Alumni Spotlight: Emily Clark

Emily served as both an AmeriCorps Leader at Montana Campus Compact, and later as a staff member! Of the service year, Emily said "I was able to witness inspirational community service occurring across the vast state of Montana. MTCC college student members served a breadth of community needs: from health classes at the Poplar Wellness Center with Fort Peck Community College to the TRIO peer tutoring at UM Western in Dillon. MTCC fostered collaborations between non-profits and college campuses to meet community needs and encouraged student members to be proactive citizens. I feel fortunate to have met many engaged and charitable Montanas while working for MTCC."

Emily is currently a hydrologist with WGM Group, Inc..Thanks for your service, Emily!

Alumni Spotlight: Sydne Campbell

Sydne served as a Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA at Fort Peck Community College from 2004-2005. Of the service year, Sydne said "It helped me to be able to work with those from other areas of the United States and see what we do have in common as one. It gave me a positive encouraging push to strive to help others in a positive way. It helped me to give back to my community and the organization."

Sydne currently works as a Legal Assistant/Administrative Assistant at the Fort Peck Tribes Chairman's Office. Thanks for your service, Sydne!

Almuni Spotlight: Katie Koga

Katie served as a Campus Compact AmeriCorps Team Leader at The University of Montana from 2010-2011. Reflecting on the service year, Katie said "This experience helped shape my view of public service and what it looks like for different individuals. Following my time with Campus Corps, I transitioned to working for a social justice organization, addressing issues of prejudice, oppression, and discrimination. As I'm transitioning to a career in healthcare, my service experience continues to strengthen my commitment to work that serves and benefits the public while engaging me as a community member."

Katie is a current student at the University of Montana, in the pre-nursing program. Thanks for your service, Katie!

 

Alumni Spotlight: Jon Stephani

Jon served as an AmeriCorps Team Leader at The University of Montana Western from 2009-2011, and was a staff member at Montana Campus Compact from 2013-2015. Reflecting on service, Jon said "I would not be where I am today without my experience with the Montana Campus Compact. My two years of National Service set the stage for my future career. While serving, I was involved in many training and development opportunities that allowed me to build skills in Situational Leadership, Group and Team Dynamics, and Project Planning and Implementation. National Service pushed me to become not grow professionally, but to become a better person. As a staff member for the Montana Campus Compact, I was able to pass on the same passion for national service and skills to other National Service Members. In a sense, I was able to pass the torch to a new generation."

"I am eternally grateful to the Montana Campus Compact for all the opportunities that were provided to me. I developed a deep sense of community involvement that I have carried with me into a new career. The Compact instilled the desire to serve my community, and to make the world around me a better place."

Thanks for your service, Jon!

Alumni Spotlight: Jennifer Gardner Newbold

Jennifer was an AmeriCorps Leader with the University of Montana Campus Corps from 1999-2000. Reflecting on service, Jennifer said "It really solidified in me a sense of responsibility to my community. I was always civic-minded, but my second year with AmeriCorps as an AmeriCorps Leader with Campus Compact really instilled in me a lifelong sense of duty in me. I think that’s because I developed a deep appreciation for service through my time with AmeriCorps. You see so many needs met, but also so many needs left unfulfilled. You learn that you actually can – and do – make a difference. It also helped me develop many professional skills that I rely on today – particularly understanding how different personalities can work together and how positivity and organization really do help you get things done!"

"I feel I can say with confidence, that without my AmeriCorps experience, my life could have taken a different path. The opportunity to engage in something meaningful after finishing college, but before moving on to the next phase of my life, is something I will always be grateful for. AmeriCorps is a unique experience, and one that without a doubt, shaped who I am today."

Jennifer is currently an attorney with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thanks for your continuing service, Jennifer!

