THANK YOU AMERICORPS BY NICOLE LEMASTER
One week ago I hit my two month mark in Missoula Montana, two thousand miles from my old Kentucky home. And of course, it started snowing transforming this valley in the Rockies into a widespread blanket of white. It went from a Kentucky September fall day to a Kentucky harsh winter day in the middle of February. Can you tell that I feel unprepared for the winter that is here? However, that’s a part of the experience I wanted when I signed up to be an AmeriCorps Leader at the SpecrtrUM Discovery Area here in Missoula Montana six months ago….
EXPANDING YOUR COMFORT ZONE
What do you want to get out of service? This question is often asked when members are at the beginning of their service year. Some members say professional development, others may say the experience to travel to a new community. When I think of service, expanding my comfort zone comes to mind. It is human nature to want to stay in a familiarized state. Being pushed into a new situation can be scary sometimes. Last week Montana Campus Compact (MTCC) hosted a training called “FRAME: Expanding your Comfort Zone”. This training is to help challenge our AmeriCorps Leaders and VISTAs to…
DISILLUSIONMENT AND EMPATHY BY SABRINA QUIMBY
We all fear the unknown, but some people live it everyday, not knowing when their next meal will be or if they are going to wake up the next day. I personally feared failure in the face of ambition when I made my decision to serve Montana Campus Compact under AmeriCorps as a leader for Flagship. I feared not being able to make it here after wanting this for two years because of my financial situation, but sometimes you just have to go for it anyways.Two flights and a car ride later, I was here not knowing what to expect. Running an after-school…
CHASING CURIOSITY BY JORDAN FERNANDEZ
It was a brisk and grey day at the end of September when Head Start came for a class to help illustrate positive parent and child interactions. Outside, the hills were dressed with heavy clouds, while the Missoula valley floor felt the sprinkle of light rain. The seasons were changing and you could feel it in the crisp breeze. I had been serving as a MTCC AmeriCorps Leader at Empower Place (as part of Broader Impacts Group, SpectrUM, Missoula Food Bank, and Community Center) for a few weeks.A family came in that early fall morning that really shifted my perspective…
SERVICE MEMBERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON SEPTEMBER 11TH
In honor of the national day of service observed on September 11th, Montana Campus Compact national service members spent the last few weeks engaging in service projects around the state. VISTA members Rachel Juel, Eli Bowe, Andrew Prior, Kaleigh Mency, and Yanet Eudave Marin collaborated with other service members and a local farm to harvest 982 pounds of apples for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank in Bozeman.Members in the Flathead Valley, Navraj Kaler, JJ Dynneson, and Courtney Olson also collaborated with service members from other projects to volunteer at the Montana Dragon Boat Festival in Lakeside, an event sponsored by…
SERVICE MEMBERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON SEPTEMBER 11
VISTA members at the Missoula Food BankIn honor of the national day of service observed on September 11th, Montana Campus Compact national service members spent the last few weeks engaging in service projects around the state. VISTA members Rachel Juel, Eli Bowe, Andrew Prior, Kaleigh Mency, and Yanet Eudave Marin collaborated with other service members and a local farm to harvest 982 pounds of apples for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank in Bozeman.Members in the Flathead Valley, Navraj Kaler, JJ Dynneson, and Courtney Olson also collaborated with service members from other projects to volunteer at the Montana Dragon Boat Festival…
CAMP REACH MORE CHALLENGES YOUTH TO REACH HIGHER
(Guest blog by Gina Wiezel , MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate with Missoula Parks and Recreation)The Montana CampusCompact Summer VISTA and AmeriCorps Program offers Montana students and residents the opportunity to serve in their local communities, or across the state, to help run summer learning loss prevention camps, summer feeding programs, and summer college prep camps. This summer 53 national service members participated in diverse activities to help Montana community organizations fight local poverty, including increasing tutoring and mentoring resources, managing various summer activities and support services for children and families, supporting feeding programs to help alleviate hunger within the…
BATTLING HUNGER AND BUILDING COMMUNITY IN THE GALLATIN VALLEY!
