Loading
AmeriCorps Montgomery

"locals serving locals for 20 years."

Posts by Paul Costello1

Montgomery County school board approves superintendent’s contract

May 12, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

By Nicole Asbury WP May 12 2022

Montgomery County’s new superintendent of schools will be paid an annual base salary of $320,000 — making her one of Maryland’s top-paid school leaders.

The four-year contract approved Tuesday by the school district’s Board of Education was the final step to officially hire Monifa B. McKnight as superintendent. Her appointment was approved by State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury before her contract was finalized, pursuant to Maryland law.

She was appointed unanimously by the board in February. She will be the first Black woman to the serve as superintendent over Maryland’s largest school system. Her contract officially begins July 1.

Montgomery County votes to hire its first Black woman as superintendent

“Dr. McKnight is an exceptionally skilled leader who will build on our district’s legacy of excellence, and help us ensure that we are an innovative and equitable school system that provides a world-class education to all of our students,” Brenda Wolff, the board’s president, said in a statement.

The contract released Tuesday requires McKnight to relocate to Montgomery County as soon as possible but no later than June 30, 2023. The board will pay up to $15,000 in relocation costs. Her family currently resides in Prince George’s County.

McKnight’s contract further stipulates she will receive 30 days of paid annual leave and 25 sick or personal leave days. It also includes perks, such as the use a vehicle paid for by the board. She will also receive $48,000 a year in deferred compensation.

Additionally, McKnight’s salary is set to increase at a percentage equal to any increases given to the Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals, the union for administrators.

Each year, McKnight will be evaluated by the board no later than Nov. 1. She is expected to provide a self-evaluation before the board conducts its review, under the contract’s terms.

Her contract is set to expire June 30, 2026. Board members will decide by Dec. 1, 2025, whether they will renew it.

McKnight has been part of the school system’s leadership throughout the pandemic as schools grapple with historic student learning loss and a youth mental health crisis. In her time as interim chief, her administration coronavirus response has drawn criticism, with the omicron variant causing cases to surge around the time of winter break. McKnight apologized for problems in communication about changing coronavirus guidelines and other scheduling challenges.

She pledged in a statement Tuesday to focus on rebuilding trust and support students’ mental health and wellness. She added that she would collaborate with parents and teachers “to expand opportunity so that our students are college, career and community ready.”

‘A cry for help’: CDC warns of a steep decline in teen mental health

McKnight has worked in Montgomery County for two decades. She previously worked as deputy superintendent of education for the district, where she helped oversee the creation of the school system’s anti-racist audit, with a report scheduled for release in June.

She has served as interim superintendent since June. Her predecessor, Jack R. Smith, stepped down less than a year into his second four-year contract, citing medical issues with a grandson that resulted in a move to be with his daughter’s family in Maine. Smith was scheduled to receive $315,000 in base pay during his second contract, which would have made him, at the time, one of the highest-paid Maryland superintendents. He turned down the pay increase at the time while the district struggled with the financial effects of the pandemic, according to media reports, and retired with a salary of $295,000.

Few Maryland superintendents have reached a salary above $300,000. According to data provided to the Maryland State Board of Education for the 2021-2022 academic year, Baltimore City’s superintendent had the highest listed salary, at $333,125. Prince George’s County’s chief executive was the second-highest, at $317,288. Anne Arundel’s superintendent fell just short of the $300,000 threshold for the academic year, with a salary of $299,910.

With 209 schools, Montgomery County is among the nation’s largest school systems, with an operating budget of roughly $2.9 billion. Its student body is 33 percent Hispanic, 25 percent White, 22 percent Black, 14 percent Asian and 5 percent multiracial.

Also on Tuesday, the board approved a set of agreements with union leaders that would boost teacher pay by 3.35 percent, effective Dec. 17. The raise is a cost-of-living increase, and it will be paired with a “salary step increase,” that will combine to a more than 6 percent raise, McKnight said.

It’s the highest compensation increase educators have received in a decade, McKnight told the board.

Wolff, the board’s president, said the increase was well-deserved, as teachers, administrators and staffers “have been true heroes during this time of the pandemic.”

“Over the last two years, we can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done,” Wolff said.

Jennifer Martin, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, the county’s teachers union, said in a statement Tuesday the agreements were “a step in the right direction,” but more work had to be done to retain instructors. Several have retired or resigned in the past year, she said.

