FALL GAME JAM AT SKC!

On November 3rd through 5th AmeriCorps Leader Dayton Smith helped put on the Fall Game Jam at Salish Kootenai College, hosted by Flathead Tech4Good.

 “Water is Life” is this year’s theme at SKC. With that focus the purpose of the fall Game Jam was to bring local high-schoolers, SKC students and community volunteers together to tackle related issues with-in the community. With the"Water is Life" theme in mind, Tech4Good Game Jam focused on the unique challenges that Flathead Watershed faces.

Now what is a watershed? The first thing that comes to my mind is a “shed that holds water”, but that’s not the case.  Now if you know exactly what a watershed does congrats, but if you’re like me then welcome to the soon to be woke club. Overall we all live on a watershed. A watershed is like a funnel that drains from the land to the same location or body of water. And how our communities treat the land plays a big role on the water we have. Not woke? Watch a  short video on "What's a Watershed"( Soon to be Woke Club: What is a Watershed)

Now learning about watersheds can be useful, but making it useful and relatable can have a deeper connection with the students and community members. With that there’s the Flathead Watershed. That Friday students learned about the challenges that Flathead Watershed faces such as Invasive species, oil train derailments, pollution due to agriculture development and more.
Although there was not a big turnout for this year’s fall Game Jam the effort continues to bring students and communities member together to work towards a common goal.

For more information on the SKC's Fall Game Jam visit Tech4good.

MSU BLACKSTONE VISTA REFLECTS ON PITCH COMPETITION

On November 15th, MTCC VISTA Connor Harbison hosted the Awards Ceremony for the 2017 Idea Challenge him and his team at Blackstone LaunchPad at Montana State University had been planning for months. This video pitch competition brought together 27 current MSU students to give 90 second elevator pitches for their business ideas and social ventures. This year, the Idea Challenge awarded $3,000 in prizes, garnered 1,869 votes and reached 532,586 social media profiles.

This year’s pitches included an all-natural cleaning solution, modular tiny homes, handmade duck calls, metal campfire rings, a bar arcade in downtown Bozeman, among others. Blackstone LaunchPad’s team of venture coaches assisted candidates with everything from ideation to preparing the pitches themselves.

“It was important to us to lower the bar to entry,” said Connor Harbison. “You don’t have to be a business major to have a great idea. That’s all it takes, one great idea. At the Blackstone LaunchPad, we believe that anyone can have a great idea, and we are here to help them make a thriving business out of it.”

This year’s Idea Challenge brought more diversity to the MSU's Blackstone LaunchPad than ever before. Nearly two thirds of the voters and site visitors were women, and the publicity effort before the formal contest engaged student groups from all over campus, including: UNITY, the Veteran Service Center, Society of Women Engineers, F-Word, Design Guild, and the Women’s Center at MSU. It is Blackstone's mission to break down assumptions of exclusivity in entrepreneurship.

Ultimately, six videos advanced through popular voting, while six were chosen by the preliminary jury of three entrepreneur alumni of the Blackstone LaunchPad’s venture coaching process. Five final judges reviewed the twelve finalist videos. Judges from banking, law, and tech, used their expertise to evaluate these finalists’ videos.  

Among the night’s winners was Adeline Sutich, who received the Rising Star Award for Young Entrepreneurship. Partnering with her father, Doug, who is a student at Montana State University, Adeline submitted Mr. Bubbles, a stuffed octopus who wanders from his tank every night to go on adventures throughout the home. The Rising Star Award is given for future potential and passion for the entrepreneurial process and pursuit.

“I may not have won any money tonight,” Adeline said, “but I’ll be making money when I sell my product.”

The 2017 Idea Challenge is in it's third iteration. In addition to this event, the Blackstone LaunchPad holds live pitch competitions, hosts visiting business leaders, and organizes programming to help innovative MSU students achieve their dreams.

“The Idea Challenge is just one way we can bring in new people to the process,” said MTCC VISTA

Connor Harbison. “People know they have good ideas, but sometimes they just need a little push to make it happen. One great idea can change your life, improve your financial situation, and empower new leaders.”

Every Idea Challenge submission can be viewed here.

LAME DEER 2nd ANNUAL TALENT SHOW

On October 29^th MTCC VISTA, Scarlett Day-Aleman and Lame Deer Boys and Girls Club VISTAs Christazia Johnson and Rebekah Guillotte hosted the second annual Lame Deer Talent Show. The Talent Show evolved this year from it’s first permutation as an art show in hopes to increase inclusivity to students beyond those with interest in visual arts. The VISTA Members hosted auditions for anything youth considered a talent.

This year’s talents ranged from hula hooping, to jump rope, to drumming, and beyond. Kids as young as five and as old as 18 were invited to participate. A total of eight students performed and 26 community members attended the event on what marked the first really cold and dreary day of the south eastern Montana winter season.

The cold contributed an additional barrier to the planning. The VISTA Talent Show coordinating team ended up switching dates twice before landing on the 29^th. Regardless of the cold weather, and date disturbances, 6^th grade student volunteers diligently secured rides to the venue on time, and an 8^th grader took the lead as a lighthearted and loving MC.

When reflecting on the event’s successes MTCC VISTA Member Scarlett highlighted the opportunity it presented to build relationships with students outside of the attitudes and assumptions worn into school settings.

