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School IT John Muir Charter GR CCC Pomona Volume1 Issue 5 March2009 California Conservation Corps—Pomona Satellite REMEMBERING B.T. COLLINS He had been called a lot of STAFF SPOTLIGHT things over his lifetime; irascible, irreverent, color- Jennifer Dulay ful, brave, wacky, creative, valiant, dynamic, caring, In this Issue: When The Grit asked if I could be in the Staff Spotlight, I and even “Hook.” ; (the thought to myself, if only I had a time machine. I would go last, as the result of having back and re-live some of my younger CCC years. I heard Remembering B.T. lost an arm and a leg in about the CCC through a couple of my friends who joined 1967 while serving as a the Corps and went to the Del Norte Center. I was working Collins Special Forces - Green Be- at Subway at the time and when I heard about the “Corps” I Staff Spotlight ret - Marine in Vietnam) had no idea what it was about. It could have been a military The late B.T. Collins was program for all I knew. But it didn’t matter. I wanted to go Music Review probably all of those things to Northern California, to get out of the big city and away from “Cold Cut Combo’s, hold the bell peppers”. So I applied and more. He lived life to at the Employment Development Department in Riverside Gamer Review the fullest. The one thing and asked to go to the Del Norte Center, the furthest north Writers Block that he was not – was a you can get, and I end up in San Diego, the furthest south defeatist. He had a strong you can get! So, at this point, I get to what was then called Shameless Cartoon belief in the ability of peo- the La Cima Center, a CCC Fire Camp. The Center staff ple to grow and change. He issued me a “tootsie-roll” (a brown mechanic suit, with big Communications didn’t see the loss of an white letters on the back that said, CCC), a brand new pair of Prison Industry boots and a retro, 1970’s shiny jacket. Commentary arm and a leg as a handi- cap, responding to a televi- Shortly after our gear issue, we were driven to an aban- sion reporter who asked doned 6th Grade Summer Camp called Camp Marston in Bucket Of The the town of Julian. We had 20+ people in this 2 week Orien- him how it felt to have a Month tation Training. I was one of 3 females. We head to our bar- handicap. After a reasoned racks, one for the males and one for the females. amount of awkward si- Cont. pg. 3 lence, B.T. replied, Cont. pg. 5 STAFF John Berge; Advisor Andrew Coll; Managing Editor; Features Staff Spotlight Carol Aguayo; Associate Editor; Features To the right front; Harvey Piggee; Music/Concert Reviews Conservation Supervisor; James Burthe; Gamer Review/Commentary Jennifer Dulay Colton Kegeler; Bucket of the Month Yes, she was a BLUE HAT... Page 2 John Muir Charter School GRIT Communications-Talk at the GRIT! ATTN: CORPSMEMBERS, DISCLAIMER and realized that you could accomplish a task or problem that you once may The JMCS GRIT Newspaper of the CCC The GRIT realized one day that while have thought insurmountable. What Pomona Satellite Center WILL NOT under we had put this box here, we forgot to does the CCC mean to you—What does any circumstances, publish any obscene mention that ANYBODY can use it. the opportunity that education provides material in the shout out box. Please do not This means of course, Corpsmembers at mean to you. What is your passion, is it waste the time of the Newspaper staff by other centers can use it too! If you’d like something that you would like to share asking them to do so. to use the com. box or be added to our with your brother and sister Corpsmem- mailing list, please send us an email at YOU WILL BE REFUSED! bers. [email protected] while we can not promise to get everything in here, we ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Do you play a musical instrument? How will do our best. The GRIT is pleased to THE GRIT is always on the lookout for in- will you use those talents and skills to announce that James Burthe, a newly teresting stories, views, or commentaries create a successful future for yourself? graduated C.O.M.E.T. And .now corps- from Corpsmembers. Will the realization of those dreams also member will be filling the spot for contribute to the quality of life in the Tell us about how you overcame an obstacle Gamer Review, he will also be doing larger society? Give a Holler!!! in your life, A time when you were in school commentary. when you had that “Ah Hah…!” moment "The best friends you're ever going to make are the ones you don't like in the beginning. The best friend that will never let you down is integrity...” B.T. Collins as told to Mark Shields . Commentary PARALLEL UNIVERSE James Burthe. These days, homelessness is almost a taboo subject. The as- sumption seems to be that most homeless people are victims of their own self-indulgence, be it drugs, booze, or simply bad decisions. “If you’re homeless, you’ve done it to yourself!” This general statement is rooted in ignorance. For the most part, the majority of America’s homeless are war vets who had nothing to come home to after Vietnam, at least nothing positive. A groundswell of citizens opposed the war and held in disdain, the soldiers fighting that war. We’re fortunate today. Our soldiers are more respected, seemingly. The genesis and dynamics of our current conflict(s) are questioned by many in our communi- ties. Unfortunately, we’re still ignoring our own people living in difficult circumstances. From victims of the worsening eco- nomic crisis to the Hurricane Katrina debacle - nature robbed them of all they had and they were often denied help from their own government! It says a lot when you see fields of deteriorat- ing mobile homes, that sit and rot, meant to shelter those in need with some sort of sustainable housing. It says that we’ve got a lot of learning and problem solving to do as a nation. Take San Francisco, for example. The homeless in that city have many resources to draw upon when needed. Shelters to maintain hy- giene and get a meal. Several libraries that provide access to resources. What would you rather see? Clean-cut homeless indi- viduals reading a Carl Sagan book while waiting outside a job placement building or those same people begging for money on the side of the freeway? This is JUST downtown San Francisco. Imagine the results if we, as a nation applied those basic ideas throughout society - targeting them productively. A little kind- ness can go a long way… What are your thoughts? Volume1 Issue 5 Page 3 Do You Like Good Music... What it do my fellow corps members, life. The rest of the album isn't bad either. hope all is well with you and your musi- Take it from me, I barely listen to main- cal journeys. As for me I'm still digging stream hip-hop, but I definitely recom- deep so I can pump out some more re- mend this album to anyone who has ears. views. Well lets see, lets talk music shall Now with that being said, I want to open we? My pick of the month goes to T.I., you ears to something I want to pull off yea I know weird right? Of course you all the old iPod, Poison the Well, I know I'm know he’s soon to be incarcerated, and pulling a quick 180, but you know I have because of that I guess he felt he needed to add some of my personal flavor. This to push out a quick release before then, band has been around since the early mil- and I must say its going to be, if it already lennium and they aren't showing signs of isn't, A HIT! I'm sure you’ve all heard the stopping. Their latest album, “Versions”, single “Dead and Gone” featuring Justin tells their journey with the tone of music Timberlake. The beat enough is epic, but instead of being vocal about it. There's the message he added in there was defi- nothing I love more than chatting about nitely a plus. The lyrics are inspiring and music. As always I encourage you all to encouraging as he exposes his past and close your eyes and open you ears. shows how one can move past a rough ———Harvey Piggee MUSIC REVIEW STAFF SPOTLIGHT CONT. The next morning, our Trainer, a former volunteered to eat one, because my blis- I met Captain Reed at a Fire in Caba- Army Drill Sergeant wakes us up and ters were raw at this point - So, I ate zon. I asked if he thought I should take tells us to get up and be ready to hike to one…and will never, ever, ever forget time out from the Corps instead of be- the Camp’s kitchen for Breakfast. We why I did. coming a C-I. He told me to “never let had 15 minutes to eat, and it took us 15 opportunities pass you by, because you’ll Only eleven people graduated from that minutes to hike there. We had bag never know if you’ll get that chance training, and I was one of them.

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