mdccc magazine 2014

MARYLAND-DCCAMPUS COMPACT

2014

M O D E L P R O G R A M S

IMPACTING COMMUNITIES

Dear Friends,

The Maryland-DC Campus Compact is now approaching its fifth year. In 2008 we began with an AmeriCorps VISTA grant hosted by McDaniel College on behalf of higher education institutions in Maryland. In 2012 we became the first regional Campus Compact in the nation, adding colleges and universities in Washington D.C. We are now the largest higher education consortium in the area, representing approximately 80% of the total undergraduate and graduate student population in our region. Last year, our students contributed services valued at over $351,000,000 to our Maryland and DC communities. That record speaks volumes about the dedication of our students and the commitment of our institutions to community development and civic leadership.

Our institutional missions call us to prepare students to contribute to a global society and culturally diverse world. As anchors in our communities, we are charged with enhancing the quality of life around us. This year, the Maryland-DC Campus Compact will launch a new collaboration — bringing together K-12, higher education, government, business, non-profits, and other voices to form Communities Organizing Networks Now To Engage Citizens Through Service — CONNECTS. We are organizing service- and community-based learning for a collective impact on students at all levels, improving access to education and creating the foundation for life-long civic engagement.

I am proud to be a part of this network and this initiative. Please join me in recognizing and celebrating the model programs and partnerships highlighted in this magazine and the positive impact on our students and communities that we have as a collective.

Warm regards,

Barbara Viniar President, Chesapeake College Chair, Maryland-DC Campus Compact

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MDCCC Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

SAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

MDCCC Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Campus’ Model Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA Project Abstracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Students of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Thank You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

MARYLAND-DC CAMPUS COMPACT

Host Campus: Hood College 401 Rosemont Avenue, Frederick, MD 20701 301-696-3280 · www.mdccc.org

MDCCC TEAM

Patricia BassettExecutive [email protected]

Lindsey HarperProgram [email protected]

Nick MueldenerMDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA [email protected]

Beth Elise TohnMeeting & Event [email protected]

Madeline YatesExecutive [email protected]

INTERNS

Rebecca HuynhJohn MacauleyBintou OuattaraAnne RubinNaomi Schachter

MAGAZINE DESIGN

Rick PallanschTowson University

SPECIAL THANKS

Alan PenczekRick Pallansch

2014 | Maryland-DC Campus Compact 1

American University

Dr. Fanta AwAsst. VP of Campus Life &

Director, ISSS Office of Campus Life

Ms. Marcy Fink CamposDirector, Center for

Community Engagement & Service

Carroll Community College

Dr. James BallVP of Academic and

Student Affairs

Dr. Michael KiphartDean of Student Affairs

Chesapeake College

Dr. Kathryn A. BarbourVP for Academic Affairs

Coppin State University

Dr. Frank ChambersVP Division of Student Affairs

Frostburg State University

Dr. Tom BowlingVP Student and

Educational Services

Gallaudet University

Dr. Stephen WeinerProvost

Garrett College

Dr. George W. BrelsfordDean of Student Life

Georgetown University

Dr. Andria K. WislerExecutive Director, Center for

Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service

Goucher College

Dr. Marc RoyProvost

Howard Community College

Ms. Brittany BuddenDirector of Service-Learning

Johns Hopkins University

Ms. Erin YunDeputy to the Vice Provost

for Student Affairs

Loyola University Maryland

Sr. Catherine Gugerty, SSNDDirector, Center for Community

Service and Justice

Md. Institute College of Art

Ms. Karen StultsDirector of Community

Engagement

McDaniel College

Dr. Julia JaskenDirector of the Center for

Experience & Opportunity

Montgomery College

Dr. Michelle ScottDirector of Board Relations and

Chief Diversity Officer

Notre Dame of Md. Univ.

Dr. Rebecca A. SawyerVice President for Student Life

Prince George’s Comm. College

Ms. Catherine LaPalombaraSenior Academic Administrator

to the VP for Academic Affairs

Stevenson University

Ms. Anne Scholl-FiedlerVice President, Career Services

Towson University

Dr. Deb MoriartyVice President for Student Affairs

Univ. of the Dist. of Columbia

Dr. Rachel M. PettyInterim Provost and VP

for Academic Affairs

Univ. of Md., Baltimore

Dr. Roger WardAssociate VP for Academic Affairs

Univ. of Md., Baltimore Co.

Ms. Lisa AkchinAssoc. VP Marketing and PR

(Assistant to President)

Univ. of Md., College Park

Dr. Barbara JacobyFaculty Associate for Leadership

& Community Service-Learning

Dr. John ZackerAssistant Vice President

for Student Affairs

Univ. of Md. Eastern Shore

Dr. Ronald A. NykielProvost and VP of

Academic Affairs

Washington Adventist Univ.

Dr. Cheryl KisunzuProvost

Wesley Theological Seminary

Dr. Sam MarulloDir. of Research on

Missional Communities & Professor of Sociology

American University

Dr. Cornelius M. Kerwin

Carroll Community College

Dr. Faye Pappalardo

Chesapeake College

Dr. Barbara Viniar


Dr. Mortimer H. Neufville

Frostburg State University

Dr. Jonathan C. Gibralter

Gallaudet University

Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz

Garrett College

Dr. Richard L. MacLennan

George Washington Univ.

Dr. Steven Knapp

Georgetown University

Dr. John J. DeGioia

Goucher College

Pres. Sanford J. Ungar

Hood College

Dr. Ronald J. Volpe

Howard Community College

Dr. Kathleen B. Hetherington

Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Ronald J. Daniels

Loyola Univ. of Maryland

Rev. Brian Linnane, S.J.

Md. Institute College of Art

Pres. Fred Lazarus IV

McDaniel College

Dr. Roger N. Casey

Montgomery College

Dr. DeRionne P. Pollard

Morgan State University

Dr. David Wilson

Notre Dame of Maryland Univ.

Dr. Joan Develin Coley


Dr. Charlene Dukes

Stevenson University

Dr. Kevin J. Manning

Towson University

Dr. Maravene Loeschke

University of Baltimore

Pres. Robert L. Bogomolny

Univ. of the Dist. of Columbia

Dr. James E. Lyons, Sr.

Univ of Md., Baltimore

Dr. Jay Perman


Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, III

Univ. of Md., College Park

Dr. Wallace D. Loh


Dr. Juliette B. Bell

Washington Adventist Univ.

Dr. Weymouth Spence

Wesley Theological Seminary

Dr. David McAllister-Wilson

Chesapeake College

Dr. Barbara A. ViniarBoard Chair


Dr. Mortimer H. NeufvilleFrostburg State University

Dr. Jonathan C. GibralterGallaudet University

Dr. T. Alan HurwitzGarrett College

Dr. Richard MacLennanHood College

Dr. Katherine Conway-TurnerProvost & VP of Academic Affairs


Ms. Amy B. CohenExec. Dir., Center for Civic

Engagement and Public Service


Dr. Steven KnappGoucher College

Mr. Sanford J. UngarMcDaniel College

Dr. Roger N. CaseyMontgomery College

Dr. DeRionne P. Pollard Prince George’s Comm. College

Dr. Charlene M. Dukes Secretary/Treasurer


Dr. Sandra F. DunningtonVice President for

Academic Affairs

Morgan State University

Dr. Maurice C. TaylorVice President Academic

Outreach & Engagement

Univ. of Md., Baltimore

Dr. Jay PermanVice Chair


Dr. Juliette B. BellWashington Adventist

Dr. Weymouth SpenceWesley Seminary

Dr. David McAllister-WilsonMDCCC

Ms. Madeline YatesEx-Officio


Ms. Michele K. WolffDirector of Shriver Center

Univ. of Baltimore

Dr. Stephen L. PercyDean, College of Public Affairs

Executive Board Senior Advisory Group for Engagement (SAGE)

Presidents’ Council

STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

2 32014 | Maryland-DC Campus Compact 2014 | Maryland-DC Campus Compact

WHO WE ARE

The Maryland-District of Columbia Campus Compact (MDCCC) is a membership association of public, private, 2- and 4-year colleges and universities. MDCCC provides leadership to colleges and universities in Maryland and Washington, D.C. by advocating, supporting, and encouraging institutional participation in academic and co-curricular based public service and civic engagement programs. MDCCC strengthens the capacity of member institutions to enhance student learning and to meaningfully engage with communities.

OUR VISION

MDCCC plays an integral role in the development of globally engaged citizens who actively contribute to creating healthy, sustainable and socially just communities.

OUR MISSION

MDCCC mobilizes the collective commitment and capacity of higher education to actively advance our communities through civic and community engagement.

CORE VALUES

• Engaged Citizenship• Collective Impact• Promoting Diversity• Creating Equity and Justice• Reciprocity• Sustainability

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1. American University2. Carroll Community College3. Chesapeake College4. Coppin State University5. Frostburg State University6. Gallaudet University7. Garrett College8. George Washington University9. Georgetown University10. Goucher College11. Hood College12. Howard Community College13. Johns Hopkins University14. Loyola University Maryland15. Maryland Institute College of Art16. McDaniel College17. Montgomery College18. Morgan State University19. Notre Dame of Maryland University20. Prince George’s Community College21. Stevenson University22. Towson University23. University of Baltimore24. University of the District of Columbia25. University of Maryland, Baltimore26. University of Maryland, Baltimore County27. University of Maryland, College Park28. University of Maryland Eastern Shore29. Washington Adventist University30. Wesley Theological Seminary

Dear Friends,

As we go to press on our 2014 Model Programs Magazine, the quotations on these two pages highlight the challenges and joys of the work of Maryland-DC Campus Compact. They inspire us as we grapple with the questions that are essential to our work: What can we do individually and collectively to strengthen our country and quality of life for all in our communities, region, and world? What can we accomplish better together that we cannot accomplish as individuals and as single institutions? At last year’s Presidents’ Institute, we debated issues of common concern and urgency toward which our network could put its energy. Together our network of thirty higher education institutions decided that we would develop a network of partnerships across our region to partner with PreK-12 educators to enhance the educational opportunities of our youth.

We will shift the culture of higher education institutions to become engaged partners with our communities now. It is not in “their” best interest. It is in our, collective, best interest. In the words of Steve Dubb of the Democracy Collaborative, based at the University of Maryland: “Higher education institutions are anchors in our communities.” With that role comes a charge to use our collective capacity for the common good, going beyond economic impact to social impact. In addition to our many human and other resources, higher education is the door through which many of our region’s future policy makers, leaders, managers, and policy implementers pass. We are committed to deepening the ways in which we educate our future leaders to be more community-minded, more committed to enhancing “the commons.”