Guest blog by Aubree Pierce, MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA with Montana State University___________________________________________My project is at the MSU campus food pantry, Bounty of the Bridgers (BoB). We began having pop-up pantries in October of 2017 so we are making adjustments and trying to improve the pantry as we go. My role with this project has been integral in building capacity and creating sustainability for the BoB Pantry. Through this project I have developed relationships with many campus and community partners who have helped push this project forward and are helping create permanence and sustainability on campus. These relationships as well as…
TROY HIGH SCHOOL VISTA HALEY SPURLIN UTILIZES STORYBOARDING!
Guest Blogger: MTCC VISTA Haley Spurlin____________________________________________________________________In the Fall, I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 GEAR UP West Conference in Portland, Oregon with the Troy Junior/Senior High School(THS) GEAR UP team. During the conference, I attended a session titled “Storyboards – Collaborative Plans Connecting Students, Schools, and Families” led by Washington State GEAR UP team members. This session focused on explaining the value of collaborative goal setting throughout students’ time in high school so that students would have a clearly defined post-secondary plans upon graduation. Since my VISTA project revolves around creating resources to assist students in their post-secondary…
MTCC VISTA AUBREE PIERCE TRAVELS TO INDY!
Guest Blogger: MTCC VISTA Aubree Pierce______________________________________________________________The BoBPantry at MSU relies upon student support and enthusiasm for the project. Not just as volunteers during pantry operating hours, but to help spread awareness of food insecurity and food waste on campus and to break down the stigma around hunger and receiving food assistance. The Food Resource Council student club is the driving force, the lifeblood, and the reason why the BoB Pantry has been so successful during its pilot year. Over the weekend of March 24th-25th, 2018 I traveled to the Campus Kitchens Food Waste and Hunger Summit in Indianapolis with my VISTA supervisor,…
OPPORTUNITIES!
Told by Montana Tech’s AmeriCorps Team Leader Rachel Towsnend._____________________________________________________TRIO Day students attend the Closing Ceremony hosted by Montana Tech Chemistry“This is so awesome! Much cooler than a tour around campus…” On February 23rd, Montana Tech of the University of Montana celebrated TRIO Day, an opportunity to focus the nation’s “attention on the needs of disadvantaged young people and adults aspiring to improve their lives if they are to become contributing citizens of the country, and to the talent which will be wasted if that investment is not made.”Students head underground for a tour of one of Butte’s inactive mines.Students from middle…
HIGHLIGHTING EMPOWER PLACE: VIEWS FROM AMERICORPS LEADER KRISTIAN STIPE
EmPower Place is a hands-on family learning center that brings together science exhibits, University of Montana role models, library books, activities, and free snacks. Located at Missoula Food Bank, EmPower Place is a collective impact effort by spectrUM, Missoula Food Bank, and Missoula Public Library. EmPower Place is powered by the City of Missoula, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.We strive to educate and encourage critical thinking in all activities we do, whether it is for science or for art. We have activities scheduled almost every day of the week. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and…
VIVA CAPACITY BUILDING!
At the beginning of February, I had the opportunity to travel to the NCCEP/GEAR UP Capacity Building Workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada with the GEAR UP department from LibbyHigh School, my MTCC service site. As a VISTA, I saw the words capacity building and thought “I’M IN!” Sunny Las Vegas was a beautiful reprieve from cold and cloudy Libby but I took home a lot more than a suntan and the tiny condiments they left out at breakfast. I took home a fresh outlook on bringing a college and career mindset to Libby students. We attended three days of sessions….
“DO YOU HAVE THESE EVERY WEEKEND?!”
