AmeriCorps Winter Enews
By: Will Saguil
Retention Project
WOU Mentor Project Coordinator
Western Oregon University
Oregon Campus Compact AmeriCorps Member

I joined AmeriCorps because it allowed me to serve my country and make positive impacts in local communities. Last year I served with Literacy AmeriCorps teaching immigrants and refugees basic English skills and preparing them for the US Citizenship exam. I believe that education is a universal passport to opportunity and prosperity; that is why it was very easy to decide to do another year of service as a Retention Project Coordinator at Western Oregon University (WOU).

My first year of service focused primarily on teaching, which was an amazingly rewarding and challenging experience. I enjoyed my time teaching, and now I envision a career focused on different aspects of education. Those who were influential in my college experience were not always professors, but counselors and advisors around campus. My service with the Retention Project has given me an opportunity to explore and develop professionally in student services administration.

Working at WOU has allowed me to work with college students, as well as reach out into the community and engage local high schools. My objective is to engage high school students in a seamless transition from secondary education to college and encourage them to give back to their communities. I believe that through education and service experiences that we can achieve our goals to eradicate educational inequalities and truly uplift our communities.
Read more stories like this from the AmerCorps Winter Enews.

Current Member stories

Rachel Hirsch, Chemeketa Community College- Ignite Passion 
Charlotte Muzzi, University of Portland- Students Find Their Voice
Hilda Escalera, Linfield College- Inspire Youth, Foster Change
Jael Chambers, Warner Pacific College- The Promise America Made
Amy Dickerson, Concordia University- A Piece of the Puzzle

AmeriCorps Alum Spotlight Stories 
Morgan St. Jean, University of Oregon VISTA Alum- Confidence 

Kris Katkus, Chemeketa Community College Retention Project Alum- Growing Up Alaskan

AmeriCorps Winter Enews
By: Hilda Escalera
Retention Project
Mentoring Program Coordinator
Linfield College
Oregon Campus Compact AmeriCorps Member

Higher education enables individuals to expand their intellectual and social horizons, and provides opportunities for economic stability. However, not all individuals are presented with the opportunity to be successful.

In Oregon, 57% of white college students graduate, while only 46% of Hispanic students, 43% of Native American students, and 40% of black students successfully graduate (Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System, 2009). Nationally, 89% of first generation and low-income students leave college within six years without a degree and more than a quarter leave after the first year—four times the dropout rate of higher income second-generation students (USA Today, 2010).

We live in a world where race and economic background determine prospects on life. But we have the power to change this and I believe we can.

My interest in higher education stems from personal experiences. I was raised in poverty, my family emigrated from Mexico, and English was not our first language. Despite the odds, I became the first in my family to attend college, and today I am a successful, first generation, Latina college graduate. Pursuing my education was the best way to help my family and now I’m helping others recognize this too.

I am the Mentoring Coordinator at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon developing the Reaching and Inspiring Students to Excel (RISE) Mentor Program.

According to 2009 data, 75% of McMinnville High School students graduate, but only 26% take the SAT, meaning only 26% are prepared to apply for college. The Linfield RISE Mentoring Program is focused on engaging Linfield students to be mentors for first generation students and youth that face socioeconomic barriers. Linfield RISE’s goal is to increase college aspirations in Yamhill County youth. This program demonstrates that youth can rise from whatever barriers they may experience and aspire toward opportunities in higher education. Youth may feel downtrodden by their monetary, personal, and other obstacles, but they can rise above that through means of education. Some students simply need an extra push and a role model to say, “Yes you can!” Read more stories like this from the AmerCorps Winter Enews.

AmeriCorps Winter Enews
By: Charlotte Muzzi
AmeriCorps*VISTA
North Portland Education Coordinator
University of Portland
Oregon Campus Compact AmeriCorps Member

High school students struggle with a misconception about who writes. Students associate writing with authority, and think of it as the business of teachers, parents, and adults; they write not as themselves, but in imitation of someone else. This can be disastrous. Students who speak passionately and eloquently about everything from their college dreams, to their individual rights, to their love for candy, often lose their words when they sit down in front of a blank page. The goal of the Writing Center Program is to bridge this disconnect between speech and writing, between self and authority, and to help our writers discover that they are each in possession of their own unique and powerful voice.

Even the best writers struggle to write. This is the foundation of the peer-to-peer writing conference. Those who host writing conferences work to create a space in which two writers share the frustrations and the triumphs of the writing process. The consultants fill many roles: personal style-guide interpreters, argumentative readers, relentless cheerleaders, and shoulders to cry on, but most importantly they are fellow writers who have struggled with writing long enough to see themselves as producers of written authority. They understand both the beauty of the written word and the very real personal and political power that it can bring, and they exist primarily to share that power with others.

The dissemination of this power is really what the Writing Center is about. The coaching that we offer helps prepare our students for college-level academics not only by familiarizing them with techniques, strategies, and conventions, but also by encouraging them to think of themselves as authorities—to trust in their ideas and to defend them fearlessly. Writing promotes complex and organized thought, challenges students to position themselves in relation to an idea, and offers them the chance to be the creators of new knowledge. Much like activism, it is placing yourself against a powerful idea and fighting to change it. For our students, writing is the key to accessing political power and provides practice in using that power to affect change. 

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Read more stories like this from the AmerCorps Winter Enews.

Oregon Campus Compact is just votes away from a winning a re-designed website. Help us by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and voting! 

Monday was the Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Day of National Service. To celebrate Dr. King, Oregon Campus Compact (ORCC) along with nine colleges and universities rallied 1,000 college students to serve at Roosevelt High School, a North Portland school on the rise.

This is the third year that ORCC collaborated with colleges and universities to present one giant day of service for MLK Day. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is on Monday, January 16, 2012. This year, Oregon Campus Compact and a collaboration of nine colleges of universities are bringing over 1,200 together to serve a Roosevelt High School, a North Portland school on the rise, to celebrate Dr. King and explore education as a civil right. To learn more, read our press release, here.