Following a yearlong strategic planning process, involving multiple levels of input throughout our network, our Board approved our 2013-2016 strategic plan. Meetings followed with Superintendent Lowery of the Maryland State Department of Education and then with all the public school district superintendents in Maryland. At our 2013 Presidents’ Institute, we focused our energies on a collective vision for expanding our work to increase high school completion, college access, and college completion. With the current economic impact of our institutions’ and students’ service to our region valued at $351,000,000, we explored what more could we accomplish together through more widespread professional development, encouraging effective campus-community partnerships, and the cross-pollination of the existing model programs like those featured in this Magazine.

In keeping with our K-12 collective impact focus, this year’s Model Programs Magazine focuses on our campuses’ K-12 partnerships. These partnerships include tutoring and mentoring, afterschool programs, summer school programs, bridge and “access” programs, cascading models of service-learning, and other types of educational programs such as community health and financial literacy, a relationship-focused food program, and a veteran retention initiative. It is easy to see that partnerships with K-12 youth and schools are vibrant with positive benefits for both the college learners and the younger learners.

MDCCC is now entering its fifth year as a regional consortium. This year our Board came together for its first Board Retreat. We grew our efforts in the area of fundraising and coordinated the Compact’s first planned gift. The Senior Advisory Group for Engagement (SAGE) inaugurated peer-led Working Groups on Model Programs and Assessment and invited other members and leaders in our network to join them in ferreting out the complexities of developing and implementing a regional assessment of the impact of our work.

As we enter 2014, MDCCC is beginning conversations to call for a regional taskforce to study the impact we currently have and the prospective impact we could have if we could grow and expand our programming, providing service-learning and civic and community engagement opportunities for all our youth, regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds. We know that it is seldom receiving that empowers, neither is simply providing a service inherently deepening; rather, when we become service-partners, learning together, the relationship becomes transformational for all. Providing students from kindergarten through college the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to become active citizens and “service-partners” in our democracy has limitless potential. Please join us as we walk together, although there are no clear paths, to enrich the communities in our region and world through campus-community partnerships as we educate our youth to become our future civically engaged citizens, scholars, and leaders.

In Service,

Madeline Yates Executive Director Maryland-DC Campus Compact

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”

African proverb

“Traveller, there is no path, paths are made by walking.”

Antonio Machado

4 2014 | Maryland-DC Campus Compact 2014 | Maryland-DC Campus Compact 5

The Maryland-DC Campus Compact annually recognizes excellence in leadership of civic engagement and service-learning in order to cultivate a culture of engagement throughout our region.

The Alan G. Penczek Service-Learning Faculty Award recognizes and honors one faculty member in each of the three higher education sectors (state universities, community colleges, independent colleges and universities) for contributing to the integration of service-learning into the curriculum, according to criteria expressed in the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning.

2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS

Sheryl B. Cooper, Towson University Sarah Menke-Fish, American University

The Community Partnership Award recognizes and honors one outstanding campus-community partnership that produces measurable improvements in people’s lives while enhancing higher education in the process. This award honors one partnership that has successfully demonstrated a commitment between higher education and the community, resulting in a tangible community impact.

2013 AWARD RECIPIENT

ECHOSTARS Beth Bair, Frostburg State University

The Institutional Leadership Award recognizes and honors one outstanding individual for significant contributions to the institutionalization of community engagement, by inspiring a vision for service on the campus, including involving faculty, students, and campus-community partnerships.


Robin Crews, Loyola University Deb Moriarty, Towson University

The Civic Engagement Award recognizes and honors work, participation, and innovative ideas that contribute to the development of civic learning and engagement according to the criteria expressed in the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning Goal Categories for Purposeful Civic Learning, and expanded by Maryland-DC Campus Compact. Recipients may be a service-learning faculty member, campus-community partnership, volunteer office, or another collegiate program that yields civic outcomes.

2013 AWARD RECIPIENT

Melissa Lees, Notre Dame of Maryland University

The Excellence in Service Student Group Award acknowledges three student groups (state universities, community colleges, independent colleges and universities) for their commitment and involvement in service projects that extend beyond any co-curricular requirements or service-learning courses, leading to long-term, sustainable, community impact.


Early Childhood Education Club Carole Williamson, Carroll Community College Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service Elizabeth Gromet, Georgetown University Towson University Urban Farm Pamela Hargest/Dylan Moran, Towson University

The Engaged Campus Award recognizes institutions of higher education for exemplary commitment to being an “engaged campus,” according to criteria expressed in Dr. Andrew Furco’s rubric for institutionalization of service-learning.

The Service-Learning Scholarship Award recognizes and honors two scholars for outstanding research in the field of curricular and co-curricular service-learning – one for career scholarship and another for early career research.

Awards

Collective impact initiative is far removed from the isolated

impact approach that now dominates the social sector and that

inhibits any major effort at comprehensive, large-scale change.

…it presages the spread of a new approach that will enable

us to solve today’s most serious social problems with the

resources we already have at our disposal.

John Kania & Mark Kramer

Stanford Social Innovation Review

6 2014 | Maryland-DC Campus Compact

The Carroll Community College Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Club provides opportunities for students who are interested in the STEM fields to discuss similar interests, provide and receive mentoring, and participate in STEM-based activities inside and outside the college. As part of their service-oriented philosophy, members of the STEM Club have developed, implemented and assessed a collaborative project with Shiloh Middle School in Carroll County.

Data collected from the local middle school shows that students decide by the end of middle school whether or not to pursue higher education. National trends show that students do not change their decisions about education after 9th grade, even if they complete high school. This collaborative project includes activities that focus on the value of mathematics through hands-on activities for 224 middle school

students, facilitated by 75 college students, and an honest, open question-and-answer session regarding college and career choices. The project is supported by 17 college faculty, 14 middle school teachers, and various upper-level administrators from the Carroll County Public School system. The relationship developed between the Carroll Community College students and the Shiloh Middle School students has become truly reciprocal: both sets of students learn from each other.

Last year, the Ready, Set, STEM program won the Maryland-DC Campus Compact Excellence in Service Student Group Award. This award acknowledges the service work of student groups at various types of institutions of higher education. The STEM Club of Carroll Community College has provided evidence of their on-going commitment to service through various projects, with the Ready, Set, STEM project just accounting for one example.

“I recognize the need to prepare my students for high school courses, college courses, and the real world. I regularly bring in speakers from the corporate world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to help my students appreciate the education and work ethic required to attain high goals…. It has been the students from Carroll Community College with whom they are most impressed.”

Victoria Weiland, Shiloh Middle School Mathematics Teacher

Mentors of Minorities in Education Total Learning Cis-Tem (M.O.M.I.E’s TLC) is a DC-based non-profit organization that improves the educational achievement of at-risk, minority children through academic support and cultural education. For more than eight years, a prosperous partnership with American University has combined M.O.M.I.E’s innovative educational model with AU’s teaching, research, and resources to provide opportunities for learning, leadership, and social change.

The AU-M.O.M.I.E’s partnership began through a service-learning collaboration with a College Writing course, in which AU students wrote funding proposals and planted the seeds for deeper collaboration, including community-based learning projects linked to film, public relations, business, and education.

DC READS represents the partnership’s longest-standing collaborative program. Coordinated through the university’s Center for Engagement & Service, this initiative provides literacy tutoring for K-12 students. Other notable initiatives include: (1) Kids on Campus Day, a college awareness program; (2) Children’s Gallery of Black History, an interactive children’s museum “bringing history to life;” and (3) The Great Persons Ball, highlighting the contributions of celebrated leaders.

M.O.M.I.E’s uses the dynamic energy of student leaders to stage special events, write grants, solicit sponsorships, develop and implement activities for older youth, and expand the organization’s impact. It provides a space for faculty and students to conduct service research while also supporting student development and growth.

AU alumni increasingly remain connected to M.O.M.I.E’s, serving as ambassadors through the new “Friends of M.O.M.I.E’s” advisory group. Crediting this partnership, many AU alums now work in education and nonprofits as teachers, administrators, policy-makers, and advocates.

“The relationships M.O.M.I.E’s has cultivated with the American University community have been life-changing and transformative for our children and families. Through these relationships, M.O.M.I.E’s has propelled and grown our work in DC.”

Chitra Subramanian, Executive Director, M.O.M.I.E’s TLC

Mentoring Minorities in Education

ACHIEVEMENTS

• 100% of children advanced to the next grade level (7 years in a row!)

• 100% increase in enrollment• 90% of children improved in reading and math

• Former AU students hired by M.O.M.I.E’s

• College pipeline for minority youth • Expanded programs in DC and Maryland

STEM-Based Middle School Partnership


Through the Coppin State University Freshman Male Initiative (FMI) program, the FMI at Coppin Academy program was created in the spring of 2012. The program took the idea of peer mentoring embraced by the FMI and extended it to Coppin Academy, an on-campus high school. Since its inception, the college FMI mentors have partnered with high school male sophomores and juniors through participation in numerous meetings and workshops.

Many Coppin Academy students took the opportunity to be matched up with college mentors with whom they could talk, receive information regarding college, and look to as role models. One of the greatest advantages of this program is the building of relationships between college students and high school students. The participants of this program now have exposure to information most students only learn once they are in college or are already in the college admission process. The FMI at Coppin Academy program focuses on helping students get into college, teaching the importance of higher education, and building the complete man who can work with others to build their community.

College Access Mentoring Program

“This program is helpful in so many ways. Where else can you learn about getting into college firsthand?”

Rodwick Delice Coppin Academy student FMI at Coppin Academy participant“FMI at Coppin Academy can help me be ready for

college; it taught me how to respect myself and my actions in the future.”

Matthew Boykin-Derrill Coppin Academy student FMI at Coppin Academy participant

“Leadership in the workforce requires not only theoretical understanding of contemporary issues, but hands-on experience of how issues and policies directly impact people and communities. The FMI at Coppin Academy is a strong program fulfilling our campus’ mission as an anchor in West Baltimore.”

Gary Rodwell, Associate Vice President for Community Development

The premise of the Advanced Credit Initiative (ACI), jointly developed by Chesapeake College and Talbot County Public Schools (TCPS), is that separately, Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment are successful strategies for helping high school students earn college credit. Together, they are even better.

One of the project’s chief goals is to combine AP and Dual Enrollment opportunities and long-term academic planning in order to maximize the number of college credits program participants may earn prior to high school graduation. The program, launched a year ago, offers students the ability to plan out a sequence of AP and Dual Enrollment offerings that meets each student’s individual postsecondary goals.

While many TCPS students already take both AP and Dual Enrollment courses, the ACI program is coordinated and strategic. Although students don’t start Dual Enrollment until their junior year, admissions staff and TCPS school counselors work jointly with high school students starting in their freshman year as part of the comprehensive, four-year program.

