Helping Out in the Upper Peninsula

Hi, I am Shiloh Fitzgibbon, and I am a LeaderCorps member and my AmeriCorps site is at the Munising Mather Elementary School, a Pre-K-6 grade school. I work with students in second and third grades, usually helping students one-on-one or in small groups.

The Program I serve with is MARESA (Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency), which is located in Marquette, Michigan. MARESA services Marquette and Alger Counties in all things educational. MARESA AmeriCorps has 10 full-time and three part-time members. Our service sites are mostly in schools, where we tutor children of all ages. There are a few of us that are volunteer coordinators as well.

AmeriCorps-MARESA includes three general categories:

1. Establishing service-learning programs and curricula;
2. Developing staffing and programming for school or community-based agencies, family resource, or youth development programs; or
3. Providing direct educational support (tutoring, work-based learning, behavioral intervention, employability skills, etc).

The services of our individual AmeriCorps members are developed by each site based on their specific needs.

The last few months we have been helping our communities. In October 2010 we picked up garbage on our adopted highway section in Gwinn for two miles. We picked up three bags of trash. In December, we helped the Meals on Wheels with handing out boxes of food to those in need. We also helped the Salvation Army with sorting unwrapped gifts for their toy drive, so every child was able to get a present for Christmas.

In February we helped build blockades for the U.P. 200 dog sled races that are held in Marquette and Gwinn. We had two crews, one in Gwinn helping set up for the Midnight run (91-mile dog sled race) and one crew building blockades for the U.P. 200 dog sled race (241 miles). It was a windy day and the warm weather had caused the snow to melt and made the race icy, which made it hard on the dogs, mushers, and handlers. Because of the unsafe conditions, the race was shortened.

I’d also like to mention the following agencies that have partnered with MARESA’S AmeriCorps:

• Gwinn Area Community Schools
• Early Childhood Playgroups for preschoolers in local districts
• Career Tech/Development with students with local districts
• Marquette Area Public Schools
• Munising Public Schools
• North Star Academy
• Great lakes Recovery Center-Youth Services
• Teaching Family Homes

For more information, visit www.maresa.org.