Students from across the Flathead Reservation gathered at Salish Kootenai College for Flathead Tech4Good’s Winter Game Jam the weekend of February 9th. Games were played, tested, and dissected as we refined prototypes from our Fall Game Jam and made plans for our next collaborative project!The game’s Water Warriors and Mussel Hustle were prototyped the first weekend in November. Since then, students behind the project spent time with our partners at Native Teaching Aids designing the game board, playing pieces and cards. On Saturday morning, both polished games were play-tested for feedback and refinement. Students and volunteers, who had never seen…
GUEST BLOGGER: ISABEL LANGLOIS, NEWMAN CIVIC FELLOW
Today we’re lucky to have guest piece from Isabel Langlois, a University of Montana student and Newman Civic Fellow with Campus Compact. Thank you, Isabel!____________________________________________________________________Newman Civic Conference Fellows in BostonIn November 2017, with the support of the UM Civic Engagement Office, I was able to attend the Newman Civic Fellowship Conference in Boston, MA at the Edward Kennedy Institute. I took on the identity of a Democrat from Colorado to debate the controversial Farm Bill.A few days were packed with elevator introductions, Farm Bill riders, and Ted Talks; beyond this, the Newman Civic Fellowship Conference in Boston Massachusetts was the gathering of…
MASS, GRAVITY, FORCE, AND FRICTION
Montana Campus Compact VISTA Harley Fredriksen currently serves at University of Montana (UM) Broader Impact Group bringing UM Graduate Students and Researchers into Public School classrooms across the state. I was lucky to get out of the office for few hours and tag along with Harley and Kate Perkins on their recent trip down to Hamilton Middle School where Kate taught physics through hula hooping. The Broader Impact Group Model was developed to help form working partnerships between various University departments. Over the years the program has had great success in connecting university departments around extending campus resources into surrounding communities….
MLK DAY AT THE ROXY!
Blogging about one’s own event can be difficult in my eyes. This is when I’m conscious of coming across as stuck up, fake, or WORSE to hype up an event that really wasn’t that eventful. So I’ll tell you a bit about the event and hopefully the video links below from NBC Montana and KPAX T.V. below will reflect that as well. KPAX T.V. MLK at the ROXyNBC Montana MLK Day at the ROXYAcross the state Montana Campus Compact and AmeriCorps members helped continued the MLK Read for Peace mission with a few creative add-ons within the community. In Missoula I…
MLK READ FOR PEACE
Photo credit: Adrienne Hopkins, Missoula Aging Services.I just got back at my desk after being at Lewis and Clark Elementary School here in Missoula. Today’s when many of Campus Compact’s Read For Peace events happen, and I’m nearly always moved to tears at some point during the day. I wouldn’t say I’m a very emotional person, but there’s something about six, seven and eight year old kids s thinking about segregation and learning about the civil rights movement, and applying it to their realities that always gets me choked up. The bafflement on kids faces when you talk about separate…
MTCC VISTA SUPPORTS VETERAN CENTER AT MSU
On Monday, January 8, the Veteran Support Center kicked off a semester long effort aimed at encouraging financial literacy among veteran students. The inaugural event was the Financial Success Summit, which covered scholarships, loans, and entrepreneurship. Subsequent events throughout the semester will have narrower focuses. Connor Harbison, the MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA serving at the MSU Blackstone LaunchPad, supported the staff at the Veteran Support Center, in order to put all of MSU’s resources to work for veteran students.“Working with veteran and non-traditional aged students, finances can be a big source of stress,” said Joe Schumacher, Director of Veteran Services. “Any…
FALL GAME JAM AT SKC!
On November 3rd through 5th AmeriCorps Leader Dayton Smith helped put on the Fall Game Jam at Salish Kootenai College, hosted by Flathead Tech4Good. “Water is Life” is this year’s theme at SKC. With that focus the purpose of the fall Game Jam was to bring local high-schoolers, SKC students and community volunteers together to tackle related issues with-in the community. With the”Water is Life” theme in mind, Tech4Good Game Jam focused on the unique challenges that Flathead Watershed faces.Now what is a watershed? The first thing that comes to my mind is a “shed that holds water”, but that’s not…