Living allowance plus education awards available
(Seguin) – Communities in Schools of South Central Texas is searching for individuals willing to help elementary school students be successful.
CIS is currently searching for 26 part-time members of the community who want to serve students through its new AmeriCorps Program.
Program coordinator Savana Mehaffey, says the program being made available through the OneStar Foundation grant will help create one on one development for students in the districts that it serves. Those districts include Seguin ISD, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, Marion ISD, and Luling ISD.
“We were awarded a grant from AmeriCorps to be able to recruit 26 members, part-time to go into our elementary schools to help with our students who are falling behind academically in math and reading. The goal is for our AmeriCorps members to work one on one or in small groups with these kiddos in elementary school and to help them get back up to grade level. After the quarantine happened and the pandemic happened, a lot of our kids as I’m sure you know have fallen behind academically due to not having a lot of in-person contact in the schools and so their math and reading have struggled hugely,” said Mehaffey.
Mehaffey says the program encourages an ongoing commitment by the individual. She says that consistency will be key to making a difference and helping to close the learning gap.
“It’s a 10-month commitment and within that 10 months, our members would have to work 900 hours so if you break that down, it boils down to about 25 hours a week so we are going to be pretty flexible with the schedule but the only thing that I am personally requesting of members is that whatever days they choose to work on – let’s say they want to work a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or however they want to break that up, that they just stay consistent all year. Of course, college students, their schedules will change the following semester, but we will work with that. That way they can stay consistent and be available for the kids and the kids know what to expect when they come into work with them on their academics,” said Mehaffey.
In exchange for their time, Mehaffey says the program does offer a financial incentive to help these volunteers continue their commitment to these children.
“It’s essentially a volunteer program. It’s not a job. There is a living allowance that will be directly deposited into the member’s bank account. It’s $1,200 a month but it is taxed. But it is just a living allowance and then upon the completion of the 900 hours, they will be eligible and awarded an education award of around $3,400 that our members can use to pay back student loans, or they can put it toward a college student. They can put it to pay tuition or for books, whatever they need it for and then if the member is 55 or older and let’s say they don’t have any college debt or anything like that, they can actually gift that education award to their child or their grandchild to use,” said Mehaffey.
Mehaffey says anyone wishing to commit to making a difference in the local schools is encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
“The only thing that we are asking is that you have a high school diploma or GED, that you have reliable transportation, that you can work during the school hours between 8:30 to 3:30 and be able to pass a criminal background check,” said Mehaffey.
In Seguin, educator partners will be placed at both Patlan and Jefferson Avenue Elementary Schools. Those interested in education or social work are especially encouraged to apply for an available position in any one of the schools serviced by Communities in Schools. Resumes to be considered should be emailed to smehaffey@cissct.org.