COOPERSTOWN _ Josh Pearlman of Cooperstown has postponed going to college for a year to help Boise, Idaho, get ready for the 2009 Special Olympics World Games.
Pearlman, 18, graduated from Cooperstown High School last June. He'll be attending New York University in August, with an eye toward a career in the music industry.
In the meantime, however, he is coordinating transportation for the winter games, which begin Feb. 7.
Last fall, Pearlman signed up for a 10-month hitch with AmeriCorps, a national service agency that incorporates VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) and the National Civilian Community Corps. AmeriCorps workers are given an allowance, as well as food and shelter, and they work to improve other Americans' lives.
``I really like the people I work with, and I enjoy public service,'' Pearlman said Friday while home on Leatherstocking Street in Cooperstown. ``Boise is a nice little city, too. There's a lot to do, but it isn't overwhelming.''
AmeriCorps has 20 workers at the Special Olympics site now and will bring in 10 more next month as the games begin.
``We'll have cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, speed skating, figure skating, snowshoeing, snowboarding and floor hockey,'' he said.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 people are expected to participate as athletes, coaches and support personnel, so getting ready for them and the spectators takes planning.
Typically, Pearlman's day starts with a meeting, ``then I go to my cubicle and work on the routes we need to cover," he said. "I'm the bus manager, and I create routes and schedule buses along them."
He will be at the Special Olympics until after the games close, then will be assigned a new project.
``We find out where we're going about two weeks before we go,'' he said.
He expects to undertake three or more projects by the end of his term in August.
For this experience, he receives room and board, plus about $155 every two weeks. At the end of his service, he will also have earned a tuition credit of nearly $5,000, which he will use at NYU.
Pearlman said he learned about AmeriCorps from his father, David Pearlman, who was a Red Cross volunteer in the New Orleans area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
``He met some AmeriCorps volunteers while he was down there, and he was impressed with what he heard,'' said Pearlman, a former Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 12.
What he learns while moving around the country and helping people may not play directly into his music career, he said, ``but it's been a great experience.''
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