In addition to taking AP and Dual Enrollment courses throughout their junior and senior years, students will be able to see how those courses can be used to fulfill Chesapeake requirements in the student’s academic program of choice. During participants’ senior year, college staff will work with students to move them seamlessly into Chesapeake after high school graduation or prepare them for transfer. The program offers participants many potential advantages depending upon their goals.

Dr. Richard Midcap, the college’s vice president for student success, said the college approached TCPS about being the pilot county because of Talbot’s already robust Dual Enrollment Program and the ability to build upon what was already in place. “We’ve had consistently strong Dual Enrollment participation in Talbot County,” said Dr. Midcap. “And we already had in place a system of on-site courses at Easton High that we could use as a base.”

Kimberly Collier (center) receives the Chesapeake College Outstanding Dual Enrollment Student Award from President Barbara Viniar and Dean for Recruitment Kathy Petrichenko.

“We have a true partner in Talbot County, and students benefit from our collaboration. The ACI is just one example of our work with Talbot County. With the Dual Enrollment Program and outreach to the county’s middle school, Chesapeake College is working with educators in Talbot County to ensure that the county’s students can meet their goals beyond the K-12 system.”

President Barbara A. Viniar

Advanced Credit Initiative


Since 2009, approximately 400 Gallaudet University students have participated in the First Year Study Tour (FYST). This one-credit study abroad course for freshmen and first year transfer students introduces them to global citizenship, international service-learning, and international travel.

FYST service-learning activities include beach clean-ups, sea turtle conservancy, and community service at two schools for deaf students: Escuela Para Niños Sordos de Cartago and Centro Nacional de Educacion Especial. The Gallaudet students spend time interacting with the deaf and hard of hearing children at these schools. Alecia Abeling, an FYST participant, mentioned in her blog that “most of the kids formed an immediate bond with the Gallaudet students and…were amazed to see so many other deaf students. One girl [at the school] cried so hard when it was time to leave, it was really touching.”

Gallaudet has found that students who study abroad are more culturally aware of other societies, are more likely to complete their degrees, and are more likely to have an edge in the job market after graduation. In addition, students who complete the tour experience profound personal growth as well as enhance their team building and leadership skills as they develop bonds with their classmates, faculty, and staff leaders.

In the five years since FYST started, all tours have visited Costa Rica during the university’s spring break in March. Costa Rica was chosen for its beauty and bio-diversity and because of Gallaudet’s long-standing relationship with the deaf community in the country. At the end of the ten-day tour, the Gallaudet students leave with a heightened sense of global engagement and participation. To learn more about the Gallaudet First Year Study Tour, go to: www.fyst.gallaudet.edu.

First Year Study Tour

The school visit was “our most rewarding day as we spent the whole day working on the deaf school. We painted and fixed up the playground. We gave each of the children their gifts and then donated books and school supplies to the school. We hope we’ve made a difference in their lives as they are making a difference in ours.”

Katherine Giles, FYST Participant

The ECHOSTARS program is a first-year living-learning-serving community created with the purpose of serving the Allegany County community through support to youth after-school programs. This support includes homework assistance, recreational support, group and individual mentoring, and healthy lifestyle encouragement. Furthermore, the program engages freshmen students at FSU in service-learning.

ECHOSTARS consists of 70 freshman and 5 upper-class team leaders that are enrolled as 300 hour, Education Award-Only AmeriCorps members. To reach their service goal of 300 hours, each member serves at an on-going site twice a week and at episodic volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Members are able to choose 2-3 service projects each weekend that fit their interests.

Within their on-going service sites, the ECHOSTARS program partners with local, non-profit afterschool programs that focus on K-8 education including the Salvation Army, Riverside YMCA, FSU’s Read to Succeed, and Kids Korner at Beall and Cash Valley Elementary schools.

The ECHOSTARS program began in 2000 through an AmeriCorps grant and is currently a part of Frostburg State University’s A STAR in Western Maryland’s AmeriCorps program. Throughout its lifespan, however, the program has at times been solely funded by the University. ECHOSTARS that complete the program receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $1,175 as well as a $500 on-campus scholarship from Frostburg State University to be used the following year for on-campus housing. Members that complete the program are also given the opportunity to serve in the program a second year as mentors to the new freshmen.

STATISTICS

• ECHOSTARS completed over 15,000 hours of service in Western Maryland

• ECHOSTARS served 150 children Monday-Thursday

• Reading and math skills for K-8 youth increased through the Read to Succeed literacy program

• 15% increase in reading comprehension from pre to post-tests

• 20% average improvement on participants’ overall post-test scores

ECHOSTARS — Supporting Local Youth

“I really enjoy my time at the YMCA. Initially, I thought I was just going to be watching the kids during activities, but I am surprised at how involved I get to be. I’ve developed personal relationships with these kids. They’re hard not to love being around. Many of them live in some harsh conditions. Whenever they walk through the door and see an ECHOSTAR, they are so joyous. To know that you’re a reason they smile is an amazing feeling.”

Tiku Nguasong, First-year Frostburg University Student CORE OUTCOMES

The study tour enhances five core learning outcomes of the General Studies curriculum:

• Language and Communication• Critical Thinking• Identity and Culture• Knowledge and Inquiry• Ethics and Social Responsibility


http://www.fyst.gallaudet.edu

http://www.fyst.gallaudet.edu

The George Washington University is committed to improving literacy rates in the District of Columbia. One of GW’s long-term partnerships with K-12 schools is GW DC Reads, which has served as an anchor program that regularly improves the baseline for youth participants by 5% annually. The primary goal of the DC Reads program is to improve the lives of District residents by improving children’s ability to read. Housed within the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, the DC Reads program operates in both non-profit organizations and public schools throughout DC.

During the 2012-2013 academic year, DC Reads provided over 300 tutors to its eight different community partner organizations, serving nearly 1,000 DC youth in grades K-6 for a total of over 27,000 hours. DC Reads students serve an average of 8-10 hours a week with their partner organization. GW’s tutors are an integral part of the overall effort made by schools, community organizations and families to improve DC children’s ability to read by the end of elementary school.

In addition to the tremendous literacy gains for the youth participants, DC Reads also provides training, technical assistance, and leadership opportunities for the GW students. DC Reads allows GW students to explore and experience the vibrant DC neighborhoods and communities as they travel to and from their service sites on a daily basis. Through DC Reads, GW students have worked with schools and community organizations to help to open the door to reading for thousands of DC children over the last 20 years.

DC READS’ COMMUNITY PARTNERS

• The AnBryce Foundation• CentroNia• For Love of Children (FLOC)• Francis Stevens Education Campus• Higher Achievement• Reading Partners• Thomson Elementary• Turning the Page

“Our organization has had the privilege to work with George Washington University students via the DC Reads program for the past two years. These students have made a tremendous impact in our city, working with our most vulnerable children. This year, 97 percent of the Reading Partners' students have accelerated their rate of learning.”

Chelsey Fortin, Senior Program Manager at Reading Partners

Garrett College works in cooperation with the Garrett County Board of Education to provide Summer Youth Meal opportunities that are made possible through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). This cooperative initiative provides free breakfasts and lunches to all individuals age 18 and under, Monday-Friday, during the summer months. In addition, adults may receive a meal for a modest fee.

The goal of the Summer Food Service Program is to provide nutritious meals to children during the months they do not have access to a school lunch program. It was first created by the USDA as part of a larger pilot program in 1968 and became a separate program in 1975. More than 2.2 million children participated at almost 35,000 sites in the summer of 2009. Local sponsors form partnerships to provide community meal sites. On the surface, this is a nutrition and healthy-community initiative. With Garrett College involved, it becomes a college access program as well, because the youth and community members develop a positive relationship with the local college – a known factor in increasing access to higher education.

Scott Germain, Food and Nutrition Program Manager for Garrett County Board of Education, coordinates local meal sites. “It has been great to form a partnership with Garrett College and find a way to offer free summer meals to the students of Garrett County. I hope this partnership continues in the future,” Germain said.

Summer Food Service Program Improving DC Literacy Rates

“This is a great opportunity for youth in our area to stop in the Laker Café at Garrett College to enjoy a nutritious free meal. It is particularly convenient for those who are on campus for camps or swimming at the CARC (Community Aquatic & Recreation Complex). We are proud to be part of this Board of Education program and contribute to access to higher education.”

Ann Wellham, Dean of Marketing and Enrollment Management.


The Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP) offers an excellent undergraduate college education, as well as rigorous college preparatory courses, to men and women incarcerated in Maryland. GPEP is a strong example of Goucher College’s commitment to community learning and engagement and the Community Principles of respect, inclusion, communication, service and social justice, and responsibility. Courses are taught on-site at the prisons by Goucher professors and faculty from other institutions. This division of Goucher College is funded through individual donations and grants, and engages a large corps of volunteers from the campus and community. Students at the prisons pay no tuition and fees but must make a significant commitment to their education – dedicating 25 or more hours each week to classes, tutoring, and independent study, on top of full-time work and other commitments at the prison. Most students are first generation college students. Some are the first in their families to earn GEDs or high school diplomas.

While GPEP’s central goal is to provide an excellent college education, it also increases employability and decreases recidivism, and positively impacts intergenerational cycles of poverty and incarceration. (http://prisonstudiesproject.org/why-prison-education-programs/) GPEP also creates dialogue within and beyond the Goucher community about incarceration, access to higher education, and social justice. For many faculty members, the experience of facilitating learning in GPEP classrooms has been a career high point. And for community members engaged as tutors and program assistants, GPEP creates a well-planned, thoughtful venue for community engagement, one that yields rich results with each visit.

Goucher Prison Education Partnership

STATISTICS

• 60 incarcerated men and women enrolled in college classes (School Year 2012-2013)

• 17 college prep and college courses are offered (School Year 2012-2013)

• To date, 28 students have earned Goucher’s College Writing Proficiency, gaining readiness through composition courses to engage with academic texts and questions at the level required by more advanced college courses.

• Recent classes include: - MA 160 – Precalculus - PSC 100 – Understanding Politics - PSY 219 – Cultural Psychology: Black Psychology.

• 25 Goucher student, staff, and community volunteers provided 300+ hours of tutoring support in mathematics, academic writing, analytical reading and study skills — contributing to GPEP’s high retention rate.

Established in 1986, the First-Year Orientation to Community Involvement (FOCI) is Georgetown University’s longest-running pre-orientation program. During this program, 54 first-year and transfer students commit six days to volunteering under the leadership of upper-class students experienced in community service. A program through the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service, FOCI serves to foster a sustained commitment to service and social justice engagement in Georgetown students from the onset of their undergraduate careers.

