ERIK SWANSON, VISTA WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA AND MISSOULA PUBLIC LIBRARY MAKERSPACE, CHECKS-IN
Erik Swanson tabling at U of M Volunteer FairErik Swanson started his year of service as a Montana Campus Compact (MTCC) VISTA back in July of 2015. Erik has made a ridiculously significant positive impact within his service site, the Missoula Public Library MakerSpace. The MakerSpace supports STEM learning, and provides resurces and tools to support innovative ideas to become reality. Erik has grown the MakerSpace’s capacity and increased its volunteer involvement, hours donated, and classes offered to levels the MakersSpace has never seen before.Here is what Erik had to say about his service: What is your background and what led…
FVCC STUDENT JADE WILLIAMSON REPRESENTS MONTANA AT THE COLLEGE DEBATE 2016!
Jade Williamson, FVCC studentCollege Debate ’16, just held its national student convening at Campus Compact affiliate institution Dominican University, in San Rafael, California. Montana was lucky to send Jade Williamson, a student from Flathead Valley Community College, to the event. Student delegates representing colleges and universities from all 50 states and DC met on the Dominican campus to plan strategies for using social media to expand conversations with young voters nationwide about the issues that matter most to them. Using social media and campus-based discussions, student delegates catalyzed discussions among young voters across the country to make their voices heard…
LITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE’ S AMERICORPS LEADER: SHAKIRA GLENN
Shakira Glenn, AmeriCorps Leader with LBHCInspired by a quote by Plenty Coups, famous Chief of Crow Nation, “With an education you are… equal; without education you are… victim” Shakira L. Glenn, AmeriCorps Leader serving at Little Big Horn College, noted: “Without education we are a victim to circumstance. We as Crow people have the choice to better our well-being with education. There are many types of aid available in helping to do so; I am here for that sole purpose—to guide the people toward success, in becoming equal.” The staff and board of Montana Campus Compact welcome Shakira to service!Shakira…
DISABILITIES ADVOCATE INSPIRED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH MTCC AMERICORPS PROGRAM
Brittany Gwisdala, AmeriCorps Leader in Great FallsInspired to join AmeriCorps by a Peace Corps volunteer, Brittany Gwisdala is serving as an AmeriCorps Leader with the University of Great Falls and Girls Scouts of Montana & Wyoming in Great Falls, Montana. Brittany joined AmeriCorps to make a difference in education and believes that “Every Student, no matter their background, deserves a college education to not only benefit their own life, but to take the experiences they learn from college and give back to their communities. There is a difference between just being a student, and being a student who gets involved….
SPOTLIGHT ON COMPACT AMERICORPS MEMBER: MEGAN BROWN
Megan Brown, supporting a community beautification project.Megan Brown relocated from Washington state to serve as an MTCC AmeriCorps Team Leader at MSU Northern in Havre, MT. Megan is part of Campus Compact’s inaugural college access AmeriCorps program, and leads a team of college student AmeriCorps members supporting college going culture, and supporting educational needs on Montana’s Hi-Line.Mentoring at the Boys and Girls Club has been a rewarding experience for her and the young people. She notes, “My bond with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club is very meaningful. I take great pride in knowing that I have built…
MTCC ALUM ANNIE MOMBOURQUETTE CHECKS IN
Annie Mombourquette served with MTCC as an AmeriCorps VISTA from August 2014-August 2015 with Browning Public Schools and Blackfeet Community College. She is continuing her service as a FoodCorps member with the same host site. We wish Annie the best of luck with the remainder of her service with FoodCorps and life after AmeriCorps!______________________________________________________________________________When and where did you serve during your term as an AmeriCorps VISTA? I served in Browning, Montana with the Browning Public Schools Food Service Nutrition Education and School/Community Garden Program. I also partnered with Blackfeet Community College as my campus partner. How did your year of service impact…
REFLECTIONS ON THE 2016 MONTANA COLLEGE ACCESS NETWORK CONFERENCE
MTCC AmeriCorps member Noah Davis, center.I’ve served with the Montana College Access Network’s steering committee for just about five years. I remember hearing about this diverse coalition of folks involved with college access and success from K-12, Higher Ed., Financial Aid, the TRiO and Montana Aspire Community, GEAR Up folks, etc. and wondering about how it all worked. What struck me at the time was that because Campus Compact is a network of campuses advancing the higher ed’s public purposes, college access and success offered some great potential for alignment, and strong big picture support from the Compact movement. The…
HAPPY 3OTH, CAMPUS COMPACT!
