MSU BLACKSTONE VISTA REFLECTS ON PITCH COMPETITION
On November 15th, MTCC VISTA Connor Harbison hosted the Awards Ceremony for the 2017 Idea Challenge him and his team at Blackstone LaunchPad at Montana State University had been planning for months. This video pitch competition brought together 27 current MSU students to give 90 second elevator pitches for their business ideas and social ventures. This year, the Idea Challenge awarded $3,000 in prizes, garnered 1,869 votes and reached 532,586 social media profiles.This year’s pitches included an all-natural cleaning solution, modular tiny homes, handmade duck calls, metal campfire rings, a bar arcade in downtown Bozeman, among others. Blackstone LaunchPad’s team…
LAME DEER 2nd ANNUAL TALENT SHOW
On October 29th MTCC VISTA, Scarlett Day-Aleman and Lame Deer Boys and Girls Club VISTAs Christazia Johnson and Rebekah Guillotte hosted the second annual Lame Deer Talent Show. The Talent Show evolved this year from it’s first permutation as an art show in hopes to increase inclusivity to students beyond those with interest in visual arts. The VISTA Members hosted auditions for anything youth considered a talent. This year’s talents ranged from hula hooping, to jump rope, to drumming, and beyond. Kids as young as five and as old as 18 were invited to participate. A total of eight students performed…
FORK PECK BRIDGE STUDENTS TOUR UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
MTCC VISTAs Kaitlyn McCoy and Kaitlin Willbanks travelled with 11 high school students: 2 from Frazer, 1 from Wolf Point, 1 from Brockton, 7 from Poplar to the Twin Cities with American Indian College Funding (AICF) through the Bridge grant. AICF states the “The program aims to improve reading comprehension, research and essay-writing, understanding of math and science concepts, knowledge of college admissions processes, and awareness of the first-year college experience amongst program participants”.From a Fort Peck Reservation context the grant is structured to support students who have a college going attitude. Bridge programming works to familiarize these students to…
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO MONTANA, JILL!
Jill, second from the right, with her fellow AmeriCorps leaders in 2012.It was a bittersweet day for us this Monday, in Big Sky Country: Rocky Mountain College’s Jill Washburn packed up a U-Haul, and is heading to Vermont. For the past five years Jill’s been a great, consistent face of community engagement, service, volunteerism, veterans services and parent relations at Rocky, with Campus Compact, in Billings and across our state.Before her time as a staffer at Rocky, Jill served two terms as an AmeriCorps leader -also with Rocky and the American Red Cross- in Billings. In that capacity she organized…
LIBBY STUDENTS CELEBRATE NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE
My name is Maya Koepke and I’ve been serving as a MTCC VISTA in Libby, MT since August 2017. My VISTA Assignment Description is focused on strengthening our Gear Up and student internship programs at Libby Middle High School. In my past three months here I’ve learned that the Libby community takes great pride in the land they live on, the surrounding Kootenai National Forest. This year it has been an exciting honor, that our Kootenai National Forest was chosen to supply the National Christmas Tree to the White House lawn in Washington, DC.The lighting of the National Christmas Tree…
SPARROWS NEST’S FIRST RESIDENT STARTS COLLEGE!
Estevon Torres is a CAT!For the past four years an emerging nonprofit called Sparrows Nest of Northwest Montana has been making headway on addressing teen homelessness in the Flathead. Sparrows Nest does some incredibly necessary work there helping homeless teens with safe housing so they can continue and complete their studies, work, and live. We’ve helped provide four AmeriCorps VISTAs over the past four years, and they are on the home stretch with the support we can provide. Over the years, we’ve seen them go from a good idea hatched by caring community members to an organization with a board, staff…
MPSEOC BRINGS COLLEGE FAIR TO MISSOULA!