While FOCI’s service programming is diverse in scope, it specifically targets education and youth development as key social justice issues pivotal for DC’s future. Through collaborations with diverse community partners, students deeply engage in questions and issues impacting DC youth and education. With these community partners, Georgetown students engage in service projects ranging from classroom clean-up to student mentoring. While participating in FOCI, students develop the capacity for leadership and become part of a community committed to personal growth, service, and reflection. Students discover and reflect on the vibrant and diverse populations and perspectives that compose the Washington, DC community.

FOCI’s service projects impact the greater DC region, Georgetown students and community partners. Nearly all FOCI participants remain engaged in social justice work in some capacity following the program, most often through programming from the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service. In this way, FOCI embodies Georgetown University’s deep commitment to the ideal of service for others and the integral role that civic and community engagement plays in undergraduate education.

SELECTED FOCI COMMUNITY PARTNERS

• The Washington Literacy Council• Sasha Bruce Youthwork• The Washington Youth Garden• The Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health

• Brain Food• Big Brothers Big Sisters• Several Elementary Schools

“FOCI introduces first-year and transfer students to the ‘head, heart and hands’ of community engagement — the historical and theoretical context, the development of empathy and the long days of hard work. Through this pre-orientation week of service immersion, the students quickly become actors in the story of the Center for Social Justice, transforming injustices in our backyard, our front yard, and around the world. And this all before the semester even begins!”

Dr. Andria Wisler, Executive Director Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service

Service Orientation Program with DC Youth


Through a partnership with U.S. Army’s Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science (GEMS), Hood College hosts nearly 400 elementary, middle, and high school student interns participating in a four-day GEMS camp. With the help of 11 college students who serve as near-peer mentors that interact one-on-one with the interns in addition to staff members, the USAMRMC Fort Detrick GEMS program conducts a six week program for students in grades 4-11. Hood students help coordinate the facilities for the program and assist in the training of the near-peer mentors during designated training weeks.

Sponsored and funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Md., and part of the Army’s Education Outreach Program, GEMS is a laboratory-based program that offers summer educational activities for students who have an interest in becoming scientists, and inspires them to consider careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

In 2013, the USAMRMC and Hood College entered into a new Educational Partnership Agreement in recognition of the importance of education to the future and economic well-being of the nation. As part of this agreement, the USAMRMC and Hood College work together to collaborate on STEM activities, develop a program under which college students may receive academic credit for work on defense research projects, and provide academic and career advice and assistance.

Lauren Beeson, Hood College’s GEMS Program Coordinator, ensures that the GEMS curriculum intellectually and creatively challenges students who participate in GEMS. She leads the collaboration between the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.

For more information visit: www.stem.amedd.army.mil.

STEM Summer Student Internship Program

“The GEMS program creates a continuity bridge of STEM learning experiences to promote and maintain enthusiastic student involvement in the sciences.”

Hans Wagner, GEMS Coordinator

At Howard Community College (HCC), improving the health and wellness of community members ages 2 to 102 is a focus of the service learning program. Annually, nearly 200 nursing students at HCC donate over 2,300 hours of service to the community through NURS 235, Care of Patients in Community and Mental Health Settings. HCC’s Center for Service Learning, the HCC Department of Nursing and 27 partnering community organizations collaborate on the community health literacy project. Each HCC student in the 7-week required course selects one of the 27 partner sites for his/her 12 hours of service. Each student develops and presents a health promotion project that supports the mission of his/her selected community organization, addressing the needs of the specific population served by that community agency.

To improve the health of youth in the Howard County region, HCC students presented to Wilde Lake High School’s Teen Parent program, The Community Action Council of Howard County’s Head Start program, and HCC’s Children’s Learning Center. Through this experience, students interacted with vulnerable and diverse populations, provided health promotion and disease prevention education and gained a more holistic perspective of their own community. One student created pocket cards on hypothermia resources for homeless individuals at a local soup kitchen while another worked with local teenagers to create a public service announcement aimed at preventing and reducing teen obesity. Over the past six years, as enrollment in HCC’s nursing program has grown, the project’s impact on the community has strengthened, impacting approximately 1,000 community members annually.

Creating a Healthier Howard County

“HCC student presentations taught our clients how certain foods can lower blood glucose levels and help to curb appetites.”

Leola Howard, Program Coordinator for On Our Own of Howard County

STATISTICS

94% of students confirmed that the experience helped them understand community needs, problems, and resources.

86% of students said the experience helped them better understand their responsibility to serve the community.


http://www.stem.amedd.army.mil

The Johns Hopkins University and Waverly Elementary/Middle School have partnered to teach young students about the benefits of healthy eating and regular exercise through a program called Food as Medicine. The Food as Medicine (FAM) Program strives to engage and empower Waverly Middle School students to develop healthy lifestyles. The Food as Medicine program comes at an ideal time for Waverly Elementary/Middle School, which does not have a physical education or health teacher. In addition to the health fair, Johns Hopkins undergraduates apply their classroom knowledge of public health and science to the program by providing Waverly students with year-round weekly nutrition and fitness workshops.

In its inaugural year, the FAM program provided weekly daytime workshops and field outings, weekly after school workshops, and summer workshops. Health and physical education are absent from the school and this program is designed to partially fill that gap by providing programming that follows the Maryland State Department of Education’s Common Core Curriculum Standards for nutrition and health for middle school. The Food As Medicine program is coordinated by a Johns Hopkins Maryland-DC Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA housed in the JHU Center for Social Concern on the Homewood campus.

Since 1992, Loyola University Maryland has sponsored the “Last Sunday” meal program at St. Vincent de Paul’s Beans and Bread Center in downtown Baltimore — a program that emphasizes human dignity, building relationships and sharing a home-cooked meal. Many of the people served are families with children. By receiving nutritious meals and eliminating the distraction of hunger, the children are better prepared to succeed in school.

On the last Sunday of each month, nearly 300 people are served in Beans and Bread with the assistance of about 20 Loyola students, staff and professors, who volunteer for the two shifts as cooks, servers, hosts and bussers. The meals are planned by two dedicated faculty or staff members who, through partnerships with merchants, prepare a broad menu on a $500 budget. Overall, about 300 Loyola volunteer hours fuel “Last Sunday” each semester.

Beans and Bread was founded in 1977 by Benet Hanlon, whose mission for Beans and Bread was to respect the dignity of all people, regardless of their situation. Beans and Bread, with its restaurant-style service, provides food and company for individuals experiencing hunger and material poverty, many of whom live on fixed incomes and government assistance. Through this partnership, Loyola volunteers are introduced to Baltimoreans they may not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise, and vice versa.

On weekends at the end of the month, when many other resources are closed and families’ funds are depleting, Beans and Bread is able to open for service with Loyola’s contribution of financial support and human power. However, the Loyola volunteers often drive away from the center with an enriched understanding of poverty concerns in Baltimore, and have erased any perceptions of differences between themselves and the guests of Beans and Bread. It’s an ongoing partnership — with guaranteed growth, conversation and delicious dining.

Food as Medicine Program at Waverly Elementary “Last Sunday” Meal Program

“I’m going to start eating more fruit and the right amounts of vitamins to keep my body powered and going.”

C. Jones, 6th grader at Waverly EMS

“The partnership between Loyola and Beans & Bread which led to the Last Sunday of the Month Meal depicts the ideal collaboration between a university and a community partner and has greatly impacted both. Because of the program, Beans & Bread and the meal guests they serve are able to share an important meal while Loyola advances its mission and educates our university community about the reality of hunger in Baltimore. I truly believe the outcome of this collaboration has been a win-win for all involved.”

Sr. Catherine “Missy” Gugerty, SSND Director of the Center for Community Service and Justice.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

School-wide Programming: Waverly sixth grade students helped to run a school-wide health fair where they shared what they learned about health and nutrition from their workshops with 421 Waverly elementary and middle school students.

Middle School Newsletter: Johns Hopkins students worked with Waverly youth to offer a monthly newsletter for the middle school grades.

Student Advocacy: The sixth graders advocated for a school salad bar, which will be implemented in October 2013 through the Baltimore City Public School System.

Lifestyle and Behavioral Changes: There were declines in the percentages of sixth grade students who ate fast food multiple times a week, drank soda every day, and ate candy and chips everyday by 12%, 8%, and 17%, respectively (based on pre-post-test and monthly survey data). Additionally, 89% of sixth grade students reported feeling confident in their ability to make healthier choices after participating in the workshops.


MICA’s Community Art Collaborative (CAC) is a national service AmeriCorps program that places artists in yearlong residences at nonprofit organizations throughout Baltimore City. Community Art Collaborative members facilitate arts-based programs for children and youth that encourage skills development, leadership opportunities, critical thinking, and community engagement -- all of which contribute to K-12 student achievement.

This year the program had 23 partnering sites, including: Access Art, the Walters Art Museum, and Hampden Family Center. The CAC program specifically addresses student populations that are facing high rates of poverty, low graduation levels, struggling social and emotional climates, and school budgetary cuts that deprive them of enrichment classes in the arts and music. CAC members bring resources and new partnerships to underserved communities, leveraging both volunteers and grant dollars to support the program.

As the Community Art Collaborative program continues to grow and develop additional goals are being set and implemented. The Community Arts Collaborative recognizes its role as a critical component of student and community engagement in greater Baltimore, and it strives to continue developing the reach of the program’s effect in the city and with the youth it impacts. By placing community resident artists in schools with need, CAC helps schools leverage additional money, resources and partners to implement much-needed arts programming. Additionally, as CAC focuses not just on arts instruction, but on community-based projects, the CAC program and artists build connections with community groups and residents, creating more visibility and garnering support for the programming from additional community stakeholders.

Community Art Collaborative: Engaging YouthThe BEST Program (Better Educators for Students of Tomorrow) is a nationally accredited Master’s program at McDaniel College that provides students with a significant amount of hands-on experience in the classroom through semester-long practicums and a final semester of student teaching. When they graduate, students will receive an initial teaching certification along with a master’s degree.

Teacher candidates extend their involvement beyond their classroom requirements by proposing and developing a semester-long service project at the schools in which they are placed. These students are required to include members of the community in their program in a collaborative effort to help the students grow as learners. Thus, not only are the McDaniel students serving the K-12 population they teach, but they are also serving a wider community of teachers, parents, and community partners.

Between the years 2010-2013, 150 teacher candidates completed service projects that made a significant impact on K-12 public schools in Carroll County. Dr. Susan Travetto, a program coordinator for the BEST Program, ensures that each project addresses a need specific to each school.