REMEMBERING GEORGE: HABITS OF THE HEART WITH JOHN ALLEN

George Dennison, (originally printed in the Spring 2010 Montanan)

In January, we lost a dedicated, visionary leader when George Dennison passed away. Since then, we've put the call out to friends and colleagues of George to send us pieces about working with him and what it meant. This piece comes from John Allen, who worked as Montana state director for the Corporation for National and Community Service office. John's retired now, but he served on the Governor's Commission on Community Service with George. John helped establish MTCC's VISTA program and wrote this piece on the occasion of George's retirement. It ran originally in the Spring 2010 issue of the Montanan, UM's alumni magazine.
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"I know President Dennison as a builder who has made Montana a better place. One can easily see all the growth at UM—the new stadium, the powerhouse football team, increased student enrollment, the rise of the University’s academic reputation, and other milestones. From my personal experience and knowledge, Dennison’s legacy also is about building foundations that we can build on to create more and better volunteer programs, a more civically engaged population, and, consequently, a stronger democracy.

During my thirty-five years working in community service, civic engagement, and volunteerism, and ten years as the Montana director for the Corporation for National and Community Service (known as the domestic Peace Corps), I worked with Dennison to encourage civic engagement and volunteerism. He is a builder—a visionary with a can-do attitude. I can’t count the number of times in meetings where he would say, “Let’s get it done.” He is able to connect seemingly unrelated issues while fostering relationships between far afield entities, like college volunteers working with senior volunteers to collect for food banks or young volunteers teaching senior volunteers about computers. Dennison realizes a successful democracy depends on an educated and civically engaged population. 

John Allen

Often he would lead dialogues among leaders in community service about the importance of volunteerism. Building civic engagement to him was not only an academic interest; it was about something bigger and getting it done. Dennison provided the vision and leadership at the University, in Montana, and nationally to increase civic engagement. He served on the national Campus Compact board and was instrumental in building, in Montana, one of the most successful branches in the nation. Campus Compact promotes civic engagement at the university level. Year after year, UM ranks among the top universities nationally for civically engaged students, outranking many prestigious schools. For fifteen years Dennison was the chair, visionary, and leaderof the Montana Commission on Community Service, which promoted civic engagement. With his leadership, the commission developed and implemented more programs and created an environment that encouraged collaborations not often seen in larger states. Civic engagement experts considered the Montana Campus Compact and Montana Commission on Community Service as models for the nation, a direct result of Dennison’s longtime commitment and leadership. He gave tireless effort and always made himself available." 

John Allen

REMEMBERING GEORGE PT. 2

I had the pleasure of working with George Dennison for nearly 20 years at the University of Montana. His visionary leadership and support for civic engagement programming provided the basis for all of my professional work at UM and statewide. 

Under his leadership, UM’s service learning and civic engagement initiatives were launched and institutionalized. In addition to being one of the founding presidents of Montana Campus Compact, he also created UM’s Volunteer Action Services office which later became the Office for Civic Engagement. Thousands of UM students each year continue to engage in volunteer and service learning activities because of the foundation and infrastructure of support he built. It is noteworthy that while George is known for the many physical buildings he built at UM, he was also responsible for laying the structural foundations for many programs and initiatives that also have endured over time. 

I always appreciated George’s straightforward leadership style. Even though it was intimidating at times, it provided clarity for direction of programming and partnerships. His legacy of engagement will live on throughout UM and Montana for a long time to come and we will always be grateful for his leadership in this field.

REMEMBERING GEORGE DENNISON

George Dennison, 1935-2017. Photo by Erik-Stenbakken

Earlier this month we lost George Dennison to non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Known to many of us a "President Dennison" or later, just "George" after enough years and when it didn’t feel strange or disrespectful. It’s hard to overstate the forward-thinking, future shaping work that George committed himself to. On a daily basis working for Campus Compact and with higher ed. in Montana I still feel the impact of his belief in service, civic engagement and higher education’s role in supporting American democracy, and global citizenship. The list of Dennison’s accomplishments while administering the University of Montana is too long to mention here, so I’ll focus instead on his role with Montana Campus Compact, and a few parts of his service legacy.

