Skyline College SparkPoint Center and the Career Services Center were awarded a grant to participate in the AmeriCorps California Community College Student Ambassador Program. This program will give four Skyline College students the opportunity to build strong leadership skills, to participate in service-learning, and to make connections that lead to getting things done for the betterment of our community. These four Skyline College AmeriCorps volunteers will become part of the more than 80,000 Americans currently working as volunteers to help support American families in a number of ways.
On our campus, the Skyline College AmeriCorps Volunteers will be working specifically with SparkPoint Services, Career Services, and Health Services to help increase awareness of the resources available both on and off campus to support their peers. Via a peer-based approach, “ambassadors will provide… awareness of the availability of public benefits and the value of healthy behavioral choices. They will increase students’ access to resources and support systems by networking with on-campus support programs and off-campus agencies and organizations to raise awareness of the availability of public benefits.” This is a student leadership position and it will expose them to personal and professional development through work-based learning that will contribute to the college’s mission. More specifically, the students selected to serve as AmeriCorps Student Ambassadors for the program will be committing to complete 900 hours, about 20 hours per week for 12 months. Once they have completed these hours, they will receive a $2,907 scholarship.
Ultimately, this grant serves as a great way for students who are selected as AmeriCorps student ambassadors to support their community, to spotlight their leadership experience and community services, all of which will also contribute to building their resumes and to information they could include in scholarship applications.
With that we are in the process of actively recruiting students for this program! If you know students who might be interested in participating in this program and want more information, please contact Valerie Higgins, SparkPoint Coordinator at higginsv@smccd.edu and Michele Haggar, Program Services Coordinator for Career Services at haggarm@smccd.edu.
Article by Valerie Higgins and Michele Haggar