“I really liked hanging out at rehearsal with the kids. At first it was overwhelming watching them run ruckus over the practice room but slowly their energy funneled into these really beautiful skills. I learned a lot about our kids, and their culture, that I would have never thought to ask about. It is fun to watch kids dive into their passions.”

Thank you Scarlett, Christazia, and Rebekah for organizing these spaces for Lame Deer youth to practice and preform. We wish we could have been there, but will live through their stories and photos as a close second!

FORK PECK BRIDGE STUDENTS TOUR UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MTCC VISTAs Kaitlyn McCoy and Kaitlin Willbanks travelled with 11 high school students: 2 from Frazer, 1 from Wolf Point, 1 from Brockton, 7 from Poplar to the Twin Cities with American Indian College Funding (AICF) through the Bridge grant. AICF states the “The program aims to improve reading comprehension, research and essay-writing, understanding of math and science concepts, knowledge of college admissions processes, and awareness of the first-year college experience amongst program participants”.

From a Fort Peck Reservation context the grant is structured to support students who have a college going attitude. Bridge programming works to familiarize these students to the college application and admission process, learn about applicable resources such as FAFSA and private scholarships, and practice coursework they could expect at the college level.  

During this most recent trip to the University of Minnesota (UM) students were exposed to the feeling of an out of state college experience in a university community 2x the size of any Montana campus population. Native American students from UM led the Bridge campus visit. They talked about the importance of time management, financial literacy, while emphasizing the many resources available to Native Americans in the Minneapolis metro area. With total honesty they made college seem both challenging and approachable.

In addition to this campus visit Fort Peck high school students: learned how to navigate public transportation in a city, the Minnesota history of Dakota peoples’, explored museums, and tried new ethnic foods. They sipped lattes at Pow Wow Grounds Coffee which doubles as a Native Art Gallery, rode roller coasters at the Mall of America, and checked out St. Anthony Falls and the view of the Mississippi river.

A 14 hour Amtrak ride can feel extremely long but totally worth one completed college application and many personal growth experiences. Frazer student Taylor Reese noted two main take aways from this MN Bridge trip: 

“1. I can transfer to a really nice college, with many other programs I never before considered. 2. I'm slowly becoming an extrovert again. Wow that second one really shocked me, but also is intentional.” 

Huge thanks to American Indian College Fund for funding these highly valuable learning opportunities for Montana students!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO MONTANA, JILL!

Jill, second from the right, with her fellow AmeriCorps leaders in 2012.

It was a bittersweet day for us this Monday, in Big Sky Country: Rocky Mountain College's Jill Washburn packed up a U-Haul, and is heading to Vermont. For the past five years Jill's been a great, consistent face of community engagement, service, volunteerism, veterans services and parent relations at Rocky, with Campus Compact, in Billings and across our state.

Before her time as a staffer at Rocky, Jill served two terms as an AmeriCorps leader -also with Rocky and  the American Red Cross- in Billings. In that capacity she organized responses to floods and disasters, and deployed to help with numerous natural disasters around the region and country. Jill's a Rocky alumna, and if you know her, you know that she's a spark plug for service! She's helped create one of our state's great campus-hosted community involvement/civic engagement offices at Rocky, has tirelessly promoted service, facilitated numerous Volunteers of the Game and Montana Athletes In Service, supervised AmeriCorps members, built a partnership with the Girl Scouts, organized and led alternative breaks, and done a ton to position Rocky as a strong, responsive campus whose students get world-class opportunities to learn and grow as citizens.

Jill's off to her next career move, in her home state of Vermont. And while we'll miss her, we also know that Vermont is lucky to have her back. Thanks, Jill!

LIBBY STUDENTS CELEBRATE NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE

My name is Maya Koepke and I’ve been serving as a MTCC VISTA in Libby, MT since August 2017. My VISTA Assignment Description is focused on strengthening our Gear Up and student internship programs at Libby Middle High School. In my past three months here I’ve learned that the Libby community takes great pride in the land they live on, the surrounding Kootenai National Forest. This year it has been an exciting honor, that our Kootenai National Forest was chosen to supply the National Christmas Tree to the White House lawn in Washington, DC.

The lighting of the National Christmas Tree is a 95 year long tradition. Starting in 1923. The first national tree was erected on the White House Lawn by DC Public Schools with permission from First Lady Grace Coolidge. Since then, the lighting ceremony of the national tree has played a significant role in events from the mourning of President Kennedy in 1963 to the celebration of the National Park Service Centennial in 2015.

This is the third year the Kootenai National Forest has supplied the National Christmas Tree. The 2017 tree was hand picked by Robert Malyevac and the National Forest Service. Superintendent of the Capitol Grounds, Ted Bechtol, then had to judge our Engelmann Spruce on height, width, branch thickness, and fullness. Finally, with Bechtol’s approval, a fifth generation Forest Service sawyer cut the Montana tree and Malyevac and his team packed it up for the journey back east. As the tree team makes its way across the country, they will stop in many towns and where Malyevac will have the opportunity to both educate about and celebrate the Kootenai National Forest.

On Tuesday, November 14th, the tree stopped at Libby Middle High School. We hosted it’s first huge outdoor assembly with all the schools in Libby. Many teachers mentioned this might be the first time in their careers they have seen the entire Libby youth present for one event. School children spelled out L-I-B-B-Y on the field as drones took photos from above. The band played, the chorus sang, and many prominent Libby community leaders spoke. The whole time our Engelmann Spruce was on a truck next to the ceremony decorated with handmade ornaments from surrounding towns of the Kootenai National Forest. The excitement was palpable as people went up to the tree and signed the banner hanging across truck. Students Lakyn and Zade Rewerts, ages 5 and 6 said it best, “It was a really big tree on a really big truck!”