30 Years of Campus Compact!This is an important week for those of us that work in higher education: just thirty years ago, three campuses came together to for the first higher ed. consortium dedicated to educating students for civic and social responsibility, and advancing the public purposes of colleges and universities. Thirty years on here in 2016 this movement is strong. Over 1100 campuses nationally are part of Campus Compact, including seventeen great Montana campuses. From Flathead Valley Community College, to Fort Peck Community College, and MSU Billings, Carroll College, Rocky, Little Big Horn College and a dozen more.Each of…
GARDEN CITY TRIATHLON: JUNE 4TH
For the past ten years, Campus Compact has gathered triathletes in western Montana for its annual Garden City Triathlon. This event helps Campus Compact fund its Civic Engagement Scholarships. These scholarships, awarded to exemplary Montana college students and community volunteers leverage campus funds, and help spotlight the great work of college students.We are excited to bring on an excellent intern and current University of Montana Physical Therapy student, Kathryn Triplett to help organize this year’s race. We also work with Missoula’s awesome triathlon club, Team Stampede to hold the race.As always, MTCC is seeking racers, sponsors and volunteers for the…
COMMUNITY BUILDING INSTITUTE TRAINING
The Community Building Institute (CBI) is offered twice a year and hosted by the Montana Campus Compact. The CBI provides the foundation for service projects to transition into sustained, community-supported programs. This training includes six (6) web-based sessions facilitated by experts in community organizing. The sessions are designed for projects in different stages of development: from the beginning assessment stages to the long-standing project seeking to evaluate its impact. The CBI Training Series is a crucial resource for the sustainable development of community-based initiatives.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________Our sessions and presenters are:Community Assessment Colleen Kane, University of Montana Associate Director of Community Engagement and…
MTCC SUMMER PROGRAMMING
MTCC VISTA Summer Associates in June, 2015.Across Montana college students offer communities a myriad of talents. From working and volunteering in schools, with nonprofits and with cities and towns, you can count on a college student to bring fresh perspectives, ideas and energy, whether they’re nineteen or forty seven. To support the great needs communities experience over the summer and the great wells of energy, skill and enthusiasm that college students bring, MTCC is continuing and adding resources to our summer AmeriCorps and VISTA programming.In past years, we’ve placed as many as thirty VISTA Summer Associates with youth-serving nonprofits, city…
MTCC AMERICORPS AND VISTA MEMBERS SERVE ON MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Between Friday, January 15 and Monday, January 18 (and beyond) all across Montana MTCC VISTAs and AmeriCorps Members coordinated or took part in projects that honored the memory of one of our nation’s greatest leaders, Martin Luther King Jr . MTCC’s national service members conducted MLK Read for Peace events, toiletry drives, art projects and volunteered with local events from Glendive in the east to Hamilton and Kalispell in the west. Here are some of their stories:Bozeman:VISTA Jill McIntyre reads to students at Irving ElementaryOur VISTA members in Bozeman (Alex Opie, Lauren Hall, Dalya Kefi, and Jill McIntyre) coordinated and…
MTCC HOSTS MLK JR. READ FOR PEACE EVENTS ACROSS MONTANA.
