MLK DAY AT THE ROXY!

Blogging about one’s own event can be difficult in my eyes. This is when I’m conscious of coming across as stuck up, fake, or WORSE to hype up an event that really wasn’t that eventful. So I’ll tell you a bit about the event and hopefully the video links below from NBC Montana and KPAX T.V. below will reflect that as well.

 KPAX T.V. MLK at the ROXy
NBC Montana MLK Day at the ROXY

Across the state Montana Campus Compact and AmeriCorps members helped continued the MLK Read for Peace mission with a few creative add-ons within the community. In Missoula I (Jason Forges, AmeriCorps Senior Leader) was part of the MLK committee and implemented the screening of “Selma” at the Roxy theater here in Missoula. Selma is a story of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama where racism was strong and openly expressed in 1965. This story not only shows the great work of Dr. King and others, but also shows how Martin Luther King Jr. was human too.

What I’ve learned from that experience is that it’s the importance appreciate people that helped behind the scenes. With that I would like to thank Carly Hosford-Israel (AmeriCorps VISTA Leader) for brain storming the idea with me and Ja’ton Simpson for facilitating the community discussion. Selma at the Roxy Theater was a packed event! So much that we had to open up a second theater so people wouldn’t have to stand in the back or sit on the floor. I think that shows something. The things that come to mind are curiosity, awareness, or both.

In the middle of the screening Selma was paused where Dr. King talks about the unlawful death of Jimmy Lee Jackson by the police officers in Selma. We then had a facilitated discussion with the audience from both rooms that was led by Ja’ton Simpson.

Creating an event like this you’ll never know what you’ll get from those discussions and what we got was GOLD! Community members young and old talked about their perspective on race in America now and back in the 60s. A couple community members even talked about their experience in going to Selma, Alabama in 1965 and joining the march. Overall this event started a conversation on how to move forward as we deal with current issues and not to only just talk about issues but to have ACTION, look for action or create an action plan with you and others. Hope you enjoy the videos.

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.

WELCOME ABOARD, MTCC VISTA SUMMER ASSOCIATES!

Twenty Nine MTCC VISTA Summer Associates were just sworn in, this is the Missoula crew.

Monday, June 1st, 2015, Montana Campus Compact  welcomed an unprecedented 29 AmeriCorps
VISTA Summer Associates to our campuses and communities across Montana! These Summer Associates will serve for 10 weeks in communities across the state, providing hands-on learning opportunities and educational programming for youth.  Each project is associated with one of four focus areas: K-12 success, college access, summer learning loss or summer food programming.

Some will be serving in tandem to strengthen current MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA projects like Jacquelyn Turmel serving homeless teens with Sparrow's Nest of NW MT in Kalispell, Others represent exciting new partnerships for MTCC, like Summer Associate VISTAs Lisa Nguyen and Scott Omundson with Sunburst Enterprises whose Gardens from Garbage summer lunch program is helping food-insecure kids with nutritious food.

These Summer Associates were sworn into service via webinar by Montana's state CNCS director, Jackie Girard after a Pre-Service Training session to help them understand the requirements, conditions and personal & professional benefits of their VISTA Summer Associate service.

Montana Summer Associates serving across the state are: Jessica Eiskant and Stephanie Kolb, with Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming (GSMW) in Billings; Allie Helterbran, Tara Gilsrud and Alicia Leitch with Human Resource Development Council IX in Bozeman; Amber Flores with Bitterroot Ecological Awareness Resources in Hamilton; Jaycey Ellis with Gallatin Valley YMCA in Bozeman; Lisa Davis with Children's Museum of Bozeman.  VISTAs serving in Missoula include: please list missoula VISTAs

MTCC VISTA ALUMNA PROFILE: RECYNTHIA ROBINSON

Rey participates in MTCC's Service Selfie day!

 Recynthia Robinson served as a Montana Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA member throughout 2014 and into February of this year. Rey worked with the Lewis and Clark region of the Troops to Teacher Project and Montana State University in Bozeman. Troops to Teachers helps military veterans transition into teaching careers and links those teachers with parts of the country suffering teacher shortages. I talked to Rey about her life and the changes that have occurred since making her commitment to serve as a VISTA. I wanted to know how her life had changed from before her VISTA service to now, a few months later.  Rey said she had heard about VISTA from a former mentor at University of Arizona. She was near graduation and applying for jobs, but she realized that she was lacking real world experience and that was a challenge when applying for tribal or state employment. She originally applied because of her mentor’s encouragement after graduating in the fall of 2012, but when she received a call from a program in Maine, she chose not to accept because the distance was too great for her to move.

Rey with
MSU Dean Lynda Ransdell,
& Supervisor Le Gaub

Instead, Rey waited a year and when she saw the Troops to Teachers position with Montana Campus Compact and it was dealing with higher education and Indigenous people. Education and working with native youth was a very important factor for her in applying.