Find out if the tree is coming to you here!

SPARROWS NEST'S FIRST RESIDENT STARTS COLLEGE!

Estevon Torres is a CAT!

For the past four years an emerging nonprofit called Sparrows Nest of Northwest Montana has been making headway on addressing teen homelessness in the Flathead. Sparrows Nest does some incredibly necessary work there helping homeless teens with safe housing so they can continue and complete their studies, work, and live. We've helped provide four AmeriCorps VISTAs over the past four years, and they are on the home stretch with the support we can provide. Over the years, we've seen them go from a good idea hatched by caring community members to an organization with a board, staff and volunteer pool. I remember the first call I got from Marcie Bumke, who was a volunteer and board member for Sparrows Nest. She'd been in touch with Wendy Jeschke from Flathead Valley Community College, and Wendy had told her what they were doing was well-suited for a VISTA.

Marcie was so excited to get things going, and had missed our deadline for project submissions. I knew that they had immediate needs, a work station in a partner church's rectory, and they were ready to go. So we bent the rules a bit, and got to work setting them up, got the project approved, got a work plan set up and the next thing I knew Cat, Sparrows Nest first VISTA, was in Montana, rolling up her sleeves and getting things done. It seemed to happen in just a couple of weeks.

MTCC VISTAs Cat Lehnis, Claire Anderson, Molly Neu and now, Jamie Pollard have served with Sparrows Nest, and have helped build new capacity and deeper partnerships in the Flathead, so homeless teens have better access to services, and support.

We just read this great article in Kalispell's Daily Interlake about Estevon Torres. Estevon recently started college at Montana State University this fall. Estevon was the first resident of Sparrows Nest Whitefish shelter! Great work Estevon. Keep it up.

MPSEOC BRINGS COLLEGE FAIR TO MISSOULA!

MPSEOC's College Fair in Missoula!

Montana Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities Council (MPSEOC or "mop-sock") is a non-profit organization representing over 25 higher education institutions in Montana. Every year MPSEOC hosts 24 College Fairs across Montana, reaching over 10,000 students.

Lauren Tobias, our MTCC VISTA Member serving a second service term with MPSEOC sees the fairs as “a great, and often times the only direct college exposure students in small towns across our fourth largest state in the nation get”.

High School Students test out the MPSEOC Photo Booth.

Serving as an MTCC VISTA with Poplar High School and Fort Peck Community College last year I had the opportunity to take our high school students to MPSEOC fairs in both Glasgow and Poplar, Montana. It still remains the only experience I have had with students asking for more time to take measurable steps, and asked detailed questions about their post-high school futures.

Amy Leary, MPSEOC Director, confirmed our Poplar students’ experiences are the main goal for the fairs: “Our hope is that we can help students see all their amazing post-secondary options as we open up windows to next steps for their success”.

Walking around the University of Montana's UC  Ballroom, where the fair was hosted by Emily Ferguson-Steger of UM, it was clear that excitement was in the air. Groups of students, decked out in homecoming week costumes, consistently approached tables and even formed lines to speak to representatives.

I was able to check in with a few of them, all first time fair goers, about their expectations and experience:

“This is my first fair. I am really impressed with all of the options, especially the amount of outside of schooling opportunities, like the Army.”

         – Keana, Senior at Frenchtown HighSchool

“Definitely 10 out of 10 for the scholarship table!”

 – Emma, Senior at Loyola High School

“We are exchange students so the college fair is a great opportunity to learn about post high school options in a United States context. Sports are way more important here!”

         – Pedro, Senior at Frenchtown High School

VISTA Lauren Tobias, UM 's Emily Ferguson-Steger, and MPSEOC's Amy Leary. 

Whitman College representative, Madison Hollenbeck also gave huge praise to Amy, Lauren, and the entire  MPSEOC team for “putting on some of the best fairs in the field” after stating that she has toured multiple fair circuits nationally. She concluded our short conversation saying, “MPSEOC fairs are fantastic! They are run so smoothly and I always have a clear and concise understanding of what to look forward to and expect”.

Many thanks to Amy, Lauren, and the MPSEOC team for working and serving tirelessly to make college and other post-high school options more accessible to Montana students!

SEPTEMBER 11th – MTCC VISTAS SERVE AND REMEMBER

Helena area VISTAs spearheaded a food drive!

With 26 VISTA Members statewide, Montana Campus Compact has the capacity to leave a lasting community impact on National Days of Service, both 9/11 and MLK Jr. Day. This year Members found themselves creating service projects, collaborating with other VISTAs, and lending hands to existing community events and service sites.

In the Northwest region Members Maryelizabeth Koepele and Maya Koepke donated over 16 hours to a pet shelter overwhelmed with animals from families’ needing to evacuate Eureka due to wildfires. Troy Member Haley Spurlin organized a letter writing campaign for those same firefighters at her service site – Troy Elementary School. Students thanked these public servants writing things like, “Firefighters are awesomeness...dope...lifesavers and we thank them for their service!”

