WHAT IS AMERICORPS?
AmeriCorps is a federally funded National Service movement, often referred to as the “Domestic Peace Corps”. It is an opportunity for over 75,000 adults of all ages to serve in organizations addressing critical needs across the country. AmeriCorps Members are teaching children to read, making neighborhoods safer, building affordable homes, and responding to natural disasters through more than 1000 projects. In return for a year of service, AmeriCorps Members receive an education award to help finance college or to pay back student loans at the end of their term of service.
The 4 main goals of AmeriCorps are:
Getting Things Done; Strengthening Communities; Encouraging Responsibility
and Expanding Opportunity.
and Expanding Opportunity.
In December of 2007, through generous assistance provided by the MA Service Alliance, Tenacity welcomed its first team of eight AmeriCorps Members for a year of service working in our After-School Excellence Program and in the Summer Tennis and Reading Program. They are following in a long tradition of AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Vista placements at Tenacity. After attending a week long intensive training where they learned the ins and outs of serving as a member of the Tenacity community, they were given their site assignments for the school year. Jenn Arens and Andrew Holmes have spent the year working as a part of the Boston Athletic Club team. Scott Berghegger and Kelsey Coughlin are in East Boston at the Umana School. Ananth Pandian is at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center. Azibe Sanon and Michael Stein are at Sportsmen’s Tennis Club. And Matt Segraves joined the Harvard team.
AmeriCorps Members have a variety of responsibilities at Tenacity. Most serve as literacy leaders in ASEP, while others have been helping coordinate tennis activities at the sites. Every Friday, the AmeriCorps team leads the classroom at the UmanaSchool. Weekend field trips are a regular event for them, often bringing students to the offices for Game Day (and intense Wii Tennis tournaments), or taking students to some of our local colleges and universities for arts festivals, music events and tours of the campuses. One of the field trip highlights was a Saturday night trip to watch the Harlem Globetrotters play at the Garden! In the summer, Members will be working as Tennis or Reading Coordinators at the Summer Tennis and Reading Program sites.
AMERICORPS 2008 SERVICE PROJECT
On June 14th, 2008, Advantage: Boston, an event planned by the AmeriCorps Members, took place as Tenacity’s first "Day of Service". Volunteers were at 3 of the Summer Tennis and Reading Program Sites (which happen to be Boston Parks) and completed a major clean up by planting trees, installing peace poles, creating murals and working together to improve the conditions for our summer participants and other members of our community.