George, along with his colleagues from seven other Montana higher education institutions, founded Montana Campus Compact in 1993. They believed that higher education has an important role to play to shape our nation's, state's and community leaders, and that by actively engaging with community, higher education offered students opportunities to apply their learning, learn valuable skills, and address real challenges. He offered office space on the campus at UM to our fledgling Compact, and we’ve been here hosted and supported by UM for the past 20+ years. I’ve worked for Campus Compact since 2000, and I remember my first impressions of President Dennison when I started this work. He was an imposing figure, he said what was on his mind, commanded the respect of others and worked incredibly hard to position the University of Montana and Campus Compact as leaders in civic engagement work. He’s one of the few people I can think of whose presence I associate with the word gravitas. When he talked, you listened. On the other hand, it was clear he loved what he did, and he had a great smile and sense of humor.

My first job with Campus Compact was as a VISTA leader, and I served with the AmeriCorps Member Advisory Council that year. We sent our members to the Montana Commission on Community Service which George chaired, to observe the meeting and report on AmeriCorps members and VISTAs collaborative work. I remember George ran a very efficient meeting and adhered closely to Robert’s Rules.  The Commission had awarded AmeriCorps funding for about seven years at that point, and were working to branch into additional lines of business that advanced their mission. I remember that the idea of creating a service scholarship for incoming college freshmen had been percolating with the Commission for a time. George believed that Montana needed greater infrastructure for service, and volunteered to call the (then) Student Assistance Foundation, and bring a proposal to his colleagues with Campus Compact, and see what could happen.  Soon thereafter, the Youth Serve Montana scholarship was born, and 100 incoming college students who’d demonstrated active citizenship and volunteerism were receiving $1000 to advance their college studies. It was pretty impressive to witness, and to this day, that legacy lives on and each fall we work with the same partners to award 100 scholarships. Student Assistance Foundation is now called Reach Higher Montana, but otherwise we still work closely both with them and the Governor’s Office of Community Service.

That’s a small part of the legacy that George Dennison left in Montana, but an example of how easy he made it look. We will do our best to open this space for others to remember George. He was a giant in this world, and he helped shape much of the infrastructure that continues to support service, civic engagement and education in Montana.  I remember him well, and it’s humbling to get to work in a field that he helped to start in Montana. Thanks for all you did George, we miss you.

MLK JR. DAY IN MONTANA

You probably know that Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is coming and while many schools, campuses and businesses are closed, we treat it as a day of service. Here in Montana, MTCC sponsors an event called Read for Peace that was started by an MTCC VISTA named Bess Pallares several years back. Across the state, our campuses and their national service members, students, staff, faculty and volunteers work with nearby elementary schools to read about Dr. Kings, his words, ideas and legacy. After the reading, these volunteers work with kids to do either an art project or poem about Dr. King. It's really a lot of fun, and the volunteers and kids have a great time getting to know each other a little.

That brings us around to this great piece of news! Our current MTCC VISTA Leader, Sam Garetson's been on fire lately. He's organizing the read for Peace events in Missoula, and supporting our VISTAs and AmeriCorps members around Montana as they plan events. Sam recently recruited the University of Montana Men's Basketball Team to be readers for Missoula's MLK Read for Peace event. These student athletes will be reading to fifteen, third and fourth grade classrooms at Hellgate Elementary Intermediate on Monday, January 16th. We applaud them for taking time out of their days to bring the words and ideas of Dr. King to young people in Missoula.

LITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE HOSTS AMERICORPS TRAINING

MTCC AmeriCorps at Little Bighorn College

The wind was unforgivingly whipping across the plains while a young native woman with long black hair flowing in the wind rode a bare back on a horse up a hill riddled with white markers at the Little Big Horn Battlefield.  The stories of the battle echoed throughout the rental car over the radio speakers synced to a cell phone. Each historical marker had a corresponding stop number which changed the story to that location. Being surrounded by the narrative of this clash of cultures and being placed in the story by proximity, “over the ridge to your left, the soldiers advanced.  The cluster of white markers mark were the soldiers fell…” made for a surreal experience. The Crow People were not part of the battle at Little Big Horn that was the Sioux and Cheyenne, but that does not stop the Crow people from wanting to learn more about this struggle for independence as one Crow woman shared she focused her college thesis on the Native American perspective of the battle.  She was instrumental in setting up this tour of the battlefield for the AmeriCorps members.