VISTA Maryelizabeth Koepele with two Eureka fire-displaced puppies

Missoula Members worked to raise awareness among Missoula County Residents about a free public safety program, SMART 911. This program lets community members create a personal safety profile including information about pets in the home, children, medical needs, etc. The profile of registered residents pop ups every time they call 911. The SMART 911 profile also maps account holders on an octagonal grid so they can be notified in case of natural disasters or missing children in their area. The Missoula team reached out to over 200 Missoula County residents and businesses.

Helena Members, Shelby Lang, Rebecca Washko, and Zach Bernknopf organized a food drive for the HelenaFood Bank collecting over 1,000 pounds of food! In other food related service, Bozeman Members Connor Harbison and Aubree Pierce worked with the Towne Harvest Farm collecting crops before the first snow killed them. In the afternoon, they went to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank to pack food for those in need.

Troy Elementary students write to firefighters

Member Cora Crecelius also supported community food security, helping the National Centerfor Appropriate Technology, Main Street Uptown Butte, Butte Emergency FoodBank, Montana Tech, and multiple AmeriCorps Programs. She sorted, washed, and packed produce that had been donated to the food bank, working primarily on four crates of tomatoes, three of apples, shucking several bags of corn, and moving boxes.

Lastly, in North Eastern Montana, Poplar Members Kaitlyn McCoy, Kaitlin Willbanks, and Molly Bean planned and implemented a series of six Suicide Prevention workshops in collaboration with HPDP's suicide prevention coordinator and the state suicide prevention office. SafeTALK (Suicide Alertness For Everyone, and Tell, Ask, Listen, KeepSafe) trainings took place on September 13th and 14^th with Courage Crawford (Spotted Bull Treatment Center) as the main facilitator. The 39 participants learned how to recognize signs of potential suicide and how to respond when suicidal ideations are present by asking directly about suicide, listening to the person experiencing thoughts of suicide, and keeping that person safe until they can get connected to someone trained in more in-depth intervention.

Overall, MTCC Members identified opportunities to step up into new service roles in their communities. These national days of service provide that great opportunity for Members to plan and implement direct service projects, and build relationships beyond their immediate host site. Thanks to everyone for their extra diligent and direct service!  

AN RI RA: KEEPING KIDS CENTRAL IN A BUTTE TRADITION

VISTA Member Cora Crecelius spent the afternoon of August 11th and 12th at Butte's An Ri Ra Festival celebrating the town's Irish Heritage.

Every year tents are set up selling food, drinks, and Irish-themed souvenirs and clothing. Events are held throughout both days featuring Irish musicians and dancers. Because Cora's Supervisor, Kid's Coalition Director Kathy Tutty, is part of the Gaelic Cultural Society she got to help out by putting together a children's tent stocked with: arts and crafts, a sandbox, and pool noodles for kids to practice "Caber Toss" (a tradition of throwing tree trunks as far as possible).

For this event Cora gathered volunteers to help collect supplies and set up an attention grabbing and engaging tent. One of their finishing touches included a wooden picture, painted by a Montana Tech college student, of a fairy and leprechaun with head holes people could put their faces through for pictures.

Being flexible is one of the core competencies of a VISTA service year - even when Kids Coalition ended up short on day-of help, Cora was able to enlist the support of other festival goers to lead activities. Turning this set back into an opportunity, Cora invited a ten-year-old girl to take over face painting when some volunteers ended up as no-shows. The new volunteer had a great time taking on this leadership role and even did a really impressive job with a four leaf clover on Cora's face.

Overall, in spite of setbacks like the smoke from Montana's forest fires, and volunteer challenges, this year's An Ri Ra was a positive experience. It was a great couple of days for Cora to introduce herself and her service site, Kids Coalition, to more Butte families and locals.

10 OUT OF 10

Two weeks ago we posted about the American Indian College Fund (AICF) Bridge Grant ($100,000 distributed over two years) that VISTA Members Kaitlyn McCoy and Carly Hosford-Israel applied for and recently received during their terms of service with Fort Peck Community College (FPCC). The grant aims to increase American Indian and Alaska Native high school students' college readiness. FPCC delivers the AICF Bridge Curriculum Guide throughout the year in: academic classes during a summer academy, culturally focused camping trips, college admissions knowledge, first-year experience classes, a book club, and college campus visits.  

This week we got a little more personal and asked a Bridge Participant about her experience with the program so far – Meet MaJe Follet:
____________________________________________________________________________

I signed up for the Fort Peck Community College Bridge Academy to meet others. The towns on Fort Peck are pretty spread out over the two million plus acres of Reservation land so it is difficult to meet peers outside of each individual community. By joining Bridge I have the opportunity to: meet other students outside of Frazer, earn early college credit, and tour college campuses in Minnesota and possibly New York.

The Bridge Program is encouraging me to start getting serious about college. I have taken the initiative to start looking into academic programs that interest me as well as work study options that will make it financially feasible to see myself through senior year.

Life on Fort Peck can be a bit unpredictable. People in our communities face a number of hardships that make flexibility a challenging life skill to build. Before going off to college I hope to practice working more calmly through the unknown and unpredictable elements in life. I know there will be plenty of continued practice with that in college and I want to be prepared.

It is difficult to narrow in on my favorite part of Bridge so far. I really enjoyed our summer academy (even though the teachers might have given us more work than we received in the academic year). Also, I have already had the opportunity to make some solid new friends. We finished off the summer with a historic and culturally focused camping trip on Fort Peck Dam, with swimming, lectures on Pan-Indianism, and wahampi (soup in Dakota).

