NEW CASTLE HIGH SCHOOL AmeriCorps program lets seniors serve others, earn college money

The students are earning college credits and money.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Heather O'Connor moves from table to table answering questions about everything from history to math.
Her time spent tutoring pupils at Ben Franklin Junior High School is helping her earn credits and money for college as part of the first AmeriCorps program for high school seniors in Pennsylvania.
Heather and three other New Castle High School seniors will earn $2,500 in federal grants for college and three college credits for their work this year in high school and next year as freshmen at Slippery Rock University. All four are female and 17 years old.
Though the money and college credits are helpful, New Castle's four AmeriCorps volunteers say that's not why they are doing it.
"None of us are really here for the money," Heather said.
Why they like it
Tanya Weller, who wants to become an elementary school teacher, said she likes it because she's working with young children in the tutoring programs that the AmeriCorps members are staffing.
Liz Krause and Cindy Rieder say they like the service aspect of it.
"I've always wanted to be involved in the community," Liz said.
AmeriCorps was created in 1993 as part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a network of national service programs that serves more than 50,000 Americans each year. AmeriCorps members help staff and serve nonprofit agencies, public agencies and faith-based organizations. Their help includes youth tutoring, building affordable housing and helping communities respond to disasters.
SRU program
Slippery Rock University has had its program since 1993 and decided to expand this year to area high schools, said Alice Kaiser-Drobney, director of SRU's Community Service-Learning Institute, which oversees the AmeriCorps program.
New Castle High School was the only school that responded with interested pupils. They must commit to 900 hours of community service over a two-year period to earn $2,500 from the program to be used for college tuition, room and board or supplies, she said.
Program coordinators are hoping the New Castle High School AmeriCorps members will set up a network of volunteers who will help in projects throughout the city.
"Essentially what it is, is a volunteer center and resource center for teachers and students who can become involved in the community," Kaiser-Drobney said.
So far, the AmeriCorps members have recruited a core of about 20 to 25 volunteers in grades nine through 12, and they are tutoring and doing other work in the community.
At weekly meetings, New Castle's four AmeriCorps members talk of plans for read-a-thons, dance programs for young children, community cleanup days and other ways to reach out.
But getting off the ground last August wasn't easy, said Lora Karlinsey, an SRU graduate student who is the team leader and mentor for the group. She is a paid employee hired by AmeriCorps to help with the program.
"I think it's a slow-moving process. I've been working in New Castle High School three days a week and still walk down the halls and teachers don't know who I am or why I'm here," she said.
Recruiting
The four high-school seniors have held open houses to acquaint others with their programs and work daily on recruiting fellow pupils to help staff their service projects. It's not as hard as they first thought, the girls said.
"You hear New Castle [high school] is a bad place and, yet, when you ask for volunteers, everybody is willing to help," Cindy said.
"You can label people, but when you ask, they are willing to help and they are willing to get things done," Heather added.
The program has also served as a valuable tool for building self-esteem for the four AmeriCorps volunteers, Karlinsey said.
"You can see their faces brightening with each leadership role they are allowed to take. It kind of gives them a name in the high school. It gives them a real sense of ownership in the program," she said.
The four teens hope the groundwork they laid this year will make it easier for future AmeriCorps members at New Castle High School and they want to see it expand to other schools.
"If every school had [AmeriCorps], Americans across the country would think differently about teenagers," Cindy said.
"Just having a program like this one shows people that teenagers do know some stuff," Heather added.