“More must be done to make public education a viable and appealing career choice for both new and veteran educators,” Martin said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/10/montgomery-county-mcknight-superintendent-contract/

Teens Are Advocating for Mental Health Days Off School

May 12, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

The decline in the mental health of children and adolescents has led to new laws allowing kids to attend to their own self-care.
By Christina Caron  NYT August 23 2021 

By the time Ben Ballman reached his junior year in high school he was busier — and more anxious — than he had ever been.

“I had moments where it felt like the whole world was coming down on me,” he said. “It was definitely a really difficult time.”

Before the pandemic shut everything down, his day started at 6:30 a.m., when he woke up to get ready for school. Next came several Advanced Placement courses; then either soccer practice or his job at a plant nursery; studying for the SAT; and various extracurricular activities. He often didn’t start his homework until 11 p.m., and finally went to bed three hours later. Every day it was the same grueling schedule.

“It’s not even that I was going above and beyond, it was, ‘This is the bare minimum,’” said Ben, now 18 and a recent graduate of Winston Churchill High School in Montgomery County, Md. “It’s like a pressure cooker that’s locked down. There’s nowhere to escape. Eventually you just kind of burst at some point, or, hopefully, you can get through it.”

Faced with high stress levels among adolescents and a mental health crisis that includes worsening suicide rates, some states are now allowing students to declare a mental health day.

In the last two years alone, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Virginia have passed bills permitting children to be absent from school for mental or behavioral health reasons, efforts that were often aided or spearheaded by students.

And in March, Utah decided that a “valid excuse” for a student’s absence will now include “mental or behavioral health,” broadening an earlier definition that referred to mental illness. The legislator who sponsored the bill, Representative Mike Winder, a Republican, told the television station KUTV in February that it was his daughter, then a senior at Southern Utah University, who suggested the idea.

Late last year the advocacy group Mental Health America surveyed teenagers about the top three things that would be most helpful for their mental health. More than half of the respondents cited the ability to take a mental health break or absence from either school or work. And in a Harris Poll of more than 1,500 teenagers conducted in May of last year, 78 percent of those surveyed said schools should support mental health days to allow students to prioritize their health.

Ben, the recent graduate, said that as a high school student he had spoken with classmates who were struggling and needed support but didn’t know where to turn. So he organized a coalition of students to improve mental health services for students in his state. This year he spent months supporting a mental health day bill in Maryland, but it stalled in the State Senate.

There is some debate over what constitutes a mental health day and how best to spend it. Just as there isn’t a precise definition for adults, there isn’t a consensus on what it means for children, either. Typically, it is a day to rest, recalibrate and take a break from your regular routine. Unless a state or a school district outlines specific requirements, families can interpret the term broadly.

Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, medical director of the Child Mind Institute and a child and adolescentpsychiatrist based in New York City, views mental health days as a joyous occasion: an opportunity to have fun.

Ideally, you can use mental health days as a way to celebrate your child’s efforts in school, he said.

For example, maybe your child just finished a big project, handed it in, and the next day she said: “I’m exhausted. I want a mental health day.” In that case, taking the day off is “perfectly appropriate,” Dr. Koplewicz said.

But don’t use mental health days to help your child avoid situations at school that are making them uncomfortable, he cautioned.

Instead, try to pinpoint where that anxiety is stemming from. “Are they avoiding something because it is too challenging? Are they being hurt in some way?” he asked.

If your child doesn’t want to be in school at all or is showing symptoms of depression, like insomnia, oversleeping or a lack of interest in normal activities, take time to have a deeper conversation about what’s going on. Depending on the problem, you might need a longer-term solution rather than simply a day or two to recharge.

If your child needs time off because they are suffering from crippling anxiety or experiencing a behavioral health crisis, for example, it might not be appropriate for schools or families to label that as a “mental health day” — in fact, doing so might inadvertently minimize mental health disorders, Dr. Koplewicz said.

“Sick days are sick days, whether it’s physical or mental,” he added.

Taking a day to relax and recharge can be useful at any age, including for preschoolers, who are also susceptible to stress and exhaustion, said Jennifer Rothman, the senior manager of youth and young adult initiatives at the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“Everyone has mental health, everyone,” she said. “Our kids are faced with so many things on a daily basis.”

And that was the case well before Covid-19. The state of children’s mental health has worsened over the last decade. Between 2009 and 2019, an increasing percentage of American youth reported feeling sad or hopeless for at least two weeks “to the degree that they could not engage in their usual activities,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported; and 70 percent of teenagers surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2018 said anxiety and depression were major problems among their peers.

The percentage of students who seriously considered suicide or made a suicide plan has also risen in the last decade. And suicide has become the second leading cause of death among adolescents.

