Happy AmeriCorps Week! My name is Maggie and I am an AmeriCorps Ohio College Guide at Gamble Montessori. If you weren’t aware, CYC hosts an AmeriCorps team every year, adding to the number of schools that CYC’s College and Career Success programs can serve and support. March 10-16 is a week dedicated to celebrating the service of AmeriCorps members around the country. Each day this week, you will have the opportunity to read stories from the current CYC AmeriCorps cohort about their service experience, as well as view live events of activities going on in their schools.

So, what exactly is AmeriCorps? AmeriCorps is a collection of national service programs that tackle issues affecting communities across the United States. Members their time to addressing critical community needs such as youth mentoring, education, poverty commit, sustainability, and health. As Ohio College Guides in Cincinnati, our program focuses on post-secondary readiness for students in the 7^th-12^th grades at Title I schools within CPS. However, the program is not just about us educating and mentoring today’s youth. Every one of us in the 2019 cohort has learned a valuable lesson from at least one of our incredibly brave, talented, and intelligent students. Participating in this year-long service experience has opened my eyes to important issues within my own community through the eyes of the next generation, which is an experience I would not have encountered elsewhere. It is my hope that by the end of this week, you will be more informed and inspired by the service that AmeriCorps members partake in for their communities every single day. Stay tuned!