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.