The pandemic has further exacerbated some of these problems. Nearly half of the parents surveyed in January by the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital said that their teenagers had shown signs of either a new or worsening mental health condition during the pandemic. And a C.D.C. report found that the proportion of 12- to 17-year-olds visiting emergency rooms for mental health reasons rose 31 percent for most of 2020 compared with 2019.

In New York, California and Florida — homes to some of the nation’s largest school districts — there are no state laws specifying that children can take a mental health day. Legislators in each of these states have tried to change that, but those efforts have fallen flat.

In the New York City school system, which has more than 1 million students, a day off for mental or behavioral health reasons “would be treated like any other sick day,” Nathaniel Styer, a New York City Department of Education spokesman, said.

The phrase “mental health day” might make some kids and parents uncomfortable. With that in mind, the school board in Montgomery County, Md., decided that it will excuse absences taken for “student illness and well-being,” starting in the new school year.

“We didn’t want to call it a mental health day, because we know there is still stigma around that,” Karla Silvestre, the school board vice president, told Education Week in June.

Schools are also experimenting with other methods beyond mental health days to help students cope with their daily stressors. The Jordan School District in South Jordan, Utah, is using “wellness rooms,” where students can decompress for 10 minutes if they are feeling overwhelmed. And some schools in Colorado have created “oasis rooms,” a student lounge staffed with peer counselors and other resources.

Melanie Zhou, 19, who attended high school in Highlands Ranch, Colo., worked alongside other students to create the oasis rooms after a friend died by suicide.

“When my friend passed away, I had no idea how to grieve properly,” she said.

Much like Ben, Melanie felt that academics were the priority at her school, not self-care. And at home, “mental heath was not talked about very clearly or openly,” she added.

One advantage of declaring a “mental health day” and recognizing its importance at the state level is that — ideally — using this kind of language can help families start to have more open conversations about subjects related to mental health, and potentially reduce some of the stigma associated with self-care, Ms. Rothman said.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a diagnosable illness, it just means that you are taking a break,” she added.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/well/mind/mental-health-day-laws-kids.html

Living on the AmeriCorps stipend: tips and strategies

May 12, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

From Reading Partners

A year of AmeriCorps service offers unexpected benefits and rich opportunities for deepening your understanding of your aspirations and connecting with members of your community. The service experience can certainly propel you forward on your journey to find out who you are and where you’d like to go; at the same time, AmeriCorps comes with a particular set of challenges.

One of the biggest challenges for members is learning how to provide and care for themselves on a modest AmeriCorps stipend. The AmeriCorps VISTA website explains that the stipend “enables you to live very frugally, like the community you are serving. The allowance is based on poverty rates for a single individual in your geographic area.”

A simple lifestyle certainly has its own rewards—a focus on people, not things; a truer understanding of the difference between what you want versus what you need; even the opportunity to try on values that counter the themes of a consumer society. Yet, the limits of the stipend produce real obstacles; having fun, exploring your city, and developing hobbies can be tricky when you’re strapped for cash.

Fortunately, many AmeriCorps members have developed strategies to live well while living on a budget. Thanks to the generous responses of  Reading Partners’ current AmeriCorps members and alums, this blog is a collection of clever suggestions and resources for creating a full life without oodles of money.

Top tips for living on the AmeriCorps stipend

Create and stick to a budget.

This may be the biggest takeaway for anyone living on limited means. Having a budget means that you’re planning ahead and developing a safety net for yourself—this way, you won’t be wandering around spending money you don’t have. Reliable online budgeting tools include Mint.com and Goodbudget.com. 

In addition to budgeting, be sure to: 1) get your student loans put on forbearance as soon as possible and 2) make an effort to save after each pay period, however small the amount may be.

“Even on such a tight budget, remember to save a little bit of money. Even if it is ten dollars per paycheck or change in a jar, set it aside and it will add up. It can feel difficult to not have spending money on the AmeriCorps stipend, so setting a bit aside for a trip or event later in the year will be a treat to yourself.” -Reading Partners AmeriCorps alum

Find out your SNAP/food stamp eligibility and apply as soon as possible.

The process for applying differs by state, so check the USDA’s website for details. Using SNAP will give you a little more room in your food budget and savings from this category can add up over time.

“I didn’t my first year because I felt like I made enough that it didn’t justify it. But the second year, I just decided to try it out and not only was it extremely easy to apply for, but it made a huge difference in my quality of life. This is one piece of the benefits AmeriCorps offers you and don’t hesitate to make grocery budgeting that much easier.” -Regional site coordinator, Tulsa

Cook for yourself as much as possible and grocery shop for deals.