Student Teachers’ Service Project Program

CAC’S IMPACT SINCE 2004

• Service to over 1000 Baltimore City Public School K-12 students on a consistent basis, working on skill-development and community-art based activities during after school hours

• Raised over $50K from grants, local businesses, and in-kind support

• Served approximately 2000 disadvantaged youth, 1000 adults, and leveraged 600 volunteers over the lifetime of the program

• Leveraged over 100 new partnerships to their sites and coordinated 200 community engagement events

“The service project provides opportunities for our students to experience activities that they may not otherwise be involved in. We are grateful that this is a requirement of the McDaniel program for their future educators. This partnership is a win/win situation for both the local school and the college.”

Robin Townsend, Principal at Elmer Wolfe Elementary School

“The service project program links the McDaniel Community to the local school community. It provides small group instruction to our students, as the McDaniel interns built relationships with the school community and helped to boost students’ motivation to excel and achieve.”

Ann Blonkowski, Principal at Mt. Airy Elementary School

STUDENT TEACHER SERVICE PROJECTS INCLUDE

• Hosting a Diversity Day at a middle school to expose students to different cultures and promote tolerance;

• Organizing a before-school running club at an elementary school to teach students the value and enjoyment of physical fitness;

• Running a creative writing afterschool club at a middle school to produce a student magazine;

• Tutoring high school students in math to improve HSA scores; and

• Organizing an afterschool Robotics club to increase college and career readiness.


The MC/MCPS Collaborative is a partnership between Montgomery College and Montgomery County Public Schools. It focuses on engaging diverse, first-generation college students in mentoring partnerships. K-12 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students and first-generation immigrant college students are immersed in “cascading” service-learning activities with community non-profit organizations. The Collaborative enables the participating students to share their unique skills and enthusiasm with the community while increasing the likelihood that they will finish high school and college, and gaining confidence through civic engagement.

The program’s goals are 1) to increase the likelihood that K-12 ESOL participants will complete school, and 2) earn a higher education degree. Building on the foundation established by the Maryland-DC Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTAs who originally developed the MC/MCPS Collaborative, the program has now spread to six local high schools thanks to continuing financial and staff support from Montgomery College’s Takoma Park Campus. Now in its sixth year, some of the original high school ESOL students are now matriculating to Montgomery College. The students attend weekly meetings and participate in many weekend service activities ranging from environmental projects to performing and teaching traditional Ethiopian dance. In ongoing reflection and learning assessments, both the K-12 and college student participants report increases in self-esteem, self-knowledge, community knowledge, and self-confidence as they navigate their schools and community.

An independent program review by MCPS revealed that the 116 ESOL program participants out-performed the 463 non-participating ESOL students by statistically significant increases. A complete report of the MC/MCPS Collaborative is available showing the contrast between the data from the program participants relative to the non-participating students.

An ESOL Service-Learning ProgramThe number one reason students drop out of college is financial difficulty. More than fifty percent of the students at MSU come from low-income families. The Financial Literacy Program at Morgan State University (MSU) is designed to help “at-risk” students navigate their financial lives. Designed to reverse the cycle of low family income and socioeconomic status, the Financial Literacy Program empowers students and their families with financial literacy through education and training.

The “bread-and-butter” of the program is the workshop series. This series, spread out over the course of the academic year, offers students the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience to begin not only their own journey toward financial security, but also to be an effective resource in their communities. Three of Morgan’s athletic teams (football, volleyball, and track) have mandated participation in the Financial Literacy Program.

Started through a Maryland-DC Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA grant, the Financial Literacy Program at MSU is entering its third year. The program engages approximately 120 students per month in workshops intended to increase their knowledge of basic financial concepts — and the program has been successful at doing just that. In self-reported evaluations, students reported increased knowledge in an appealing format. Fostering these results are peer ambassadors from this same “at-risk” population who volunteer as workshop facilitators alongside MSU’s community based organization, PNC Bank.

“Given Morgan’s mission to prepare ‘high-quality, diverse graduates to lead the world,’ the financial literacy of its student body is essential to the recruitment, admission, and retention of a diverse pool of graduates. Morgan is fortunate to be able to partner with AmeriCorps VISTA, Maryland-DC Campus Compact and a number of financial institutions including PNC Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and USA Funds to support its financial literacy program initiatives. Clearly, students who participate in Morgan’s financial literacy program are better prepared upon graduation to assume both the mantle of leadership as well as control over their financial futures.”

Dr. Maurice Taylor, Vice President, Academic Outreach & Engagement

Student Retention through Financial Literacy

“The distinction between their (K-12) students and our (college) students does not exist. These are all OUR students. It is in our own best interest as a College to partner with our local school systems. We must create pathways for our ESOL students to succeed in both secondary and post-secondary education — it makes both short-term sense for our College and long-term sense for our shared community.”

Brad Stewart, Provost Montgomery College, Takoma Park

RESULTS

The ESOL students’ records showed statistically significant data in these areas:

• Increases in GPA • Increases in attendance • Increases in high school completion • Increases in amount of service-learning “hours” completed

• Increases in High School Assessment (HSA) test scores in: Algebra, Biology, English, and Government

• Decreases in both in- and out-of-school suspensions.


Service to others is woven through the mission and life of Notre Dame of Maryland University. On April 7, 2013, over 175 Notre Dame of Maryland University students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends participated in NDMU’s Day of Service. The campus community came together and prepared more than 3,500 summer reading tote bags, containing more than 13,000 books, for children enrolled in Baltimore City Head Start in partnership with the United Way of Central Maryland.

Research from the National Summer Learning Association shows that children who do not practice their literacy skills throughout the summer are at risk of losing 22 percent of the knowledge gained throughout the school year — the equivalent of two months’ worth of learning — during summer break. This issue is commonly known as “summer slide.” The research also shows that students of low-income families are more likely to experience summer slide and its cumulative effects year after year.

In late 2012, United Way of Central Maryland launched READ LEARN SUCCEED, an effort to recruit volunteers to read aloud to local low-income children younger than fourth grade, thereby increasing their chances of living successful, self-sufficient lives as adults. Before commencement, 30 graduates from the class of 2013 went to Head Start classrooms in Baltimore City to read to the children and distribute the summer reading tote bags.

Day of Service Partners with Head StartDuring the fall of 2012, Prince George’s Community College’s Office of Service-Learning expanded its Student Tutoring Program to provide both high school and middle school support. Prince George’s Community College students assist students enrolled in the Advancement VIA Individual Determination (AVID) programs at Central High School, Largo High and Ernest Everett Just Middle school, providing tutoring in a variety of subjects including math, reading, languages and science. Furthermore, these college students facilitate debates for the high school students and serve as mentors for the middle school students.

For the third consecutive year, Prince George’s Community College students visited Drew Freeman Middle School and partnered with Operation Hope, a nationally recognized financial literacy organization that offers financial education workshops to the middle school students. Prince George’s Community College’s students present workshops on budgeting, credit management, savings and investments to the 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

Drew Freeman Middle school is located in Suitland, Maryland, “a transforming neighborhoods initiative” community. The goal of the Transforming Neighborhood Initiative (TNI) in Prince George’s County is to achieve a “Vision of a Thriving Economy, Great Schools, Safe Neighborhoods and High Quality Healthcare.” This initiative recognizes that challenges within our communities are interrelated and solutions require partnerships with government, businesses, non-profit organizations and educational institutions to address the needs of the TNI communities. Prince George’s Community College students look forward to being a part of the solution, strengthening communities and empowering neighborhoods.

Transforming Neighborhoods through Tutoring

“I became an AVID tutor to give back to my local community. I was transformed by the experience, recognizing that as a student, I can make a difference in a young person’s life.”

Lester Pollitt, III, a Prince George’s Community College Student Tutor

“We need to look at eliminating the barriers so students can achieve success across all levels. I see the goal of supporting communities as a cornerstone of college leadership.”

Dr. Charlene Dukes, President, Prince George’s Community College

“Involving our students in service-learning and civic engagement opportunities is critical to our mission at NDMU. This summer reading project exemplifies the role our students can play in supporting and elevating K-12 youth in our communities.”

Dr. Joan Develin Coley, Interim President, Notre Dame of Maryland University

“We are thrilled that Notre Dame and the community are coming together to support our children and families.”

Shannon Burroughs-Campbell, Executive Director, Baltimore City Head Start


Stevenson’s commitment to providing educational support and opportunities for returned veterans can be seen through their Veterans Career Management project, initially launched in 2011 through the receipt of a MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA grant. The project was created to meet the educational and employment needs of veterans in the larger Baltimore community. Maryland’s veteran population is over 49,000. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 7.3% of veterans living in Baltimore County are unemployed while 10% of Baltimore City veterans face unemployment.

Stevenson has established partnerships with several community agencies and other colleges and universities to provide services to veterans including the Maryland Center for Veteran Education and Training, Greater Homewood Community Corporation, and the Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville. In addition, a core of student veterans has been recruited to form a “Veterans Club,” established in the Fall of 2013 — the first of its kind at Stevenson. In addition, Stevenson implemented a pilot Veteran’s Career Day event that incorporated the Dependable Strengths Articulation (DSA) Process workshop. This provided both student and non-enrolled veterans the opportunity to learn about and develop the ability to talk about what skills and strengths come naturally to them, as well as network with potential employers and community partners. Participants indicated their increased confidence around articulating their natural personal strengths as an outcome of the workshop.

Additional programs geared specifically for women veteran students include a peer-to-peer mentoring network, a series of replicable professional development workshops, and hands-on career education and civic engagement opportunities. This project focuses primarily on female veterans students at Stevenson, but includes outreach to women veterans in the Baltimore community. Some workshops and activities include women veteran students on other college campuses in the Baltimore area.

Veterans Career Management ProjectThe Bioscience Education and Outreach Program within the Towson University Center for STEM Excellence is committed to engaging, exciting, and educating Maryland’s middle and high school students in science. They deliver a variety of informal science education programs independently and in collaboration with university faculty, K-12 educators, and industry partners, serving over 10,000 students and educators each year throughout Maryland.

The SciTech Student Learning Lab is a field trip destination that offers middle and high school students the opportunity to experience science first-hand. Students who visit SciTech immerse themselves in real-world science problems and issues, such as the health of the Chesapeake Bay, wildlife forensics, and the illegal shark fin trade. The SciTech program is available to any middle or high school class or group looking for a stimulating and engaging science field trip.

Teachers can conduct science investigations in their own classrooms throughout the school year through the Maryland Loaner Lab (MDLL). Each MDLL kit can be borrowed for a 2-week period and provides comprehensive bioscience curriculum, reagents and equipment that can be used in a teacher’s own classroom.

In addition to providing activities for students, the program also works directly with Maryland teachers. For example, during the ExPERT (Extending Professional Experiences in Research to Teachers) program, teachers spend their summer in a research lab working alongside scientists, post-docs and graduate students to experience authentic science first-hand. Teachers also work together throughout the year in a Learning Community that is focused on learning and teaching about the nature of science and how to model authentic science in the classroom. The ExPERT program is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Bioscience Education and Outreach Program

“The Veterans Career Fair and Resource Expo was a very helpful networking opportunity. I highly recommend the Dependable Strengths session offered. It boosted my confidence and ability to “sell” myself at the fair.”

