Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council – Posting #30

Greetings and salutations! Yasmine here and I am a Superior AmeriCorps member living in Houghton, Michigan – also known as the Gateway to the Keweenaw, or two miles past the End of the Earth (as a favorite postcard once noted). This is my first blog entry, but as I have signed up for a second year of AmeriCorps, I hope it will not be my last.  I cannot believe it has almost been a year of service, but with reminders on completing my exit package, reality about what has been accomplished has begun to set in.  

Education is Superior AmeriCorps’ primary focus and encompasses seven counties in the Upper Peninsula. We have 35 full-time members that aim to meet the motto of the program: "Serving to strengthen communities through youth education, volunteer recruitment, and the promotion of community service.” Superior AmeriCorps members’ positive outreach and influence permeates throughout our local centers – from the toddlers in the preschools we serve, to the at-risk youth in alternative education programs, and the elderly helped by nonprofit agencies like Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly.

My site is B.R.I.D.G.E. High school which stands for Becoming Responsible Individuals Dedicated to the Goals of Education. It is an alternative high school with an average of 50 students throughout the year. Telling people I volunteer with the B.R.I.D.G.E kids is sometimes met with raised eyebrows and preconceived notions about what being an “alternative” student means. I challenge myself to leave the person with the consideration that “alternative” does not necessarily mean “problem child” and to instead associate “alternative” with words like “creative” or “thinking outside the box.” 

At the beginning of the year I started an after-school community service program to encourage B.R.I.D.G.E. students to give back to their community. The Copper Country Humane Society, Michigan Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway Program, Hancock’s Downtown Business Association, and various nursing homes in the Houghton County area are just a few of the community members that have benefited from students’ time. Now, with the school year coming to an end, B.R.I.D.G.E. students have given a  combined total of over 600 hours of their time.

Graduation was last month and I am not ashamed to admit I shed a couple of tears as I saw our graduates walking down the aisle to “Pomp and Circumstance.” For me, an entire year of service culminated in one moment – when one of the graduates approached me, handed me a single rose, and said she wouldn’t have graduated if it wasn’t for all the time I had spent helping her with her courses.  

As we are all coming to the end of our terms of service, I wonder, what moment stands out for you?