MPSEOC’s College Fair in Missoula!Montana Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities Council (MPSEOC or “mop-sock”) is a non-profit organization representing over 25 higher education institutions in Montana. Every year MPSEOC hosts 24 College Fairs across Montana, reaching over 10,000 students. Lauren Tobias, our MTCC VISTA Member serving a second service term with MPSEOC sees the fairs as “a great, and often times the only direct college exposure students in small towns across our fourth largest state in the nation get”.High School Students test out the MPSEOC Photo Booth.Serving as an MTCC VISTA with Poplar High School and Fort Peck Community College last year I…
SEPTEMBER 11th – MTCC VISTAS SERVE AND REMEMBER
Helena area VISTAs spearheaded a food drive!With 26 VISTA Members statewide, Montana Campus Compact has the capacity to leave a lasting community impact on National Days of Service, both 9/11 and MLK Jr. Day. This year Members found themselves creating service projects, collaborating with other VISTAs, and lending hands to existing community events and service sites.In the Northwest region Members Maryelizabeth Koepele and Maya Koepke donated over 16 hours to a pet shelter overwhelmed with animals from families’ needing to evacuate Eureka due to wildfires. Troy Member Haley Spurlin organized a letter writing campaign for those same firefighters at her…
AN RI RA: KEEPING KIDS CENTRAL IN A BUTTE TRADITION
VISTA Member Cora Crecelius spent the afternoon of August 11th and 12th at Butte’s An Ri Ra Festival celebrating the town’s Irish Heritage.Every year tents are set up selling food, drinks, and Irish-themed souvenirs and clothing. Events are held throughout both days featuring Irish musicians and dancers. Because Cora’s Supervisor, Kid’s Coalition Director Kathy Tutty, is part of the Gaelic Cultural Society she got to help out by putting together a children’s tent stocked with: arts and crafts, a sandbox, and pool noodles for kids to practice “Caber Toss” (a tradition of throwing tree trunks as far as possible).For this event Cora gathered volunteers to…
10 OUT OF 10
Two weeks ago we posted about the American Indian College Fund (AICF) Bridge Grant ($100,000 distributed over two years) that VISTA Members Kaitlyn McCoy and Carly Hosford-Israel applied for and recently received during their terms of service with Fort Peck Community College (FPCC). The grant aims to increase American Indian and Alaska Native high school students’ college readiness. FPCC delivers the AICF Bridge Curriculum Guide throughout the year in: academic classes during a summer academy, culturally focused camping trips, college admissions knowledge, first-year experience classes, a book club, and college campus visits. This week we got a little more personal…
GRANT ROLLOUT WITH A CULTURAL LENS PT. 1
Earlier this year MTCC VISTAs Kaitlyn McCoy’s and my own service site, Fort Peck Community College(FPCC) was awarded the American Indian College Fund (AICF) Native Pathways to College Bridge Program Grant – $100,000 distributed over the course of two years. The grant aims to increase American Indian and Alaska Native high school students’ college readiness. FPCC delivers the ACIF Bridge Curriculum Guide throughout the year in: academic classes during a summer academy, culturally focused camping trips, college admissions knowledge, first-year college experience classes, a book club, and college campus visits.The most essential element of all program planning is the link…
DARBY LACY’S VETERAN VISTA ADVICE
MTCC VISTA Alumna, Darby Lacy.Darby Lacy just completed a year of service with the Bozeman Area Community Foundation. She agreed to share some reflections with our incoming members. Thanks Darby!________________________________ “As I began my year of service a little over a year ago, I remember feeling as if I had so many days to fill with activities to strengthen my community. I also had no clue where to start. Upon reflection, a few principles and practices helped me find my footing for a meaningful year of service – which went by quicker than I could have ever imagined. Even though…
MOUNTAINS AND MARATHONS – FINDING A PATH WITH NICO COMPOSTO
Montana Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA member Nico Composto reflects on the stages of life that brought him to serve as a VISTA in Montana and his revelations moving forward.A talented runner; a valued service member; and a good friend”It is wild to think of the moments that influence our lives. The small, seemingly insignificant happenings that change everything. For me, an odd web of unexpected coincidences led me to make several irrational choices landing me in the middle of Montana, a place I never thought I would be and certainly didn’t think I would spend the rest of my life….