Little Big Horn College welcomed the MTCC AmeriCorps Leaders from around the state for a Close of Service Training.  The training included opportunities to learn more about the Crow people through their games, food and stories. Crow games go above simply being fun. The games teach skills for hunting to young boys while another one helps woman control their destiny.

The training also included opportunities for the Leaders to learn about teen depression from Joan Nye with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, learn more about the work and resources available via of Reach Higher Montana (formerly Student Assistance Foundation) as well as the ins and outs of the Education Awards earned with National Service. Bringing together members to reflect on their service and how they can leave a legacy for future teams deployed at their campuses is important aspect of AmeriCorps Close of Service events.  MTCC AmeriCorps Leaders are deployed at campuses around the state including Montana Tech, Bitterroot College, MSU Northern, Little Big Horn College, Dawson College and with Girls Scouts of Montana and Wyoming in Billings (MSU Billings) and Great Falls (University of Great Falls).  Those interested in hosting a College Access focused AmeriCorps team at their college should apply via the mtcompact.org website.

While watching three young boys’ race miniature horses in the courtyard of the Little Big Horn College in preparation for the Pow Wow later that night, Shakira an AmeriCorps Leader and Crow woma,n told us that when a Crow boy reaches three-years-old they begin to learn to ride bareback. Boys start on small horses to fit the child’s size, but graduate to full size horses in due time.  It was clear these boys had been riding for many years even though they couldn’t have been more than 9 or 10 years old.  They were riding fast, making sharp turn-a-rounds and switching riders quickly much like a relay race.  An older boy was coaching the younger two.  It was clear he would be moving up in horse size soon as he dwarfed the horses and struggled to keep his feet off the ground as he rode on these tiny horses.  

“Water is Life!” was the theme of the week at Crow Agency as the Crow Tribe celebrated an historic settlement for water rights.  The celebration featured a parade including floats, Crow men in headdress’ riding horses and women in native dress juxtaposed to young men wearing t-shirts and baseball caps and playing the drums and chanting.  Beautiful woven blankets covered truck hoods and beds, songs, candy, and water balloons were highlights of the parade.  It was a cornucopia of Crow people, tradition, culture all mixed together to embrace Water is Life! We were honored with the opportunity for a rare look at a celebration of the Crow culture and be sent off on our travels with a traditional travel prayer spoken in the Crow language that doesn’t say ‘good-bye’ but rather ‘when we meet again’.  Sadly, we had to miss the celebration continuing at the Pow Wow later that night, but the leaders were off to their respective campuses to complete their service and the MTCC staff was heading to MSU to spread the word about the great work the teams are doing around the state in the lives of first generation and low income students they are privileged to serve in hopes they too would like to host a team.
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Piece by Dannette Fadness, MTCC Program Manager

MTCC ALUM ANNIE MOMBOURQUETTE CHECKS IN

Annie Mombourquette served with MTCC as an AmeriCorps VISTA from August 2014-August 2015 with Browning Public Schools and Blackfeet Community College.  She is continuing her service as a FoodCorps member with the same host site.  We wish Annie the best of luck with the remainder of her service with FoodCorps and life after AmeriCorps!
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When and where did you serve during your term as an AmeriCorps VISTA? 

I served in Browning, Montana with the Browning Public Schools Food Service Nutrition Education and School/Community Garden Program. I also partnered with Blackfeet Community College as my campus partner. 

How did your year of service impact your life? 

When I started as a VISTA, I planned to go to grad school to study plant genetics. I'm now pursuing public health with a focus on health behavior and chronic disease prevention. More importantly, VISTA brought me to Browning, MT where I've grown as a professional, community member, and person. It has been a privilege to work with the school system and in the community for the last two years. And, I am excited for what's to come. 

What did you do after your term as a VISTA? 

I am currently a FoodCorps Service Member with the Browning Public Schools. FoodCorps is a national network of AmeriCorps leaders connecting kids to real food so they can grow up healthy. 

Where are you now and what is your daily work life like? 

My service varies from day to day. On most days, I teach hands-on nutrition lessons in K through 12 classrooms, maintain the school and community garden and greenhouse, and increase access to healthy food. 