Female Veteran, US Marine Corps Veteran Career Fair attendee

“Our programs offer students opportunities to engage in science that is relevant to them and the world they live in. We directly impact the Maryland community by providing much needed resources to secondary schools, as well as facilitating partnerships between higher education faculty and the K-12 school system.”

Dr. Mary Stapleton, Director of the Bioscience Education and Outreach Program

“While at SciTech, students are engaged in hands-on and minds-on activities to solve problems. Putting the white lab coat on and working with the equipment in a new facility put the students in the scientist mindset.”

Willy Herrera, a science teacher in Baltimore City


The Truancy Court Program (TCP) is a preventive program that aims to identify and address the root causes of truancy. Its innovative, early intervention and holistic approach targets students who are “soft” truants (students who have five to twenty unexcused absences) in the belief that this group still has academic, social, and emotional connections to the school. The purpose of the TCP meetings is to identify and address the reasons why each participating child is not attending school regularly and/or on time. Once the causes of truant behavior are uncovered, the TCP team puts resources into place that target truant behavior and support the student’s regular school attendance, graduation from high school, and ultimately, service as a productive member of the community.

Participation is entirely voluntary on the part of students and their families. The program consists of ten weekly in-school meetings with the student, the parent or caregiver, a volunteer judge, a team of school representatives, a mentor, a University of Baltimore law student, and Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) staff. The TCP presents a therapeutic, non-adversarial setting and involves a mentoring program for both parents and students.

CFCC tracks student attendance, grades, and behavior throughout each 10-week session. Successful students who demonstrate a 65% or more decrease in unexcused absences and tardies as well as improved classroom behavior and academic performance are rewarded through graduation from the program.

Through the TCP, participants learn about the value of education and goal-setting, law students gain a new perspective of the justice system, and volunteer judges become directly involved in students’ lives by offering advice and sharing this beneficial experience with them.

Truancy Court ProgramSummer Bridge, a University of the District of Columbia program, was designed to provide junior and senior high school students, as well as incoming college students, with interactive experience in laboratory analysis, field study and computer applications. This year’s Summer Bridge program, designed to encourage participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines among youth in the District of Columbia, was completed by almost 30 D.C. junior and senior high school students.

Each year students present their capstone projects and receive certificates of completion. These final project presentations demonstrate how the students embraced the challenge of questioning the world around them. This past summer students tested the differences in the quality of tap water and bottled water, tested the contaminants in the Rock Creek and the Potomac River, and analyzed whether the soil found on the UDC campus was suitable for growing tomatoes.

Funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation, the Summer Bridge Program is a collaborative effort between the Center for 4-H and Youth Development and the Water Resources Research Institute. Both of these organizations are located in the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES).Through hands-on interactive programming created by the Center for 4-H and Youth Development, participants develop life skills, leadership abilities, and an ethic of civic stewardship. Alternatively, the Water Resources Research Institute supports collaborative research that engages not only faculty members and students, but also a broad array of stakeholders to address regional water issues in a holistic way.

Summer “Bridge to College” STEM Program

FACTS

• The TCP was established in 2005 by the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC).

• The program has created partnerships with local schools, their respective jurisdictions, and District and Circuit Courts.

• Since 2005, the TCP has served over 1,500 students in 30 Baltimore City public schools.

• In 2012-2013, the TCP served 239 students and their families in eight Baltimore City schools, and a significant majority of those students (65 percent) graduated from the program.

• A mother from Samuel C. Taylor Elementary School said her son’s “whole attitude has changed,” and he is now receiving significantly higher grades on his report card.

• CFCC has launched a national marketing campaign to replicate the TCP in other jurisdictions and has expanded to include several middle schools in Montgomery County, Maryland.

“…this time last year we had 141 students that had missed 5 or more days and this year to date we have 38. So we are progressing and showing improvement.”

Etta Johnson, Collington Square Elementary/Middle School Principal

PROGRAM LEADERS

Dr. Tolessa Deksissa, Director of the Water Resources Research Institute & Principal Investigator (PI)

Dr. Lily Liang, Co-investigator

Dr. Suzan Harkness, Co-investigator

Pradeep Behera, Co-investigator

“It’s amazing to see the growth that these young students have shown during the course of the Summer Bridge Program. It is truly impressive.”

Rebecca Bankhead, 4-H Program Director and State Program Leader for the District

“Discovery is a lifelong process, and you are learning to enjoy discovering new things. By questioning your perceived answers, you learned many new things. This kind of questioning and learning will help you to succeed anywhere.”

Sabine O’Hara, CAUSES Dean


In 2012, supported by the Maryland-DC Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA grant, UMBC worked with community partner Arbutus Middle School (AMS) to create and implement a new after-school tutoring program called “Arbutus Achievers” (formerly Homework Club). AMS and UMBC campuses are adjacent to each other. The AMS administration identified support for at-risk students in need of extra attention and homework help as a top priority.

UMBC students support Arbutus Achievers three hours per week throughout the academic year. A focus of the program is to increase retention and continuity of student attendance. To support AMS in these efforts, UMBC’s VISTA recruited thirteen service-learning students, who positively impacted approximately fifty AMS students. With feedback from AMS parents, Parent Information Workshops were developed to address realities facing their children. Sessions ranged from awareness and prevention of bullying to appropriate use and monitoring of the Internet.

UMBC and AMS will continue to foster their relationship and grow deeper connections. A new AMS staff member will manage the Academic Achievers initiative as it gains momentum and requires more support, expanding upon what has already been established. A major component added to the Arbutus Achievers is a curriculum-building session to assist UMBC students to develop lessons and prepare worksheets along with AMS staff, geared towards specific needs of individual students.

Middle School AchieversSince 1994, the Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS) has been active in Baltimore City Public Schools through the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s School of Social Work. SWCOS, in partnership with the Family League of Baltimore City, has been cultivating Benjamin Franklin High School, Augusta Fells Savage Institute for the Visual Arts, and Wolfe Street Academy into neighborhood hubs that connect the schools’ students and families to critical community resources through the Community School Initiative. In 2013, Harlem Park Elementary and James McHenry Elementary, located in the neighborhoods bordering the UMB Campus, were added.

Through public–private funding support the SWCOS Community School Initiative covers the Northwest, Southeast and South Baltimore regions of the city. Incorporating over 60 social work students alongside the Community School Coordinators has enabled them to make an impact on increased attendance, decreased chronic absenteeism, increased parent engagement and improved school climate with over 1,000 students throughout Baltimore. Social work students expand the capacity of the school administration’s ability to attract and identify valuable resources like emergency food, clothing, medical care and dental care to the school. In addition, through this comprehensive coordination of wraparound services, SWCOS has increased the participation of students in the Free and Reduced Meals program, generating more financial resources to these schools.

SWCOS’ vision is to create vibrant schools that are central to the lives not only of their students, but also the community at large. SWCOS plans to accomplish this through identifying and tracking at-risk students and connecting them with resources, but these efforts do not stop with the students. Rather, they reach into families and communities around these students, including churches, local businesses, community-based organizations, and concerned individuals in order to build long lasting and sustainable structures that will enhance the development of these students and those who come after them. This is consistent with SWCOS’ driving mission of unleashing power and making it last.

Community School Initiative

STATISTICS

• At Benjamin Franklin, a Parent Teacher Student Organization was launched, a nonprofit agency with its 510c3 status with 160 dues-paying members.

• At Wolfe Street Academy, there are over 150 members in the Parent Teachers Organization and they raised over $2,000 for the afterschool program.

• At Augusta Fells Savage, a disenchanted Parent Teachers Organization has been reenergized.

“Universities and communities are at their best when they partner to address shared challenges and to achieve common goals. UMBC’s partnership with Arbutus Middle School models our joint commitment to educational excellence, college access, and civic engagement.”

Freeman Hrabowski, President, UMBC

STATISTICS

The Shriver Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) has built many strong partnerships over the years. A number of these relationships have been through P-20 related programs. In the 2012-2013 academic year, nearly 300 UMBC students served as in-school tutors, after-school mentors, and volunteer hosts for campus visits of P-12 students through the Service-Learning program. This support allowed for nearly 1,000 P-12 youth from 13 area schools and 12 after-school programs to benefit from the valuable knowledge, skills, and experiences of UMBC’s service-learning students.


The Alternative Breaks program (AB) at the University of Maryland- College Park started in 2004 and has grown to 27 experiences in 2014. Over 350 UMCP students participate each year and the AB program has established more than 30 community partnerships across the globe that engage individuals in short-term service-learning experiences that challenge social, political and economic structures of our global community. Through reflection, education and direct service, Alternative Breaks develops mutually beneficial sustainable community partnerships, critical thinking and leadership skills to create a socially just world.

Seven AB experiences focus on education access, equity and systems within rural, urban and international contexts. Students who participate in education-focused AB experiences are immersed in classrooms, teach lessons, provide one-on-one tutoring, present on higher education attainment and learn from local teachers and parents. The experiences are rooted in long-term partnerships with P20 educators and administrators both within the US (Philadelphia, PA, Gaston, NC, and Chicago, IL) and internationally (Volcán Atitlán, Guatemala, Cuenca, Ecuador, and Cabarete, Dominican Republic).

Community partners all reported that the partnership with UMCP Alternative Breaks is valuable to the purpose and mission of their organization and has significantly benefited the communities where they work. These P20 partnerships have also evolved beyond the immersion trips to hosting elementary students for UMCP campus visits, leading school supply drives and fundraisers, and multiple return trips by AB participants to work on continuing projects including building school-community gardens.

University of Maryland students participating in Alternative Breaks develop their personal viewpoints while accepting and appreciating other worldviews; recognize and identify the roles that diversity plays in a civil society; and recognize their responsibility to participate in one’s own community and the broader society. In addition, participants report that the AB experience significantly impacts personal values, career aspirations, perspectives and leadership capacities.

Alternative Breaks ProgramThe goal of the Professional Development School (PDS) program is to improve student achievement and teacher quality by creating and nurturing collaborative partnerships that develop teacher instruction and positively impact student learning. These partnerships are essential for providing stimulating, controlled and supportive environments for students enrolled in the education program.

Dr. Karen Verbeke, department chairperson, director of teacher education, and appointed member of the Governor’s P-20 Leadership Council of Maryland provides outstanding leadership in employing a range of program services through the PDS and Summer Institute Program. Site-Coordinators are in place at various partner sites, serving as liaisons. This group serves as the Advisory Committee and along with the Coordinating Council focuses on improving the professional growth experiences of interns and observers.

