views and sceneries that I don't think I would've ever appreciated before. There's not one day where I don't take a second and breathe it in," Parker said.

As of July 2023, Caleb is over halfway completed with the required coursework to graduate and receive multiple program certificates, including a Certificate of Completion with the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards. After Parker has satisfied the required 16 units of supplemental instruction and 2,000 job training hours, he has his sight set on a career with the U.S. Forest Service as a wildland firefighter or forestry technician. But he says he has time. "I'm in no rush, as this program is amazing, and I still have so much to learn and teach."