Cooking your own meals rather than eating out at restaurants is one of the best ways to keep spending in check. Most members say they eat out very rarely and pack their lunch for work nearly every day of the week. Eating out once a week or less is common, as is eating at restaurants with lunch specials or happy hours.

Invest in your culinary chops by asking friends for recipe recommendations and borrowing cookbooks. Becoming more comfortable in the kitchen will open up new worlds of nutritious delights. It will keep you healthy and happy too!

Smart shopping is vital. Look for opportunities to find cheap produce, like at a local farmer’s market—a fan-favorite for AmeriCorps members. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, such as Imperfect Produce in the Bay Area, are great for money-savers. Get a SAMs or Costco card to buy bulk items if you live with roommates willing to split the costs.

“Look through the ads at your local grocery store; don’t worry about having to go to multiple stores to get items on sale; make a list of priority items; plan meals ahead, see a buy one get one free? Get them now and freeze one if need-be…in the back of many grocery stores there are carts full of day-old bread or pastries; get grocery store cards; some Dollar Trees have a big grocery/freezer section.” -Development coordinator VISTA, Colorado

Pick your grocery store wisely. Choose one that’s known for affordable prices. Meal planning can also help you focus your search for deals based on your actual ingredient needs.

“Premade meals and sandwich shops were draining my wallet, and I hate seeing produce go bad when I don’t have specific plans for it, so I plan it out and buy exactly what I need to make homemade meals for the week.” -Senior volunteer organizer, Colorado

Shop smart—for everything.

Whether you love to shop or just need some new items of clothing, try thrift and bargain stores to find what you need for cheap. Recommended secondhand stores include: Salvation Army, Savers, and Goodwill. Sign up for email lists for your favorite shops or activities and wait to purchase when you get a coupon/promo code.

Prioritize self-care.

Find a balance between exercise, sleep, and healthy habits that make you feel good. You don’t have to give this up just because you’re living on a stipend. Many gyms and YMCAs offer discounts based on income. Some local studios may offer free classes in exchange for your time volunteering at the front desk or providing clean-up services. Or forego a membership cost entirely and exercise outside. Find running trails and paths. If you own a bike, explore parks and nearby towns. Learn yoga at home by checking out YouTube videos.

“If you’re interested in joining a gym, you can apply for financial assistance at the YMCA—I got a 60% discount on my membership.” -Senior volunteer coordinator, SF Bay Area

Search for communal living opportunities.

If you have the option to live at home, it may save you money in the form of reduced or free rent. If not, look for openings in houses and apartments with roommates or investigate cooperative living situations through Craigslist and Facebook groups (search for groups with “affordable housing,” “co-op” or other key terms in their title).

Commute to work using public transportation or by carpooling.

Some cities offer a reduced-price transportation pass for low-income individuals. Check your local transportation website for details.

Take on a small part-time job if you want some extra cash.

Four AmeriCorps members participating in a day of service

Some members recommended taking on part-time side jobs if you’re able, such as babysitting, dogsitting, housesitting, or tutoring.

Having fun on the cheap

Attend free events.

Use sites like events12, which compiles lists of local fairs, theater, and arts events, or ask around about free festivals. Even better, many festivals and events that require a ticket will offer free entrance in exchange for volunteer hours. Go to free community lectures at libraries and colleges. Plan ahead by finding out when museums offer free entry days (usually at least one every month or so).

Make your own fun.

Host game nights or potlucks at your house for other AmeriCorps members and friends in your area. Join a book club or start one with coworkers. If you like the outdoors, find parks, beaches, or other destinations you can reach via bike or public transportation. Hiking and spending time outside is one of the most popular activities among Reading Partners’ AmeriCorps members. Host Netflix screening parties, karaoke, or dance parties at home with friends. Read more and borrow books and movies from the library. Befriend others in your AmeriCorps cohort—they likely want to save money too and will help you stay on track.

If you can’t get it free, find deals.

Go to $5 movie nights at local movie theaters (usually Mondays or Tuesdays) or free popcorn days. Theaters may offer reduced-price tickets on certain nights or have pay-what-you-can shows. Keep your eyes open for free promotions at newly opened cafes, restaurants, and ice cream parlors. Locate the best local happy hour for affordable bites and drinks. Many urban areas have First Friday events with fun window-shopping, art-viewing, socializing, and cheap-eating opportunities.