As part of the PDS initiative, UMES hosts an Annual Summer Institute. For twelve years now, UMES has convened its two-day Summer Institute program. Recognized by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, this event provides a valuable forum for P-12 educators and members of the P-20 community to share best practices in their field; collaborate and contribute in the strategic planning processes; and receive professional development and retooling.

UMES and its P-20 partners are having a sustainable impact on student access and success, by preparing quality teachers and effective mentors. They will continue to work collaboratively with local communities to increase and enrich educational opportunities and the quality of living on the Shore, in the State, and in the nation.

Professional Development School Program

“As the demand grows at the state and national levels, we want to make sure that our mentor teachers and university supervisors are prepared in all areas so that they are well equipped to mentor the teacher and counselor candidates that we are placing in the schools.”

Dr. Patricia Goslee, Coordinator of Professional Development Schools

FACTS

• 73 individuals from County Schools, Maryland Department of Education, University System of Maryland, UMES, the Asbury Development Center, Maryland State Police, and Hardwire attended the 2013 Summer Institute.

• The first PDS partner site, Bennett Middle School located in Salisbury, MD, was established in 1997. From 1999 to 2008, 23 more partnerships have been established.

• UMES’ PDS program has collaborated and partnered with multiple Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Caroline, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties; increasing and sustaining student intern placements.

“It has been interesting to see the world in a different light after only a few days. From the rich cities to the small rural villages, it is great to be part of an experience where we see not only what Ecuador wants us to see but also the needs and hopes of many people. As the week progressed, we learned more and more about the realities of Ecuador and the richness which the country holds not only in its natural resources but also in its people.”

Seb Roas, 2013 Alternative Breaks Trip Leader

“I am still in awe of the commitment and dedication of the teachers at the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), the drive, maturity, and motivation of the students at KIPP, and the family community that they together have established. It was amazing to be able to talk college with seventh graders and seniors, and watch the students appreciate their education and be proud of their work.”

Grace Toohey, 2013 Alternative Breaks participant


The goal of the First Generation Ambassadors Program (FGAP) is to improve the retention of our first generation student population by providing them with mentoring, college success skills, and community service opportunities. Washington Adventist University partners with Takoma Academy (TA) to create leadership opportunities for these first generation students. In addition to assisting TA students prepare for college, WAU ambassadors also tutor TA students after school and work with TA students on community service projects.

Coordinated by an MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA member, WAU students mentor about 30 Takoma Academy students. FGAP provides parents of first generation students with programs and guidance on how to support their student through their academic careers. In addition to these tools, parents also attend a specially created workshop during new student orientation. Parents enjoy receiving monthly updates on their child’s mentoring efforts and community service projects. Through this program, Washington Adventist University (WAU) hopes to see a high retention rate of students and an impact on the community. Eighty-six percent of these participants have stated that this program significantly helps their academic studies and eighty-five percent of the students reported that the FGAP workshops were effective in guiding them to college success.

Washington Adventist University is a learning community committed to excellence and service which challenges students to seize the opportunities for learning in order to become moral leaders in communities throughout the world. WAU plans to increase enrollment of first generation students into FGAP by incorporating a more student-driven program.

First Generation Ambassadors ProgramThe Gaithersburg Beloved Community Initiative (GBCI) is inspired by Dr. King’s vision of “beloved community.” In this vision, Dr. King articulated a community where love and justice rule, where everyone’s worth is affirmed, where stories inspire hope, where diversity enriches all lives through common memories and a shared fortune, and where all are loved unconditionally forever. The GBCI was established in June 2011 with a goal of building positive relationships with diverse communities of persons, especially youth, living in the vicinity of Asbury Methodist Village.

In collaboration with Gaithersburg Elementary School, this initiative has conducted 15 three-hour mentoring sessions on the Asbury Methodist Village campus with 15 fourth and fifth graders on the pillars of character. In addition, the initiative brings youth and senior citizens together through nature photography, tree planting, gardening, oral history sessions, Spanish/English conversation, pool parties, and restorative justice projects.

GBCI was created through the process of providing praxis training for Wesley Theological Seminary students utilizing the Urban Ministry methodology, but through community engagement it has become a growing network of intergenerational friends building bridges through sharing, caring and learning. These intergenerational relationships are developed between senior citizens and the children, youth and families who reside in the neighborhoods surrounding the Asbury Methodist Village campus. This initiative also sparked involvement in Camp Hope, a week-long summer camp for children with a parent who either is, or has been, incarcerated. Twenty of these youth later became involved in GBCI projects. GBCI has made a positive impact on all of the community partners involved by impacting individuals’ lives with the long-term goal of creating a Beloved Community.

Caring, Sharing and Learning

“Since acquiring mentors, my daughters’ grades have improved from almost failing most of their classes, to now passing those same classes with B’s and C’s. They have taken a keen interest in college and are looking into where they want to go and what they would like to become in life.”

Mrs. Shaneka Peters, Mother of two mentees

“Both our son and we as parents greatly benefited from participation in the FGAP program. I cannot thank you enough (and all the participants in the program) for sharing your time and talents. Our son has gone from ‘thinking about college’ to making definitive plans about college. This change of heart is due in no small part to the exposure to the students, faculty and college life at WAU.”

Mrs. Cricket Bailey, Mother of mentee

STATISTICS

The three elementary schools closest to the Asbury Methodist Village campus are all Title I, with an average of three quarters of students participating in the federal school lunch program and 50% in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).

“This partnership is literally transforming the Gaithersburg community, removing barriers of ethnicity, age and social class. The joyful interactions among residents, youths, and seminarians bring to life Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community. Seminary students are not only reading about community transformation, they are actually living it out and learning how to do this for their own ministries.”

Dr. Sam Marullo, Director, Center for the Missional Church at Wesley Theological Seminary

“The Gaithersburg Beloved Community Initiative could not have started up and grown without the [Wesley] Urban Fellows.”

Rev. Hal Garman, Resident at Asbury Methodist Village


AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Robin Adams [email protected] · 202-885-7378

Assisting with the coordination of the DC Reads K-10th grade youth tutoring program at American University is the primary responsibility of the American University (AU) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. Specific tasks include increasing the capacity of the AU DC Reads program in the areas of community partnership, best practices, program efficiency and impact, leadership and sustainability through the implementation of a large scale assessment of community partners and the impact the DC Reads programs are having on community partners and tutors.

CARROLL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Supervisor: Kristie Crumley [email protected] · 410-386-8408

Providing grocery assistance to the faculty, staff, and students of Carroll Community College through the Carroll Food Locker Program is the goal of the Carroll Community College MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. In addition, once a member of the Food Locker Program, the faculty, staff, or student will be introduced to all of the programs and services offered by the Human Services Program (HSP) of Carroll County. The MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA will work on developing workshops, policies, procedures, and partnerships as well as partnerships with Robert Moton Elementary School and the Gateway School.

GOUCHER COLLEGE

Supervisor: Amy Roza [email protected] · 410-337-6033

Bringing resources into the College Programs at two Maryland prisons through the Goucher Prison Education Partnership, the Goucher College MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA provides a volunteer corps for tutoring in math, reading, writing and study skills to support incarcerated students’ work across the curriculum. Working to build, pilot, refine and publicize the systems and infrastructure that are used by the Goucher Prison Education Partnership on an ongoing basis will allow materials to be shared with other campuses in the Maryland-DC Campus Compact network.

AmeriCorps VISTA | 2013-14 Project AbstractsAmeriCorps VISTAAmeriCorps VISTA is a federal service program designed specifically to fight poverty. Founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, VISTA has been on the front lines in the fight against poverty in America for more than 40 years.

Campus Compact VISTA programs join the mission of Campus Compact and AmeriCorps VISTA through projects that build campus-community partnerships to fight poverty. Through the Campus Compact VISTA program, we alleviate poverty by strengthening communities and developing our leaders.

STORIES

Johns Hopkins University: from a 6th grade teacher: “...the kids LOVED last Friday they couldn’t wait to tell their parents about the ending activity which showed digestion and waste :) I truly appreciate the work you are putting into this program. This is BY FAR the best and most organized program we’ve had come into the school from Hopkins. So thank you!”

American University DC Reads: “asked [students] questions such as: ‘How would you describe your tutor in one word?’ Many of the kids thought the tutors did help them a lot in school, and they were all looking forward to [continue] working with their tutor.”

University of Baltimore: “The Money Matters Workshop is one of the most successful workshops offered at Project PLASE…. Learning information about how to manage money, what a credit score is, and how to properly budget is important to and for our clients because many of them have financial difficulties.”

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS 4,826

HOURS SERVED 53,234

CASH RESOURCES EARNED $51,125

NON-CASH RESOURCES EARNED $1.2 MILLION

FY2013 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

COMMUNITY ANDECONOMICDEVELOPMENT: 22%

VETERANS: 6%

TUTORINGAND CHILDLITERACY: 27%

HEALTH/NUTRITION: 17%

ACCESS ANDSERVICES: 11%

FINANCIALLITERACY: 17%

HIGHLIGHTS

University of Maryland, College Park: the Northwestern High School Partnership celebrated the newly created collaborative through a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Carroll Community College: held a food drive competition among departments for most pounds of food. A total of over 2,000 lbs. of food was donated.

Maryland Institute College of Art: two new after school art clubs on MICA’s campus were organized. 43 high school students attended the art clubs in the first week.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS 4,826

HOURS SERVED 53,234

CASH RESOURCES EARNED $51,125

NON-CASH RESOURCES EARNED $1.2 MILLION

FY2013 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

COMMUNITY ANDECONOMICDEVELOPMENT: 22%

VETERANS: 6%

TUTORINGAND CHILDLITERACY: 27%

HEALTH/NUTRITION: 17%

ACCESS ANDSERVICES: 11%

FINANCIALLITERACY: 17%


LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MARYLAND

Supervisor: Erin O’Keefe [email protected] · 410-617-2699

Serving as a community organizer and resource developer for the DeWees Recreation Center, a Baltimore City recreation center prevented from closure in fall of 2011 due to community outcry, the Loyola University-DeWees MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA is building a self-sustaining, community-operated Recreation Council. As a result, long-term enhancements between area schools’ learning outcomes and after school programming at DeWees, as well as sustainable mentoring and tutoring partnerships between Loyola and DeWees, are ensured.

MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART

Supervisor: Kristen Smith [email protected] · 410-225-2347

Partnering with the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPS) to enhance their citywide arts education program for high school students is the purpose of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA project. Specifically, the MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA member is: building relationships between MICA and Baltimore City high schools; creating a curriculum of interdisciplinary art, design education, and civic engagement; and preparing a training program for the college students who facilitate these arts education programs.

