By design, every year we welcome a whole new team of AmeriCorps members to serve with us for the school year. These members work directly with high school and college students as their near-peer coaches, making sure they’re staying on top of everything they need to get into college and succeed there.
In August, we welcomed 25 AmeriCorps members to the Oregon team. Two of these members are former College Possible students who have just graduated from college and are returning to serve students. We are thrilled to have each and every one of these members serving with us!
For the first time in several years, we were able to gather in person for Welcome Weeks, our three-week orientation. The moments of high team energy were priceless and the number of community-building activities was through the roof. The whole team was ready to dive right in… and that’s exactly what they did! The focus was on student recruitment and working to engage as many high school students as possible.
The pandemic has imposed new challenges on the college-going culture around the nation, and the schools where we work are no exception. It remains important to the future of our communities that we open the opportunity of a college education to all students, not just those with greater financial resources. In an effort to address the increased mental health needs of our students, AmeriCorps coaches and school communities, we invited Caitlin Young of Trillium Family Services to join us during Welcome Weeks. It was a great first session, allowing the team to begin building essential skills and tools. We will continue to host Caitlin for trainings throughout the year to address the real-time issues that coaches and students are experiencing. These trainings are made possible by a grant we received from the Oregon Community Foundation. Thank you, OCF!
Do you know a recent college graduate who might be interested in serving with us? We’re still hiring high school coaches and would love to meet them.