COMMUNITY BUILDING INSTITUTE TRAINING

The Community Building Institute (CBI) is offered twice a year and hosted by the Montana Campus Compact.  The CBI provides the foundation for service projects to transition into sustained, community-supported programs. This training includes six (6) web-based sessions facilitated by experts in community organizing. The sessions are designed for projects in different stages of development: from the beginning assessment stages to the long-standing project seeking to evaluate its impact.  The CBI Training Series is a crucial resource for the sustainable development of community-based initiatives.
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Our sessions and presenters are:

Community Assessment  Colleen Kane, University of Montana Associate Director of Community Engagement and Student Programs

Creating Community Awareness and Stakeholder Involvement-  Andrea Vernon, Montana Campus Compact and UM Office for Civic Engagement Executive Director

Building Community Advisory Groups-  Shannon Stober, Owner Verve Exchange

Strategic Planning-  Roch Turner, Bitterroot College Director of Workforce Development and Programs

Strategic Planning Implementation- Roch Turner, Bitterroot College UM Director of Workforce Development and Programs 

Evaluation for Everyday Use-  Kate Chapin, UM Director of Field Education 

This Spring, CBI will begin on February 23rd and end on March 29th.  It will be every Tuesday from 10AM-11AM.  Below is the community building life cycle. 

For more information and how to register please contact Program Specialist Lacy Fiore at 406-243-5671 or fiore@mtcompact.org.  

MTCC SUMMER PROGRAMMING

MTCC VISTA Summer Associates in June, 2015.

Across Montana college students offer communities a myriad of talents. From working and volunteering in schools, with nonprofits and with cities and towns, you can count on a college student to bring fresh perspectives, ideas and energy, whether they're nineteen or forty seven. To support the great needs communities experience over the summer and the great wells of energy, skill and enthusiasm that college students bring, MTCC is continuing and adding resources to our summer AmeriCorps and VISTA programming.

In past years, we've placed as many as thirty VISTA Summer Associates with youth-serving nonprofits, city parks departments and other programs. This year, we will add the new MTCC AmeriCorps program to the equation, bringing additional resources, and a focus on postsecondary readiness, and near-peer college coaching to the work.

MTCC affiliate campuses and their partners are invited to apply to host MTCC Summer AmeriCorps and VISTA members, to add value and impact to their summer programming. Additionally, the MTCC network office is seeking existing partnerships where summer work study awards are utilized to link college students with important community work. These positions may be eligible to link with Education Award vouchers and national service training and affiliation to students. Please reach out and let us know if you need more information, or a phone call!

This page on our website has more information.

MTCC HOSTS MLK JR. READ FOR PEACE EVENTS ACROSS MONTANA.

Lacy Fiore Gets Things Done!

We caught up with Lacy Fiore, AmeriCorps VISTA alum and our current VISTA leader, to discuss the Compact's Martin Luther King Jr. Read For Peace events. Lacy has led the organizing process for events across the state this year and spearheaded two very successful fundraising events that are ensuring that schools and libraries have access to current, age-appropriate books about Martin Luther King Jr.

Tell me about MTCC's Martin Luther King Jr. Read For Peace event. (How it started, history, collaboration across AmeriCorps, VISTA and Senior Corps programs, who's involved, how MTCC campuses get involved)
MLK Read For Peace was started by one of our VISTA alumni, Bess Pallares, in 2010.  Montana Campus Compact VISTAs collaborate with service members across the state to make this a successful event.  Service members include all of the AmeriCorps VISTA programs, and AmeriCorps prograsms like Food Corps and Energy Corps, and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, as well as Senior Corps members. MTCC campuses get involved by connecting college student volunteers with reading project, providing books, outreach for the event and some may even host the event.

Which Montana communities are hosting Read For Peace events this week?
We have VISTA members and AmeriCorps members hosting MLK Read For Peace projects in Missoula, Hamilton, Butte, Billings, Livingston, Bozeman, Glendive and Havre.  You can go to our website to contact a local coordinator to see how you can be part of Read For Peace.