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Tiffany Mfume [email protected] · 443-885-3651

Enhancing the financial literacy of students and their families is the primary responsibility of the Morgan State University (MSU) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA through a partnership with PNC Bank. Development and implementation of the financial literacy program for at-risk freshmen and their families participating in the Access Orientation Program is continued by: coordinating a service project for students and their families; recruiting and coordinating peer mentors for the program; and investigating possible sources of funding for scholarships for program completers.

PRINCE GEORGE’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Supervisor: Betty Habershon [email protected] · 301-322-0713

Developing, expanding, and supporting the free tax preparation sites within Prince George’s County, Maryland is the focus of the Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. This is accomplished by identifying partnerships with community organizations. These organizations host sustained free tax programs at their locations, create an outreach program of student and community volunteers certified through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program of the Internal Revenue Service to staff the free tax preparation sites, and develop procedures and document practices to support and sustain existing free tax preparation sites.

STEVENSON UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Anne Scholl-Fiedler [email protected] 443-394-9257

Building a program primarily for women veteran students to increase their undergraduate completion rates, career readiness, financial literacy, and connectedness to their larger community is the responsibility of the Stevenson University MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. The programs created by the MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA include a peer-to-peer mentoring network, a series of professional development workshops, and hands-on career education and civic engagement opportunities. This project includes outreach to women veterans in the Baltimore community, in addition to opportunities for women veteran students on other college campuses in the Baltimore area.

TOWSON UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Christopher Jensen [email protected] · 410-704-4146

Coordinating and recruiting volunteers for after-school programming and an annual campus visit for Cherry Hill K-12 students are tasks of the Towson University MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA in order to address needs in the areas of education, college readiness, and health. In addition, the MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA coordinates the Young Gardeners program for students and community gardening for residents that provide healthier food options and education about ways to improve their well-being.

GREATER BALTIMORE URBAN LEAGUE

Supervisor: Estelle Young [email protected] · 401-241-3145

Increasing college entry, persistence, graduation and preparedness are the primary responsibilities of the Greater Baltimore Urban League MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTAs. The members will achieve this through four projects targeting college access (Project 1) and completion (Project 2), building Greater Baltimore Urban League capacity (Project 3), and developing a set of multi-year funding streams for “The Baltimore Partnership for College Access and Success” (BPCAS) (Project 4).

HOOD COLLEGE

Supervisor: Yvette Webster [email protected] · 301-696-3583

Acting as a liaison between Frederick Community Action Agency (FCAA) and Hood College, the MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA promotes the agency and its programs while raising the awareness of homelessness to the Hood community through presentations to classes, faculty, and student groups. Additionally, the MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA establishes structured processes for connecting volunteers with the clients of the FCAA beginning with fall orientation and continuing throughout the year.

HOWARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Supervisor: Brittany Budden [email protected] · 443-518-4432

Educating the community about proper dental hygiene practices and creating a Community Center for Dental Hygiene that provides free dental care/cleanings to adults and children in need is the responsibility of the Howard Community College MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. Specifically, duties include working with community partners to address community member needs including: identifying and developing health promotion projects around gaps in oral health knowledge, identifying those with the greatest need for education and dental services, and creating a post-cleaning referral network of certified dentists who agree to provide flexible payment and low cost services to individuals who have more significant dental issues that need to be remedied.

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Gia Grier McGinnis [email protected] · 410-516-6773

Assisting with the implementation of the sub-program of the existing Healthy Community Initiative (HCI), Food as Medicine, a complimentary daytime service-learning program for youth is the primary focus of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. Food as Medicine works within the school day on empowering youth leadership in promoting healthy lifestyles within the student population of Waverly School through the development of workshops, a Career Day, a service-learning capstone, community-based field outings, an afterschool club, and a monthly newsletter.

AmeriCorps VISTA | 2013-14 Project Abstracts, continued


UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE

Supervisor: Anthony Butler [email protected] · 410-837-5419

Partnering with CUPs (Creating Unlimited Possibilities), a non-profit that employs at-risk youth and serves at-risk communities is the starting point for the University of Baltimore (UB) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. A sustainable program that helps at-risk youth transition out of poverty by facilitating mentoring relationships between the youth and volunteer mentors, offers substantial college readiness resources, provides career readiness programming, and offers financial education workshops is the result of targeted research, interviews, discussions, and meetings with community stakeholders.

UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Supervisor: Sylvia Benatti [email protected] · 202-274-5794

Initiating a financial literacy program for college students and future students to increase student retention rates is the responsibility of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. This is done through the development of a community-based learning and financial literacy component for the Freshman Orientation courses and a standalone workshop series for students not enrolled in the course. The students make financial aid for college presentations for college bound secondary students around the DC metropolitan area and complete a series of reflection exercises regarding the project and the importance of community-based learning.

UNIV. OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE COUNTY

Supervisor: Eloise Grose [email protected] · 410-455-2493

Meeting the needs of Arbutus Middle School (AMS) through support of the Homework Club and Information Workshops for AMS parents is the purpose of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA project. UMBC students are recruited to participate in sustained service-learning activities with AMS students who have been identified as “at-risk” by AMS faculty and administration. Through this project, the MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA establishes partnerships with local businesses and programs to ensure the continuation of the Information Workshops for AMS parents.

UNIV. OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

Supervisor: Ayanna Evans [email protected] · 410-657-8143

Improving the scholastic achievements and civic engagement of (K-12) youth who attend the Garland Hayward Youth Center (GHYC) in Princess Anne, Maryland is the primary responsibility of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. Specific tasks include: coordinating the placement of UMES student volunteers at GHYC for afterschool tutoring/mentoring; facilitating leadership training sessions for student volunteers; leveraging resources for the Center; and developing enrichment programs, K-12 civic engagement/service-learning projects, parent/community workshops and events, as well as professional development workshops for GHYC staff.

WASHINGTON ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Ralph Johnson [email protected] · 301-891-4106

Partnering with the First-Generation Ambassadors Program (FGAP) to support first-generation Washington Adventist University (WAU) students through mentorship, workshops, and building a strong partnership with parents is the priority of the WAU MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA. Selecting WAU student Ambassadors, facilitating workshops for the Ambassadors, preparing a parent newsletter, coordinating service projects, pairing FGAP students with first generation high school students at Takoma Academy, and developing a student organization to sustain the mission, goals, objectives and activities of FGAP are all ways in which the MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA will support the project.

WESLEY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Supervisor: Mauri Bishop [email protected] 202-403-0960

Assisting in the development of the Heal the Sick Initiative is the purpose of the Wesley Theological Seminary MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA project. The Heal the Sick Initiative is a program of community-based healthcare in the District of Columbia and Baltimore, Maryland adapted from Methodist LeBonheur Hospital health network model in Memphis, Tennessee. The MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA develops, designs, produces, and distributes a resource manual, and performs outreach to congregations and community organizations on behalf of the Heal the Sick Initiative.

The Students of Service program, funded through a nationally-competitive AmeriCorps grant, strengthens the academic engagement of at-risk K-12 youth through mentoring and civic engagement. By enhancing academic and civic engagement of the K-12 youth, our Students of Service (SOS) Program increases educational achievement. At the end of three years, at least five sustainable K-H partnerships will have been formed resulting in increased K-12 student academic and civic engagement. Fifty enrolled college students serve as part-time AmeriCorps members leveraging an additional 250 at-risk K-12 students to address needs in Maryland and DC communities. The K-12 youth mentees gain exposure to higher education and learn the practice of engaged citizenship. The fifty Students of Service college students each serve at least 300 hours, totaling 15,000 hours of mentoring per year.

“Youth mentoring programs can have a positive impact across generations. For example, the mother of one mentee recently decided to return to school to complete her bachelor’s degree as a result of her bringing her son to mentoring activities and being exposed to information offered in the workshop presentations.”

Dr. Ralph Johnson Dean, Student Success and Faculty Development Washington Adventist University

“The SOS Program has been a great resource in ensuring UMES students gain unique learning, leadership, and community building experiences during their college years. Through academic and social engagement, our students are having a real impact on the lives and achievements of K-12 youth in our community.”

Ayanna Evans Director, University Engagement and Lifelong Learning Center University of Maryland Eastern Shore

AmeriCorps Students of Service

PARTICIPATING MEMBER INSTITUTIONS:

• American University• Georgetown University• McDaniel College• Towson University• University of Maryland,

Eastern Shore• Washington

Adventist University

AmeriCorps VISTA | 2013-14 Project Abstracts, continued


Our network and accomplishments are possible through the contributions of many people and organizations!

SPECIAL THANKS

Dr. Alan Penczek Hood College Mount St. Mary’s University

DONORS

Ms. Patricia Bassett Dr. Bruce Bigelow and Dr. Julie Ramsey Mr. and Mrs. Lynn and Dottie Cairns Dr. Charlene Dukes Mr. and Mrs. Warren and Lindsey Harper Mrs. Suzanne L. Horlacher Mr. Nicholas Mueldener Dr. Jay Perman Col. (R) and Mrs. David and Beth Tohn Dr. Barbara Viniar Ms. Madeline Yates

INSTITUTIONS & CORPORATE SPONSORS

Charitable Development Consulting Frostburg State University George Washington University Montgomery College Prince George’s Community College Stylus Publishing

GOVERNMENT AND FOUNDATIONS

The Corporation for National and Community Service AmeriCorps & AmeriCorps VISTA The Bradley T. MacDonald Family Foundation

The following people have generously given their time, expertise, and leadership to our growing network:

AMERICORPS PROGRAM OFFICERS

Crystal Biles, Margaret Mattinson, Saran White

SAGE STEERING COMMITTEE

Tom Bowling, Amy Cohen, Kate Conway-Turner, Michael Kiphart, Steve Percy, Michele Wolff, Sandra Dunnington, Maurice Taylor

AMERICORPS VISTA LEADERS

Louis McGinty, Lindsey Harper, Mari Poulos, Nick Mueldener

ADDITIONAL THANKS

York Bradshaw, Dave Cohill, Pauline Engelstatter, Sheila Hixson, Barbara Jacoby, Jennifer and Eric Lassahn, Kellie T. MacDonald Pizzico, Kimberly McShane, Pam Meador, Deb Moriarity, Tim Pollak, Tom Powell, Monica Randall, David Rehm, James Smith, Brad Stewart, Jim Walters, Paul Wolboldt, Andrea and John Zaremba

Thank YouTo make a tax-deductible donation or learn more about how to make a planned gift to augment the work of the MDCCC, please visit our website at

www.mdccc.org or contact us at 301-676-3192.

44 2014 | Maryland-DC Campus Compact

401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick, MD 21701 301-696-3280 · www.mdccc.org

mdccc magazine 2014

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