Everything with FPCC Bridge is fun, which is surprising because I never thought I would say that about an academic program. I’d 10 out of 10 recommend! 

GRANT ROLLOUT WITH A CULTURAL LENS PT. 1

Earlier this year MTCC VISTAs Kaitlyn McCoy’s and my own service site, Fort Peck Community College (FPCC) was awarded the American Indian College Fund (AICF) Native Pathways to College Bridge Program Grant - $100,000 distributed over the course of two years. The grant aims to increase American Indian and Alaska Native high school students’ college readiness. FPCC delivers the ACIF Bridge Curriculum Guide throughout the year in: academic classes during a summer academy, culturally focused camping trips, college admissions knowledge, first-year college experience classes, a book club, and college campus visits.

The most essential element of all program planning is the link between grant funded curriculum and community culture – the Bridge. Since the beginning of the grant writing process Kaitlyn and I made efforts to continually consult with various community members to guarantee the Bridge program would be relevant to students affiliated with both the Nakoda (Assiniboine) and Dakota (Sioux) Tribes. Marty Reum, FPCC Student Support Services Advocate, helped us immensely during our logo design phase and historian and writer Dr. Joseph McGeshick planned and facilitated our summer camp outs.

Kaitlyn has now been joined with a new July 2017-18 term VISTA, Kaitlin Willbanks, and the two are in the planning state for the Bridge college visits. The two are busy linking cultural relevancy to all components of the trips including travel. The October journey to and from University of Minnesota will reflect the historical Nakoda, Dakota, and Lakota (Sioux) migration. The campus tours themselves will be led by students or facility in the Native American Studies departments and engaged in Native American student groups. All of this culturally contextualized planning will introduce Fort Peck students to communities they can more comfortably transition into if they decide to attend college further from home.

While applying for, planning, and implementing Bridge, the program has been one of the most consuming projects of both Kaitlyn and my own first service year it has not always been a smooth process. Kaitlyn recently spoke to one of the weakness she’s observing during this program implementation phase: 

“One of the greatest needs overlooked by Bridge programming is the at-risk student population. While the summer academy and camp-outs reached a good number of enthusiastic youth from across Fort Peck Reservation, there is still a large percentage being left behind. There are plenty of students barely staying in school, so it is highly unlikely they can take on the extra expectations of Bridge. At the same time we know Bridge programming would be exponentially more beneficial to them.”

Kaitlyn hopes that through more brainstorming both she and Kaitlin will figure out ways to decrease the barriers of entry to this large percentage of at-risk students throughout the year.

The Bridge grant has really been a lesson in the foundational need to connect the context of a people, and even personalities, into the building of programs. Last year I learned, to serve a people one must first get to know them. Kaitlyn, Kaitlin, and I have built formative relationships with Fort Peck high school, college students, and community members that are the basis for Bridge successes. These relationships are invaluable to our service, and it is our continued hope they are similarly rewarding for Fork Peck communities.  

DARBY LACY'S VETERAN VISTA ADVICE

MTCC VISTA Alumna, Darby Lacy.

Darby Lacy just completed a year of service with the Bozeman Area Community Foundation. She agreed to share some reflections with our incoming members. Thanks Darby!

________________________________

"As I began my year of service a little over a year ago, I remember feeling as if I had so many days to fill with activities to strengthen my community. I also had no clue where to start. Upon reflection, a few principles and practices helped me find my footing for a meaningful year of service - which went by quicker than I could have ever imagined.

Even though I stayed in my community to serve, I had relatively little experience with the conventions of nonprofit work or what work nonprofits in my community were carrying out. My first weeks were filled with reading as much as possible about my organization and community. This would be my first piece of advice to new VISTAs:  Learn as much as possible about your community and your organization. Read books! Read the newspaper! Read community blogs! Go to city or tribal council meetings! Meet with community leaders! Information is everywhere. Guiding questions for this search include: What are the challenges is your community facing? What are the main economic drivers? Who is getting stuff done in the community? Who’s voices are and aren’t being heard?

I also made it a priority to meet every one of our board members for coffee during my first month of service, something I would highly recommend. I asked them questions about: why they were compelled to join the board, what they were proud of about our organization, and what they saw as our growth opportunities. I learned a tremendous amount about important moments in my organization’s history and goals for the upcoming year. I also built relationships with folks who provided guidance, feedback, and support during my year of service. This would be an equally great practice for connecting with other VISTAs, service members, and other community leaders. VISTA projects are strengthened by collaboration outside of your site, and this practice lays groundwork for that critical collaboration. Ultimately, it also helps you feel more connected to your project and potentially new home.

Another important lesson I learned was that I didn’t have to start from scratch in my service even though I was creating a new process for my organization. I recommend not completely reinventing the wheel, but also innovating an approach that suites your community.  Guiding questions here are: What’s working in other organizations similar to yours? What is unique about my community’s needs?

Finally, VISTA is all about poverty alleviation. You will be asked by VISTA to keep track of certain statistics about your service impact, and you should consider what statistics are important to your organization as well. Figure out what you want to measure and how you will measure it before you start a new program or process. This will help you share the incredible impact of your work with funders, government agencies, and community members so that your work can be supported and sustained after your time as a VISTA ends.

