July 25th, 2025

This week’s photo features a San Mateo project site plagued by invasive species, with French Broom (the yellow-flowered plant) being the primary culprit. Over the last two weeks, NRM Supervisor Jake R. and his crew have been hard at work removing these harmful plants, giving important native species a chance to thrive. Removing invasive species is crucial for maintaining ecosystem health, as it enables more resources to be allocated to native species, promoting biodiversity. Thank you to Jake R. and his crew for taking on this important project!

For a chance to be featured on the photo of the week, please email your best pictures to social@sjcccs.org or share your team updates on Slack!

WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING TRAINING PATHWAY

We are still recruiting corpsmembers who are interested in exploring a career in wildland firefighting to participate in a new training pathway! This pathway consists of up to five industry-recognized certifications:

• Entry Level Wildland Firefighter

• Hand and Power Tooling

• Basic Horticulture for Parks and Public Land Management

• CalTrans Roadside Safety

• Wilderness First Responder (not required)

• Pre-reqs: FEMA IS-100c, FEMA IS-200, FEMA IS-700b, and FEMA IS-800d (free to take online)

Gain knowledge, skills, and connections that will introduce you to a career in wildland firefighting! If you are interested, please fill out the interest form below. If you have any questions please contact your Corps Futures Coordinator.

CORPSMEMBER OF THE MONTH

Congratulations to Brenda C. for being Zero Waste's Corpsmember of the Month! She is always punctual, prepared, and ready to help her team with whatever they need. Keep up the amazing work!

COMMUNITY COOKING WITH SILICON VALLEY SECOND HARVEST

Last Friday, the Corps welcomed Silicon Valley Second Harvest to our Berger campus for a no-bake food demonstration. A special shout-out to everyone who participated! Corpsmembers from across departments learned how to make three different no-bake dishes, all while using rescued food from our community market. Stay tuned for future demonstrations!

WELCOMING BACK CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENTS

On Wednesday, we got to welcome back EVEN MORE returning Charter School students for the 2025-2026 school year! 28 students got to update their enrollment paperwork and take their school photos. A big thank you to the Charter School and Community Engagement Teams for going above and beyond to help make the day a success. Congratulations to the students who returned to continue working towards their future — we are so excited to see the incredible things you’ll achieve over the next year! 

CORPORATE COMPOSTING

This week our CCAC fellows hosted another one of their awesome composting workshops — this time for Bank of America. Thank you to Calla T., Leslie T., and Ally C. for educating the Bank of America staff on the importance and benefits of composting, and promoting an informed and sustainable community!

BERGER CAMPUS BEAUTIFICATION

On Saturday, some of our Zero Waste corpsmembers spent the day landscaping the Berger campus. Some projects included hedging shrubs, maintaining potted plants, and mulching the community room entrance. Kudos to the landscaping crew for their attention to detail and drive to get the project done — it looks great!

REFER A FRIEND, GET $100

JULY JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Check out some exciting job opportunities for July! 

JULY IS PARKS AND RECREATION MONTH

Did you know that July is National Parks and Recreation Month? Celebrate the beauty of parks and recreation programs and the work that goes into maintaining our public spaces, including the work you do at the Corps. Take time this month to visit your favorite park or discover a new one! Click the button below to see all of the neat events happening at Santa Clara County Parks. 

GUESSING JAR CONTEST

Think you can guess how many candies are in the jar? Submit your guess by July 31st— the closest one without going over wins a summer prize! 

If you'd like to see the jar in person before guessing, it is located at the Berger front desk! 

TECH SAFETY TIPS

Check out these helpful tips for combating hackers and improving IT security. 

YOUR FEEDBACK MATTERS

We have a feedback email available to everyone (both staff and corpsmembers). Feel free to scan the QR code above or email feedback@sjcccs.org directly. If you have any questions about this channel of feedback, you can email Jasmine F.