Find and develop a hobby.

Just make sure it’s the type that doesn’t require a lot of pricey materials. Many members noted that they enjoy hobbies like painting, writing, or making DIY projects. And if you do have an expensive hobby, be sure to seek scholarships or other ways of funding your interest.

“I take a lot of improv classes, which are not cheap. Because of my AmeriCorps status, I was very easily able to apply for scholarships that minimized these costs. Programs typically have scholarships like this—they just don’t advertise them.” -Site coordinator, Twin Cities

Download our guide with additional resources and websites for living on the stipend.

Click here

How to Live on an AmeriCorps Stipend

May 12, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

young woman in library

From Serving in Minnesota

Want to learn more? Watch our video (link below).

Editor’s Note: This article, originally published in 2019, has been updated to accompany a video story about why AmeriCorps service is right for you.Watch it now.

Spending a year of your life serving in AmeriCorps is an amazing experience. You might be cleaning up damaged forests after a hurricane, helping kids in low-income areas improve reading and math skills, building a home for a family that otherwise has unstable housing or assisting a person who struggled with substance abuse with resources for recovery.

Through AmeriCorps you can make a huge impact on others’ lives. Putting AmeriCorps on your resume will open doors for you in your career and life, and the experience is transforming.

However, the one big hang-up (particularly new graduates from high school and college) that keeps many from joining AmeriCorps is the worry about being broke, not being able to pay bills or going into debt.

It’s a valid concern: AmeriCorps members serving in full‐time positions receive a living allowance that typically ranges from $18,000 to $21,500 during their year of service. The amount is on par with the income of many of the people who AmeriCorps members serve.

No, it isn’t much, but is it doable? Absolutely. Thousands of AmeriCorps members (not to mention the people they serve) do it every day.

Here are some tips on how you can truly live on the AmeriCorps living stipend:

Housing Help: Hello, Parents! Hello, Roommates!

Many AmeriCorps members who are recent high school or college graduates still have a bedroom in their parents’ house and for them, spending another year or two living with them is not a big deal and parents typically understand that it’s for the greater good.

“I live at home, and it isn’t a glamorous life, but that’s not the point,” said Gaochy Yang, an AmeriCorps member in College Possible Minnesota who moved back into her childhood home. “We’re here to help the community and make other people’s lives better.”

Since many do not have this option, there are others: Find roommates to share apartment expenses, and ask whether your AmeriCorps service program offers subsidized housing. Many do. Reading Corps, Math Corps, Opportunity Corps and Recovery Corps offer a housing stipend if you live in the Twin Cities metro area. Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity offers spots in a small apartment building for $200 per month. Patrick Farley of Saint Paul was able to find a free place to live when he signed up to serve in Minnesota Recovery Corps.

“I’m in recovery so I was able to find a sober house that needed a house manager, and generally, sober house managers get compensated with free rent,” he said. “So, after I joined AmeriCorps, I took on a house manger position at a sober home and no longer had that rent payment each month, and that freed up my budget greatly.”

How to Eat: Potlucks and SNAP

Most AmeriCorps members qualify for government assistance program called SNAP to help pay for groceries. SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a household income-based program that will help subsidize the cost of nutritious food. Members receive an EBT card that looks like a credit card and can be used at most grocery stores. (Apply for SNAP in Minnesota online here.)

Members advise cooking at home and packing lunch as much as possible.

Telia Rattliff-Cross, an AmeriCorps member in College Possible Minnesota, recommends shopping for groceries at Aldi, Dollar Tree and other discount stores. “Potluck parties with friends are great,” she said.

Sydney Bartun, an AmeriCorps member in the Community Technology Empowerment Program (CTEP), agrees that dinner with friends is also a good entertainment option. “Convince your friends to come over and make dinner instead of eating out,” Bartun said. “You can buy ingredients to cook using your EBT card, and split the cost between everyone.”

Don’t Pay Your Student Loans

AmeriCorps members can qualify for forbearance on student loans, meaning they are not required to pay students loans during the service term and are not penalized for doing so. Moreover, the National Trust will repay interest that accrues during your service year. (And bonus: Your AmeriCorps education award can be used to pay student loans.)

To learn more about student loan forbearance, visit the Corporation for National and Community Service website page on student loans and AmeriCorps.

Channel Your Inner Cheapskate

Most members agree that AmeriCorps members need to be intentional about spending and budgeting.

