The Members...The Service

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Member Stories

Full-time Stipend Corps Members
Project POWER/AmeriCorps members are committed to 1,700 hours of service (roughly 35 hours over 48 weeks) and serve in one or two different capacities: program (after school) enrichment or volunteer recruitment and support.

Monday through Thursday morning hours (8am-Noon) are spent in an elementary, middle, or high school serving as enrichment specialists. Project POWER/ AmeriCorps members may serve as Instructional Assistants, Garden Specialists, Parent Involvement Coordinators, ESL Assistants, Volunteer Coordinators or Computer Technology Specialists. The needs of individual schools will determine the nature of the member’s responsibilities.

After a lunch break, Project POWER/AmeriCorps members report to their afternoon site for the program (after school) enrichment or volunteer recruitment and support component.  The members serve from 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm and serve full-time at one site during the summer months.

After school enrichment
While our after school partner organizations are as diverse as the populations they serve, the goals of the Project POWER/AmeriCorps members are similar regardless of site assignment: to introduce youth to new ideas, new opportunities and new ways of responding to the world.

Project POWER/AmeriCorps members work with students to identify a community need and develop a 10-session service learning project around it. The students are given a pre-test around the service topic to see what they know heading in, and a post-test to see what they know after the experience. In between, members bring in guest speakers, take students on field trips (as permitted by the program), organize active service for the students and celebrate accomplishments with the ever-popular pizza party.

Project POWER/AmeriCorps members are also committed to teaching non-violent conflict resolution skills to after school program participants. Whether it's through the establishment of a peer mediation program or implementation of alternative consequences and incentives, it's important to give students skills to resolve issues with words rather than fists.

Project POWER/AmeriCorps members are also encouraged to work alongside program staff to plan appropriate activities the students might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience. Project POWER/AmeriCorps members allow programs to excel in spite of funding challenges and staff shortages, and give kids the chance to learn Spanish, learn about Indian cuisine and culture, or work in a garden. 

While Project POWER/AmeriCorps members are not officially staff members at their sites, it is important that they take on a sense of ownership and an attitude of leadership in the programs. Without both, relationships will falter and potential will never find its way to success.

Volunteer Recruitment and Support
This service track gives members an opportunity to jump into the behind-the-scenes world of non-profit organizations.

Project POWER/AmeriCorps members are responsible for engaging community groups and organizations (churches, professional organizations, etc.) to recruit volunteers to meet the various needs of their program sites. Members are also responsible for developing a volunteer orientation program, for ensuring the success of the partnerships and for supporting volunteers through their service. Even though program needs vary - from mentors for an after school program to labor to clean out an old storage center - the goal is the same: to give non-profits the ability to begin and maintain relationships with community members.