Perhaps the advice I’ve shared is a tell; I’m a person who believes that planning and research are necessary before diving into any project. To leave a strong VISTA legacy, I believe this information gathering and planning stage is critical work even when it feels like nothing tangible is being completed. Research and planning will allow you to build a stable foundation for VISTA projects that sustainably meet your community’s and organization’s needs. Of course flexibility, creativity, and innovation are just as necessary when plans fall through. Being well researched, in tune with your community, and open minded will prove invaluable when you are called upon to change directions in the middle of things, because inevitably you will be.

Good luck! Wishing you all the best on your VISTA journey!"

MOUNTAINS AND MARATHONS - FINDING A PATH WITH NICO COMPOSTO

Montana Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA member Nico Composto reflects on the stages of life that brought him to serve as a VISTA in Montana and his revelations moving forward.

A talented runner; a valued service member; and a good friend

"It is wild to think of the moments that influence our lives. The small, seemingly insignificant happenings that change everything. For me, an odd web of unexpected coincidences led me to make several irrational choices landing me in the middle of Montana, a place I never thought I would be and certainly didn’t think I would spend the rest of my life. But now I am here and have never felt so at home.

A year and a half ago I watched the TV show, Twin Peaks, for the first time. It is a cult classic from the early 90s that most people haven’t heard of, and those who have often hate its quirky and surreal nature. For me, though, the show struck a chord. The series took place in a small town in the inland northwest, modeled after the creator, David Lynch’s home town: Missoula, Montana. Researching that show was the first time I had ever heard of Missoula, but since that moment, this town has been all I can think about. Prior to living here, I had only ever lived in Chicago or New York, yet I craved the mountain environment that exists throughout Western Montana, so I began looking into moving here. Since graduating college in the spring of 2014, I had been working small jobs, just trying to get by and figure things out, but I never quite felt satisfied. I enjoyed my job in retail sales, but it just didn’t feel like I was doing anything particularly meaningful. I don’t really value material possessions, so it was hard for me to sell things to people when I knew that deep down they didn’t need those items. That was when I looked at the Americorps website for the first time. I wanted to stop selling shoes and start working directly with a community, improving the lives of the people around me.

Now here is where things got weird, because I am not exaggerating when I say I applied for about 200 jobs after graduating college. At least 15 of those jobs I was impeccably qualified for. 5 of those jobs I had an in with the corporate office that was doing the hiring and I was offered 0 positions. No matter what I did, no matter who I talked to it didn’t matter, I could not get a job. What a miracle. If I had gotten one of those positions I would be living in some mid-sized city in the Midwest, pushing product for some shoe company. There wouldn’t be a mountain within 1000 miles of where I would have lived. I wouldn’t be helping anyone except ensuring that the stockholders had enough money to take 3 vacations that year. But I didn’t get that job. Instead, I ended up getting a service position with VISTA at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, developing youth education programs and working to increase the role of our museum in the community. This year has been eye opening. For the first time in my life I have come to understand the value of community and I intend to spend the rest of my life working to improve the lives of people around me (or at the very least make them laugh a little more).

I have done a ton in my year as a VISTA, working in many different roles to build the capacity at my museum. There is one job, though, that I have enjoyed more than any other at the museum: I love developing education programs and teaching. That is just who I am.  Perhaps the highlight of my year has been my task of developing a summer program for Missoula-area middle-schoolers called the “Jr. Docent Program.” The idea behind the program is to train students to become tour guides at our museum. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience seeing these students grow in knowledge and confidence. After just a few weeks, they have learned a tremendous amount about history as well as developed necessary interpersonal skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. I created the curriculum for the program with the goal of making it possible to run the program on a yearly basis after my service is complete, thus expanding educational opportunities for young Missoulians for years to come.

When I was younger I always wanted to become a teacher, but growing up in Chicago I saw so many teachers upset with the education system. Being a teacher began to seem like an undesirable position. This year as a VISTA, though, has reminded me how valuable teaching is and how much I love it. For the first time in a long time I don’t feel lost. It feels like I have a plan and direction, like I am moving towards something valuable. All I want is to be a teacher in Western Montana, it doesn’t even quite matter where, as long as there are mountains. I am hoping to teach at a high school, because I personally struggled with self-identity and self-confidence during my own high school years. For any student that is experiencing similar struggles, I hope to help them through the four years that I know can be challenging and inspire them to pursue their passions and do great things for our world.

What an incredibly unlikely set of events to lead me to this point. I guess that is the way things happen for everyone. For me, I saw a TV show in the Midwest and now I am going to be a teacher in Montana… All glued together by the inspirational experiences I received as a VISTA. I am going to be finishing my year in a few weeks and I can’t give enough thanks to the people who supported me this year: The staff at MTCC, my co-workers at the Historical Museum and, of course, my fellow VISTAs who never stopped and never will stop having deeply meaningful roles in the communities with which they work. What an awesome group of people to have spent my year with."

AMERICORPS VISTA SCARLETT DAY-ALEMAN REFLECTS ON CONISISTENCY

Scarlett Day-Aleman is a Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA Member serving in Lame Deer, Montana. She shared the following piece with us recently. Thanks, Scarlett!
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Ten of the past twelve months of my life have been spent in service to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Lame Deer, Montana. I have served with two different, equally amazing, organizations. I have learned so much and made some amazing connections with the community around me. I would not trade a minute of what I am doing, or what I did in the summer, for anything in the world. Just to make it clear: I do not hold any of my organizations responsible for the pit-falls that just naturally happen, nor am I discounting the good works they are doing. However, some things need to be addressed to make sure the good intentions people have are carried out in the most positive way.