If people want to volunteer as readers, how do they?
If anyone is interested in reading on MLK Read For Peace, they can contact me directly at 406-243-5671 or email me at fiore@mtcompact.org.

Tell us about Barnes And Noble supporting this event?
This year we partnered with our local Barnes and Noble and held two book fairs. At the book fairs, if anyone mentioned Montana Camps Compact or Read For Peace when checking out, a portion of their purchase would go to our initiative.  After both book fairs were finished, we raised over $850 towards MLK books.  With the book s we purchased, we sent them to smaller communities across Montana to support their Read For Peace events.  When the members are finished with the books they will be donated to their local schools and libraries.

Any words of encouragement or advice for volunteers?
Just get out and do it!  The kids love it and have a lot of fun learning about Dr. King.  It’s also fun for volunteers, too!
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Thanks Lacy!

JANUARY VISTAS GATHER FOR CLOSE OF SERVICE

Montana Campus Compact January VISTAs gather in Missoula for their Close of Service.  We had presenters and sessions to prepare them for life after AmeriCorps.  All sessions were held at the University of Montana in the Payne Family Native American Center and the Mansfield Library.   We had delicious lunches and dinners donated by local restaurants Five on Black , Pie Hole and coffee from Starbucks.  Our members exiting service are:

Brandon Fish- Native Science Field Center- Blackfeet Community College

Sam Garetson- Upward Bound- Salish Kootenai College

Constance Johnson- Garfield Literacy Project- Montana State University Billings

Kate Johnson-Student Marketing and Outreach- Bitterroot College

Dalya Kefi- kidsLINK Afterschool Expanded Opportunities Project- Montana State University Bozeman

Sunny Pate- Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming- University of Great Falls

Morgan Ray- Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming- Flathead Valley Community College

Michele Schahczenski- Children's Museum of Missoula- University of Montana

Coral Thede- Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming- Gillette College

Jon Van Dyke- Zootown Arts Community Center- University of Montana 

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As always, we wish you all the best of luck with life after AmeriCorps and keep in touch!

MTCC VISTA DEANNA LINN BRINGS NANOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH TO MSU

Deanna Linn is a Montana Campus Compact VISTA serving with the Girls STEM Collaborative at Montana State University.  She began her service in July 2015.  Below is a press release about the amazing work Deanna is doing at MSU.

BOZEMAN, Mont.—An annual Halloween festival for children received an infusion of nanotechnology when an AmeriCorps VISTA member based at Montana State University brought science outreach activities to the university’s Family & Graduate Housing.

FGH hosts an annual Pumpkin Festival near Halloween, and Deanna Linn, who serves via Montana Campus Compact within MSU’s Extended University, recruited undergraduate and graduate students from MSU’s Chemical and BiologicalEngineering Department to volunteer at the Oct. 17 event.

The team presented several hands-on science activities to approximately 115 children and their families who attended the event, which also included a costume contest, pie-eating contest and pumpkin catapult along with pumpkin bowling, pumpkin painting, bean bag toss, arts and crafts, sack race, tic-tac-toe, cookie decorating, science experiments with bubbles and dry ice, and face painting. This is the first time the annual event has included a NanoDays outreach component. MSU Extended University is part of a national program that helps the public better understand nanoscale science and engineering

Families from around the world live in MSU’s Family Housing complex, where children range from newborn to 18 and who hail from all backgrounds: single-parent families, low-income families, military families, etc. Many countries are also represented, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, China, Japan, Nepal, Lebanon and Brazil as well as families from around Montana and the U.S.

The partnership was a success and has opened up possibilities for future NanoDays and other STEM outreach projects between MSU Family and Graduate Housing and MSU Extended University. Linn shared information about the partnership with the national project, the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, to inspire other organizations to partner with their local Family Housing complex.

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Great work, Deanna!  We can't wait for our next check in to see what all you have accomplished. Keep up the amazing work!

CAMPUS COMPACT HONORS STUDENT ATHLETE VOLUNTEERS

As you might know, Montana Campus Compact is a seventeen campus higher education network that advances the public purposes of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and educate students for civic and social responsibility. This weekend, Saturday November 21,  MTCC Board Members and Governor Bullock will honor fifteen exemplary college student athletes who are model examples of our mission and vision.

