Summer VISTAs Unleash Into Multnomah County To Mentor At-Risk Rising NInth Graders

For the fifth summer, ORCC is hosting 34 AmeriCorps Summer VISTAs to serve Multnomah County school districts and community organizations. VISTAs will support educational summer programs that ease ninth graders’ transitions into high school. 

This week, Summer VISTA Members were trained on how to break through summer learning gaps and how to mentor rising ninth graders. Starting service, Monica, a Summer VISTA said, “I was surprised to learn that 1 out of 3 students in Multnomah County don't graduate from high school. The Ninth Grade Counts program brings together educators, families, and students to take concrete steps in order to close this achievement gap. I'm excited to serve as a Summer VISTA to help students prepare for high school and stay on track to graduate.”

34 Summer VISTAs at training before beginning service.

The Summer VISTAs were recruited from ORCC member colleges and universities to provide students with meaningful summer work and to engage them with their community. “Serving as an AmeriCorps member is a great opportunity to gain professional experience and to help decrease educational inequality in my community,” said Monica.

ORCC’s Summer VISTA program leverages smart, young people with fresh ideas to serve the community. One benefit to this approach is that we connect college students and recent grads with rising ninth graders to talk about college—what it’s like, why it’s important, and how to access financial resources. Since our Summer VISTAs are often closer in age to ninth graders than teachers and parents, they’re able connect with the students in a unique way to prepare them for high school and beyond.

ORCC is proud to have recruited talented Summer VISTAs from its statewide membership of colleges and universities. We’re motivated to foster the next generation of thoughtful, educated, committed leaders and to prepare them to solve Multnomah County and Oregon’s most complex problems. We support this vision by connecting students and young professionals to their communities and by deepening their understanding of social justice issues so they're prepared to lead as engaged, global citizens.

The Summer VISTA program is a partnership with All Hands Raised (formally the Portland Schools Foundation), the Corporation for National and Community Service and ORCC. Through this program, the partnership addresses low high school completion in Multnomah County, Oregon where just 64.7% of students graduate high school on time.

Recruiting potential Summer VISTA candidates from ORCC member campuses is just one benefit of being an ORCC member. Not a member? Learn more about becoming a member by contacting josh@oregoncampuscompact.org.