The theory of “good-deed whiplash” came to me as I was evaluating the difference I was making as a VISTA and the difference I made when I was in Lame Deer during the summer. For some reason, being a VISTA makes a person extremely pensive about their purpose and contributions. This theory has been sloshing around my mind for about four and a half months and I haven’t been able to pin down an extremely formal definition, but I know the gist of what I think it means. “Good-Deed Whiplash” is the negative affects of temporary people on the lives of a community that may need semi-permanent to permanent people.

For example, the summer organization that I served with, Youth Works, arrives in Lame Deer for roughly two and a half months (80 days) and then, without much warning, picks up and leaves. The relationships formed are real and the seeds planted are great, but the feelings that kids have after are not always positive. I have talked with kids who feel almost abandoned after the summer because people that they grew to love and trust are suddenly gone. Kids are not the only people who feel the effect of “Good-Deed Whiplash”. Many community members are left to pick-up the pieces of the “good-deeds” after the people orchestrating the programs leave town.

“Good-Deed Whiplash” is most prevalent in low-income communities. Low-income communities are more likely to be grounds of broken homes where children often feel abandoned. Also, low-income communities are fertile fields for missionaries and social programs to take root. Where mission teams and social programs exist, so do temporary people eager to help.

The most prevalent example of “Good-Deed Whiplash” in my life were the conversations I had with the kids when I first moved back to Lame Deer after my summer service was over. After the initial excitement of me being back wore off one of my sixth-graders told me, “I’m so glad you came back. So many people say they’re coming back, but they never do.” Those two simple sentences really struck me. The fact that “so many” people had lied to her struck me even more. I reassured her that the friends she made over the summer still loved her and that even without them she could continue to do great things. That night I vowed to be up front with the kids and not try to pacify them by telling them shallow things. It has really made a difference in how I serve and how I talk with the kids and community I am working with.

While trying to figure out possible personal solutions for “Good-Deed Whiplash”, I have run into a few road blocks. Not everyone is afforded the opportunity to stay in the community they serve, so the solution of just telling people to stay somewhere is not a feasible one. The only feasible solution would be a two part project. The first part would be preparing the kids and the community for your departure. This could be done by making a calendar for the kids you work with so that they can see your departure date. Inform them that you have “x” amount of Friday’s left or “x” amount of days left. This would help ease them in to the transition of you leaving. Their trust would not be broken because it would not be a surprise to them. The second part would be to keep in contact with the people you work with even after you leave. Life is busy and it seems like certain things always get in the way of staying in touch, but with a little perseverance it will all fall into place. Many times, relationships formed are often forgotten when moving due to life just getting in the way. However, it is also important to realize that for some of these kids or community members their only positive influence is brought by the people coming to serve. Staying in contact does not have to be anything elaborate. All it has to be is a letter saying “Thinking of you”, a post card from your home state or where ever you end up after service. Those small gestures will go extremely far in creating sustainable changes in people that you inspire during your time in the community.

On an organizational level, “Good Deed Whiplash” could be combated with proper training. Some of the things that affect low-income communities do not affect other communities. People are not always aware of these distinctions. Optional training on abandonment issues, dealing with at-risk youth, and how poverty affects the psyche, would really alleviate issues that arise due to ignorance. Also having open discussions between former VISTAs or other service members in the community would help new VISTAs get a pulse for their community. Things like legacy binders are a great start, but should also include more things based on community relations.

While “Good Deed Whiplash” is a very real problem it is not a reason to stop serving. The things that YouthWorks does for the local community and students it brings have lasting effects on them both. The things that VISTA has done, and hopefully will continue to do, has changed the face of America for the better. Service is never a bad thing, but it can have negative effects if a proper awareness and connectivity to the intricacy of that community is not fostered. Addressing problems both on a personal level and an organizational level will help to strengthen the organization and community connection. With a few minor tweaks service organizations can continue to serve, but with a greater impact.

REMEMBERING GEORGE WITH CHARLIE BRIGGS

When George Dennison passed away earlier this year, it prompted us to reach out to many of the folks with whom Dennison had worked to establish, grow and support Campus Compact and National Service in Montana. Recently we heard from Charlie Briggs. Charlie is a University of Montana alum, and is the public policy and development officer with Easter Seals Goodwill of the Northern Rockies. When I got my start with Campus Compact, Charlie was director of the Governor's Office of Community Service. He shared some thoughts about George here. Thank you, Charlie.
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In Montana, the Commission is housed in the Governor’s Office of Community Service (and established in statute by the 1993 Legislature), and I served as the second Executive Director from September 1997 – February 2001.  It’s interesting that George was so personable, at least in our dealings it was usually on a first-name basis (which was certainly not the case in meeting with him at the university environment, such as Main Hall).  We had a warm, yet professional working relationship.  He was a decidedly strong leader of the Commission.  George was passionate about national service, and quickly embraced the creation of the Corporation for National Service in 1992-93 (early in the Clinton years, though
initial grants I recall came out at the end of the George H.W. Bush term).  He was appointed Chair by Gov. Racicot, who also embraced national service and created the Office under the Governor, and served as Chair through the Martz Administration.