Lacy Fiore Gets Things Done!We caught up with Lacy Fiore, AmeriCorps VISTA alum and our current VISTA leader, to discuss the Compact’s Martin Luther King Jr. Read For Peace events. Lacy has led the organizing process for events across the state this year and spearheaded two very successful fundraising events that are ensuring that schools and libraries have access to current, age-appropriate books about Martin Luther King Jr.Tell me about MTCC’s Martin Luther King Jr. Read For Peace event. (How it started, history, collaboration across AmeriCorps, VISTA and Senior Corps programs, who’s involved, how MTCC campuses get involved)MLK Read For…
AMERICORPS VISTA CORAL THEDE CHECKS IN FROM GILLETTE, WY
I checked in with Coral Thede (pronounced TAY-DEE) to see how things are going down in Gillette, WY. She is serving with the Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming. Coral is finishing her service in January and we are excited to see what great things she will do next! Get To Know Your VISTAWho: Coral (like the reef)Where: Gillette, WyomingAge: 310 monthsOriginally From:Is this Heaven? ……….No, it’s I O W A!College: University of Northern Iowa Major:Communication Studies Minor: SpanishHobbies: Playing my guitar, bonfires, road trips, snail mail, blogging, Netflix.Fun Fact(s): New Year’s Baby, natural ginger, once cut my hand…
JANUARY VISTAS GATHER FOR CLOSE OF SERVICE
Montana Campus Compact January VISTAs gather in Missoula for their Close of Service. We had presenters and sessions to prepare them for life after AmeriCorps. All sessions were held at the University of Montana in the Payne Family Native American Center and the Mansfield Library. We had delicious lunches and dinners donated by local restaurants Five on Black , Pie Hole and coffee from Starbucks. Our members exiting service are:Brandon Fish- Native Science Field Center- Blackfeet Community CollegeSam Garetson- Upward Bound- Salish Kootenai CollegeConstance Johnson- Garfield Literacy Project- Montana State University BillingsKate Johnson-Student Marketing and Outreach- Bitterroot CollegeDalya Kefi- kidsLINK Afterschool Expanded…
MTCC VISTA DEANNA LINN BRINGS NANOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH TO MSU
Deanna Linn is a Montana Campus Compact VISTA serving with the Girls STEM Collaborative at Montana State University. She began her service in July 2015. Below is a press release about the amazing work Deanna is doing at MSU.BOZEMAN, Mont.—An annual Halloween festival for children received an infusion of nanotechnology when an AmeriCorps VISTA member based at Montana State University brought science outreach activities to the university’s Family & Graduate Housing.FGH hosts an annual Pumpkin Festival near Halloween, and Deanna Linn, who serves via Montana Campus Compact within MSU’s Extended University, recruited undergraduate and graduate students from MSU’s Chemical and BiologicalEngineering Department…
CAMPUS COMPACT HONORS STUDENT ATHLETE VOLUNTEERS
As you might know, Montana Campus Compact is a seventeen campus higher education network that advances the public purposes of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and educate students for civic and social responsibility. This weekend, Saturday November 21, MTCC Board Members and Governor Bullock will honor fifteen exemplary college student athletes who are model examples of our mission and vision. “College students in Montana do amazing community work, and their investment of time, talent and energy help improve our communities across the state. Campus Compact’s Montana Athletes In Service Award honors the contributions of…
BARNES AND NOBLE HOSTS BOOK FAIR TO SUPPORT MLK READ FOR PEACE
Montana Campus Compact has partnered with Barnes and Noble to help raise funds and awareness for MLK Read For Peace. When you mention MTCC or Read For Peace at checkout, you are automatically supporting this initiative. It also works when you go to the cafe for some coffee or lunch. Bring your little ones for a pajama story time at 7pm. A story will be read by one of our VISTAs. Stop by and see us on December 11th to do some holiday shopping and support a great event!
AMERICORPS VISTA MEMBER ALUMNI MIRA MENDICK CHECKS-IN
MTCC VISTA Alumni Mira MendickMira Mendick had a very fruitful year as an MTCC VISTA on University of Montana’s campus here in Missoula. Recently she successfully procured a higher education position at Missoula College, and we decided to check in with her. This is what she had to say:When and where did you serve your term as a Compact AmeriCorps VISTA?I served as an MTCC VISTA with the University of Montana Financial Education Program from July 2014 to July-2015. The overall goal of my year was to develop an enhanced entrance loan counseling to be delivered to all University of…
MEMBERS GATHER FOR ANNUAL BUILDING ENGAGED CITIZENS CONFERENCE
Theda New Breast facilitates Tribal Community Relationship Building Over the past 14 years, Building Engaged Citizens (BEC) has served as the Montana Campus Compact’s premiere civic engagement and service conference. Since 2000, through various iterations, BEC has provided hundreds of national service members and college students at-large the opportunity to explore the practical and philosophical implications of higher education’s role in civic engagement. This year,BEC continued the legacy through training in the areas of leadership/facilitation, marketing, grant-writing, volunteerism, volunteer management and tribal community relationship building. This year, BEC was held in Great Falls on October 28th through October 30th. Members and staff stayed at…