“College students in Montana do amazing community work, and their investment of time, talent and energy help improve our communities across the state. Campus Compact’s Montana Athletes In Service Award honors the contributions of student athletes and volunteers.” said Josh Vanek, of MTCC.

The 2015 Montana Athletes in Service are:

Anthony Williams, Fort Peck Community College, General Studies, Weightlifting, Football, community/college gym volunteer

Brett Thompson, Montana State University-Northern, Major: Biology, Basketball, Community Volunteer

Callee Remsen, Montana Tech of the UM, Major:  Nursing, Basketball, Big Sister/Child Mentor

Cameron Lee, Montana State University Billings, Major: Organizational Communications, Soccer, Community volunteer

Emily Mendoza, University of Montana, Major: Social Work, Track & Field, Advocate for Student Advocacy Resource Cntr

Greg Thompson, Helena College UM, Associate of Science, Basketball coach, Volunteer Coach & Youth Mentor

Jesse McCloud, University of Montana-Western, Major: Art Education, Football, volunteer Coach and Youth Mentor

Kayla Johnson, Salish Kootenai College, Major:  Tribal Historic Preservation, Basketball, SKC Foundation &  Safe Women’s Shelter

Robert  Pritchett, Rocky Mountain College, Major: Athletic Training, Football, Big Brother Mentor

Taylor South, Carroll College, Major: Biology, Football, Homeless shelter Volunteer, Volunteer Counselor, Disabled Child Volunteer

Taylor Buschy,   Montana State University, Major: Health Education, Track & Field, Elementary/Middle School Volunteer

Tiffany  Marks,  University of Great Falls, Major: Business Administration, Volleyball, Elementary School Volunteer

Zach Levitt, Flathead Community College, Major: Secondary Ed., Intramural Athletics, Volunteer Coach, Community Volunteer

Vanessa Old Coyote, Little Big Horn College, Major: Pre-Med, Basketball, Youth Mentor & Local Campus Clean-up

Ben Powell, Blackfeet Community College Major: Business, Rodeo, Local Toy Drive, BCC Rodeo fundraiser/volunteer

Kayla Johnson (SKC)

MTCC is proud to honor these remarkable student athletes for their outstanding effort this coming Saturday. Each student athlete was nominated for qualities that prove they are an integral part of their communities and campuses. Campus staff who nominated of these athletes provided some insight on why these students deserve recognition, here is what they had to say:

“ Kayla Johnson  has shown other students you can be involved in various things and still maintain high academic standards. Lending a helping hand to those in need can be self-rewarding when you see others benefiting from your efforts which, in turn, lead others to step up and help” said Juan Perez, Student Activities & Gym Director of Salish Kootenai College.

Shawn Huse Head Coach of Men’s Basketball at Montana State University Northern reports that, “Brett Thompson provides help in a friendly fashion to those in need, whenever needed. It is very rewarding for him when others’ lives are affected so positively.”

Robert Prichett (RMC)

“Robert Pritchett is a first gen college student in his family and he is showing all of us the spirit of being more than “just a student.” He is the very definition of an engaged student. He is an inspiration to everyone he knows and perhaps part of his legacy will be showing all the kiddos in the schools that anyone can be a successful first generation college student” said Jill Washburn of Community Involvement, Veteran Services, & Parent Relations at Rocky Mountain College.

“Anthony Williams is the first to volunteer his time for the community and college activities. He is a true leader; he is deeply engaged and concerned for others, sometimes to his own detriment. Anthony is a living example of the principle that hard work is its own reward and pays off in the long run” reports of Fort Peck Community College

These students are making a significant difference at their respective institutions and communities. Please join us in honoring these deserving award winners this Saturday during the Brawl of the Wild!