George was a very direct, clear communicator, and a very engaged Chair of the Montana Commission, developed effective working relationships with a diverse commission membership, making sure everyone was engaged.  He was also most supportive of the work our staff did to prepare and the protocols to award AmeriCorps grants, which included creation of the Montana Campus Corps, under Campus Compact, and other grants such as the Learn and Serve grants awarded in cooperation with the Office of Public Instruction.  He was also committed to maintaining a positive working relationship with the Corporation’s State Office, under the leadership of Joe Lovelady, and then John Allen.

Charlie Briggs

I left the Montana Commission in 2001 to become ED for the Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, the state commission originally created under Gov. Ann Richards, but enthusiastically embraced by Gov. George W. Bush.  I only mention this because the Texas Campus Compact when I started was really a fledgling university organization there.  As University President, George had really invested in making Campus Compact a priority in the Montana University System.  A couple years into my tenure, I helped convene a meeting of campuses in partnership with their Compact, and asked George to be the keynote speaker.  He readily agreed, made time in his schedule and flew to Austin at his own expense to provide the keynote, but also spent time conferring with campus executives about the importance of supporting national service among university students through the Compact.  That underscored how instilled in George was the importance of campus-based service learning and strengthening civic engagement.  I think that is an important part of his legacy that will hopefully stand the test of time.

Charlie Briggs
March 2017

NASA BLASTS OFF FROM BIGFORK WITH CARTER OLLERVIDEZ

Hello, my name is Carter Ollervidez. I am a MTCC AmeriCorps Leader serving at ACES afterschool program in Big Fork, MT. We got the great opportunity to be part of a NASA STEM challenge. I went to Helena to attend a two day, face-to-face training with NASA in order to fully grasp the STEM challenge my students will be taking on.

During our training, the first challenge was landing on the surface of Mars! I worked with a partner using the Engineering Design Process (EDP). Together we embarked on a mission of building a drag device to slow down a capsule to the surface of mars. We were able to finish a great prototype at the training and then I was on my way home to start the program in Big Fork.

We started off the program at ACES with some team building. Then we broke up into two teams. Our first mission was to come up with a team name, mission patch and a vision statement.

Team One: The Cat-stronauts, proclaiming; “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!”

Team Two: The Orion Landers and their vision statement is; “Let's take a trek.”

On day two we got together and played a rousing game of hot seat with our vocabulary words for the course. Then we discussed in more detail the criteria and constraints of the challenge.

Our Mission: Build a drag device to slow down a capsule for landing on the surface of Mars.

Constraints:
1. Only the materials provided can be used for the drag device.
2. The drag device must connect to a team-built cargo bay that is assembled using the template provided in the student journal section.
3. The overall mass cannot exceed 50 grams.
4. The drag device must have angled or round edges; one big circle is not allowed.
5. The cargo bay should be protected by the device when it is dropped from a height of one, two and three meters.

Then to finish off the day the students wrote a letter to our Program Director at ACES, explaining their new job as a NASA Scientist.

The team working hard on the design of their parachute.

We then got right into research. They dove into questions about drag devices, low-density supersonic decelerators, parachutes, and much more. We also made sure to research who will benefit from this work we are doing and this problem we are hopefully solving. We also came up with a few questions for our NASA Scientists to answer. One of our questions was: How much does a 100 ft. parachute weigh?

This period was hard work for the teams, we concentrated super hard and powered through. Each team worked separately on a design that fulfills the constraints of our project.
The teams powered through, then came together at the end to see and explain to each other their design. They came up with two prototypes to begin building.

We started off the New Year with a bang by meeting NASA scientist, David Berger! He grew up on a small farm in Indiana wanting to work on the next NASA rocket plane/spacecraft. He was fortunate enough to be able to start working at NASA as a co-operative education student in college.  At NASA he has worked in propulsion, aerodynamics, systems engineering, flight test engineering, chief engineering and education technical management positions.

After our call with David Berger we started building our devices! The kids took to it and worked well together, creating and adapting the model as they used different materials.

Next up, we went out and tested our two designs! Then they spent time reworking designs to see what we could improve upon based on the first test’s performance. The kids were super excited to try their prototypes! Following a few design changes, it was time to test them once again.

The kids learned the importance of having a big light surface area chute with a hole to help stabilize the craft on the descent. Their last chute proved to work the best as they continued to consider weight and surface area ratios.

Testing the parachute and taking notes.

We also had the pleasure to talk with Kurtis Long.  Kurtis Long is a research engineer at NASA Ames Research Center. He runs wind tunnel tests to investigate the lift, drag, and flow patterns of different objects. We had a really great experience listening and asking questions. Mr. Long congratulated the students on their designs, and was happy to see they had come up with a few ideas that NASA also had.  ie; A parachute designed with a hole in the center, and a cupped capsule to catch wind.

Our final discussion with NASA was career oriented. We met with the Johnson Space Center, It is the center dedicated to astronauts. Our Subject Matter Expert was Sarah McNamara. Mrs. McNamara works on the guidance, safety release and evacuation for the Orion Lander.  She answered a ton of questions the kids had for her about different careers NASA has to offer - from doctors to divers. She also spoke on becoming a NASA Scientist and how to do it! She said goodbye in a really neat way - by showing us a live view from space!

Finally, the last week was upon us. We made the finishing touches on our video and even shared a little time at the local Dairy Queen and having a celebratory ice cream cone.

Thanks for following our journey. We all learned a lot and can’t believe we got to talk to real astronauts!