Rey said what she appreciated about her VISTA service was applying her personal experiences to the Troops to Teachers program and learning how to interact with and serve indigenous veterans. She enjoyed being able to ask questions and learn the history and background of the outreach, and then to add a different perspective to the conversation of developing teachers in a teacher shortage area.
Rey said some of the challenges she faced were cultural, political, and personal. She said as a Navajo and the only indigenous person at her host site, whose project was to reach Indigenous veterans and develop teachers, sometimes it was hard because she felt like she needed to be an expert on native culture and indigenous peoples. She said she was able to tell others when they asked what to call her, to refer to her as either Navajo, which is her tribal affiliation, or as indigenous. She said those terms were okay for her. Another challenge she faced were the political viewpoints which came with working with many veterans. She said many times people would discuss political or social issues, and although she had viewpoints, she knew as a VISTA it was better to seek common ground. The biggest challenges Rey faced were family emergencies back home. She said in her culture, nieces and nephews are considered immediate family; and on two occasions she was called upon to make the long and expensive trip home.

Recynthia Robinson,
MTCC VISTA Alum 2014-2015

Service helped her develop professionally; she especially learned how to communicate well. She said networking and following up with others was a big aspect of that. She said it was a very valuable tool to use for her host site and developing the project. Her biggest accomplishment during her term of service was completing the VISTA project. Rey was able to input over 120 entries of institutions of higher education into the database she helped create, including over 60 teacher preparation programs and over 40 veteran centers.
 Rey said she will use her VISTA experience to continue helping Indigenous people and after her service ended, she stayed in Bozeman and began to work with Ed Ready Montana, a program led by the University of Montana. She is working on outreach to reservation communities in the Southeastern Montana to help middle, and high school students  improve academic skills and increase educational opportunities. She said she has also started looking into Veterans associations closer to her home in Arizona and finding a way she can be involved in helping her own community. One idea she has is becoming a language teacher to younger Navajo children in her rural community.

Rey’s service to the Montana Campus Compact helped expand the capacity of MSU Bozeman and Troops to Teachers program, and provided tools to indigenous veterans as they transition to serving high needs communities stateside.

MONTANA TECH INVESTS IN COMMUNITY!

MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA member Cody LaBean, serving with Montana Tech's Institute for Educational Opportunities and Butte's Local College Access Network, assisted with National TRiO Day on February 22nd in Helena.  Here's what he had to say about it:
"National TRIO Day is a 'National Day of Service' that helps address the complex needs of young people and adults aspiring to improve their lives. TRiO Day was an opportunity for over 100 TRiO Educational Talent Search and Upward Bound students from Butte, Deer Lodge, and Helena to volunteer, visit campuses and consider postsecondary education. The group visited two Montana higher education institutions, and it highlighted the need for investment in these individuals to develop their talents to become actively engaged citizens."

He goes on to say, "The day involved the following: a tour of Helena College, a guest speaker from Carroll College, a trip to the Capital Building, a speed cup stacking tournament for middle school Educational Talent Search participants, and service opportunities for Upward Bound students at the Helena Food Share, Humane Society, and Bryant Elementary school."

"My role was to help chaperon the event, and assist the Butte TRiO Coordinator lead a group of students to serve with the Helena Humane Society. I led the final reflection activity, which I called "Dance to Reflect."  The reflection activity highlighted what the students felt were the pros and cons of this year's TRiO Day."
Keep up the amazing work, Cody!

Cody at the Helena Humane Society.

HAPPY 50, VISTA!

A vintage VISTA poster, apparently before Alaska was around?

The VISTA program is celebrating its 50th anniversary! Over there years, there have been an amazing Montana Campus Compact, we bring the resources of a network of engaged colleges and universities to this important work. VISTAs who have served with us over the years have helped start up the successful Graduation Matters program, have helped open and expand food pantries, veterans services offices, service-learning offices, afterschool programs. MTCC VISTAs have supported college access and success work, and have built capacity for college student volunteers to address community needs all along the way. Thank you for the support in Montana, AmeriCorps​ VISTA!
and diverse set of Americans who have served, great community-based solutions to poverty problems started and sustained, and huge, positive and direct impacts on people living in poverty.

Specifically, we've had great service over the years from the Corporation for National and Community Service and in particular the Montana office. Over the years, folks like John Allen, Jane Piilola, Jackie Girard, Amy Busch and Anna Yeagle have provided an extremely high level of service to Montana Campus Compact. These folks have helped behind the scenes with grants, funding, member support, impact reporting and all of the day-to-day support that's often overlooked.

In some ways, a fiftieth anniversary of an antipoverty program can't help but be bittersweet. It's an anniversary that provides an important time for reflection and consideration about how we expand good work that's happening, and significantly move more Americans out of poverty. The work is far from complete, and in many ways the challenges of poverty continue to be complex, and offer a rallying point for how we do better as a society.

Here in Montana, we're celebrating the VISTA 50th with Governor Bullock and Corporation CEO Wendy Spencer on March 12th in Helena. Here's the link for that event if you'd like to attend!