AMERICORPS VISTA SCARLETT DAY-ALEMAN REFLECTS ON CONISISTENCY
Scarlett Day-Aleman is a Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA Member serving in Lame Deer, Montana. She shared the following piece with us recently. Thanks, Scarlett!_________________________________________________________________Ten of the past twelve months of my life have been spent in service to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Lame Deer, Montana. I have served with two different, equally amazing, organizations. I have learned so much and made some amazing connections with the community around me. I would not trade a minute of what I am doing, or what I did in the summer, for anything in the world. Just to make it clear: I do…
REMEMBERING GEORGE WITH CHARLIE BRIGGS
When George Dennison passed away earlier this year, it prompted us to reach out to many of the folks with whom Dennison had worked to establish, grow and support Campus Compact and National Service in Montana. Recently we heard from Charlie Briggs. Charlie is a University of Montana alum, and is the public policy and development officer with Easter Seals Goodwill of the Northern Rockies. When I got my start with Campus Compact, Charlie was director of the Governor’s Office of Community Service. He shared some thoughts about George here. Thank you, Charlie.________________________________________In Montana, the Commission is housed in the…
NASA BLASTS OFF FROM BIGFORK WITH CARTER OLLERVIDEZ
Hello, my name is Carter Ollervidez. I am a MTCC AmeriCorps Leader serving at ACES afterschool program in Big Fork, MT. We got the great opportunity to be part of a NASA STEM challenge. I went to Helena to attend a two day, face-to-face training with NASA in order to fully grasp the STEM challenge my students will be taking on.During our training, the first challenge was landing on the surface of Mars! I worked with a partner using the Engineering Design Process (EDP). Together we embarked on a mission of building a drag device to slow down a capsule…
REMEMBERING GEORGE: SHOOTING POOL WITH SHANNON STOBER
We’re getting close to wrapping up our series of posts remembering George Dennison, former University of Montana president and founding board member of the Montana Campus Compact. Shannon Stober is one of those people here in Montana who helps remind us why service is important, both to our communities and ourselves. I’m positive she’s trained more AmeriCorps and VISTA members over her career than anyone else in Montana. Way back when, she worked for Campus Compact, running our Campus Corps AmeriCorps program. She went on to work with Montana Conservation Corps for several years, and now works for herself as…
REMEMBERING GEORGE: HABITS OF THE HEART WITH JOHN ALLEN
George Dennison, (originally printed in the Spring 2010 Montanan)In January, we lost a dedicated, visionary leader when George Dennison passed away. Since then, we’ve put the call out to friends and colleagues of George to send us pieces about working with him and what it meant. This piece comes from John Allen, who worked as Montana state director for the Corporation for National and Community Service office. John’s retired now, but he served on the Governor’s Commission on Community Service with George. John helped establish MTCC’s VISTA program and wrote this piece on the occasion of George’s retirement. It ran…
Goodbye to Two-Term MTCC VISTA – Kate Johnson
Last month, we said goodbye to a great VISTA and wonderful colleague in Kate Johnson. Kate served as a VISTA with Bitterroot College UM in Hamilton for 2 full years, helping build capacity for the college’s marketing and outreach to the low-income and first generation college Bitterrooters. Kate’s dedication to college access and passion for community education will continue to benefit her immediate community as she transitions into a new student outreach role at The University of Montana. Below she reflects on her 2 years of service. What aspect of serving with Bitterroot College will you remember most?Seeing how hard…
REMEMBERING GEORGE: PART 3
George with Emma Lommasson in 2006.We’re opening this space to friends and former colleagues of George Dennison, so we can remember him and the good work he did. This piece comes from Steve Nelsen of Helena, MT. Steve is retired now, but he is the founding director of the Montana Conservation Corps and was the director of the Governor’s Office of Community Service, working with George who was Commission Chair. Thanks for contributing, Steve._____________________________It’s pretty easy to be cynical about the leaders of our institutions when their brilliant narrative wanes in the face of obstacles to their pursuit of lofty public…