BARNES AND NOBLE HOSTS BOOK FAIR TO SUPPORT MLK READ FOR PEACE

Montana Campus Compact has partnered with Barnes and Noble to help raise funds and awareness for MLK Read For Peace.  When you mention MTCC or Read For Peace at checkout, you are automatically supporting this initiative.  It also works when you go to the cafe for some coffee or lunch.  Bring your little ones for a pajama story time at 7pm.  A story will be read by one of our VISTAs.  Stop by and see us on December 11th to do some holiday shopping and support a great event!

AMERICORPS VISTA MEMBER ALUMNI MIRA MENDICK CHECKS-IN

MTCC VISTA Alumni Mira Mendick

Mira Mendick had a very fruitful year as an MTCC VISTA on University of Montana’s campus here in Missoula. Recently she successfully procured a higher education position at Missoula College, and we decided to check in with her. This is what she had to say:

When and where did you serve your term as a Compact AmeriCorps VISTA?

I served as an MTCC VISTA with the University of Montana Financial Education Program from July 2014 to July-2015. The overall goal of my year was to develop an enhanced entrance loan counseling to be delivered to all University of Montana students. I assisted with the development of this project through research, which contributed to the outlines I developed to be used to guide informational videos. The state decided to take this project on as a bigger initiative, which will result in all students in the MSU system having access to this enhanced entrance loan counseling.

What are some highlights from your year of service?

Besides the main focus of my project, I worked on a communication plan, a nonprofit resource sheet, a list of emergency and transitional housing, planned and facilitated student task force meetings, created informational flyers to be used by advisers, a career comparison chart, a write up for the Foreign Student Handbook, student surveys, and a financial aid glossary. In addition, I created partnerships with community nonprofits, such as HOMEward, tabled at the VITA workshops, attended Missoula College tabling events, and partnered with the Personal Finance professor.

How did your service impact your life?

I got to meet and work with amazing individuals, who are making big changes in the world of higher education. My year of service made me aware of some of the needs and challenges that student’s face when entering college, which inspired me to continue my work in the field of higher education.

Where are you now and in what way are you still involved with civic engagement?

I’ve stayed in Missoula and I am working in the Academic Advising Center at Missoula College. I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t been so involved in civic engagement lately, because I’ve been so busy with work, but I’m excited to start looking for meaningful ways to contribute to the community. Reach out to me if you need a volunteer!

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Thanks for your service Mira!

MEMBERS GATHER FOR ANNUAL BUILDING ENGAGED CITIZENS CONFERENCE

Theda New Breast facilitates Tribal Community Relationship Building 

Over the past 14 years, Building Engaged Citizens (BEC) has served as the Montana Campus Compact’s premiere civic engagement and service conference. Since 2000, through various iterations, BEC has provided hundreds of national service members and college students at-large the opportunity to explore the practical and philosophical implications of higher education’s role in civic engagement. This year,BEC continued the legacy through training in the areas of leadership/facilitation, marketing, grant-writing,  volunteerism, volunteer management and tribal community relationship building.  

This year, BEC was held in Great Falls on October 28th through October 30th.  Members and staff stayed at the beautiful Ursuline Center and sessions were held at Great Falls College.  Our guest speakers include:  Susan Wolf- Dean of Great Falls College, Theda New Breast, Roch Turner from Bitterroot College and one of our members, Kate Johnson serving at Bitterroot College.  

New AmeriCorps Program Leaders 

Three new leaders are sworn in for our new AmeriCorps Program.  Sara Sadowski joins us from the Govenor's Office of Community Service to help welcome them. These leaders will support and lead a team of college student AmeriCorps members.  Their teams will serve at least 50 high school youth in grades 9-12 to help them consider, plan for and prepare for postsecondary education.  

Eleven Members volunteer at Food Bank

One of our service projects was going to the Great Falls Food Bank to help prepare kid packs for the weekends.  In just two hours they prepared 600 kid packs.  The second group went to Great Falls Improvement District to clean and paint trash cans on Central Avenue.  In the two hour window they finished cleaning and painting thirty trash cans.  








We all had a great time in Great Falls for our annual Building Engaged Citizens conference.  We all learned a lot and made some awesome connections around the state.  We wish our VISTA members continued success and our new AmeriCorps Program Leaders the best of luck starting their terms of service!