“My advice is to do your research, ask current AmeriCorps members and do anything to cut corners. It is such a privilege to serve – and there are definitely many ways to make it doable,” said Christy Ohlrogge, an AmeriCorps member in Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. She noted that AmeriCorps members qualify for income-based discounts at certain gyms, including the YMCA and YWCA.

If you need assistance with transportation costs, many metro areas offer options. In the Twin Cities area, the program is called the Transit Assistance Program (TAP). Members can enroll and receive $1 rides on every bus or light-rail train. You can check the community where you serve for similar options.

What if you need a new pair of jeans?

“Shop at thrift stores – Plato’s closet, ARC Value Village – and look for sales,” suggested Rattliff-Cross. Plus, ask your fellow AmeriCorps members to join Groupon and find great deals in which you can all partake, from discounted oil changes to veterinary services to yoga classes.

Werk Werk Werk Werk Weeerrrrrrrk — Part-time (All Due Respect to Rhianna)

Since every AmeriCorps service opportunity is different, it is not a foregone conclusion that you will be able to have a side hustle in addition to full-time service. It’s important to leave time to take care of yourself, too, of course. However, if you have the energy and the will, you are allowed to work at a part-time job outside your service hours – even just picking up the occasional babysitting or house sitting job. Consider taking advantage of the gig economy: Deliver groceries for SHIPT or Instacart, post your profile for pet sitting on Rover.com or dog-walking on Wag.

Or make money online at home. Take surveys for market research companies (for example, Swagbucks and American Consumer Opinion). You could even test websites for software bugs.

Find the Free Fun

Everyone — especially those who serve others — deserves a little fun every now and then.

“Spending money in order to see friends, especially those who are not in AmeriCorps, is definitely my biggest challenge in living on a budget,” Bartun acknowledged. But there are ways to get out and have fun on the cheap.

Many cultural institutions offer free admission or at least a “free day” for state residents. In the Twin Cities, Como Zoo is free and the Minnesota Zoo offers free admission to SNAP recipients. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Weisman Art Museum, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and the Museum of Russian Art are always free. In Duluth, you can go to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center and the Tweed Museum of Art. In Rochester, check out the historic Plummer Building at the Mayo Clinic.

Community libraries are a terrific resource, too. With a library card, you can access digital books, free classes and talks; at the Minneapolis City Branch of the Hennepin County Library, you can even reserve a private time to play a grand piano.

Plus, the entire state is filled with farmers markets (many of which accept EBT cards from SNAP), nature preserves, hiking trails, lakes and beaches and free outdoor sports and recreation galore in all four seasons.

Do you want to learn more about how to join AmeriCorps? Read this. 

Telling our Stories in ways that make us stronger

May 12, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

Telling our stories in ways that make us stronger: Wingard, Barbara, Lester, Jane: 9780957792920: Amazon.com: Books

We are exhausted, frustrated, burnt out, feeling unappreciated, lost, stressed to the max, and our students at the service site are disrespectful and disruptive, so what do we do? We tell someone. Good, but how do we tell them?

We all know the experience of feeling sad and when we share that feeling with a friend, we brake down into tears. Our friends take pause and think, Wow, he is really really down. But what we don’t realize is that the telling is not necessarily bringing out what is locked inside so much as the performance of our sadness outside. The story actualizes itself in the telling. The way we are telling the sad story is making it even sadder so that it is a reality we are in the act of creating, not simply reporting.

We are talking ourselves into a deeper vulnerability than what we may have been feeling at first. Proof of that is our friend who catches the same feelings and starts to feel depressed about your feeling depressed. We have told our stories in ways that make us weaker.

Tell Your Story: 10 Tips for Sharing Your Testimony With Others | Cru

When the indigenous communities in Australia were exposed to the Narrative Therapy approach of Michael White, they summed it all up in one neat phrase, that we are learning to tell our stories in ways that make us stronger. That means that their stories bear witness to more than the struggle or the pain. They are testimonies of survival, revealing a deeper courage to refuse to let suffering silence us. We must speak up. They are evidence of emancipation and energy.

That does not mean that they have to be all optimistic or full of false hope. But when we tell stories of our pain and center them around bravely confronting the challenges and limits, and not telling them to make our listeners pity us or offer cheap advice, then we are building strength.

We can tell our stories in ways that make us angrier, especially stories of injustice and oppression and neglect, but anger might only serve to make us more reactive, more easily provoked. We are thereby made even weaker.

your silence will not protect you - Post by Ziya on Boldomatic

We can tell our stories that make us feel more and more helpless and a victim, and we hear ourselves pleading “What did I do to deserve that?” or “Aren’t I a human being too?” or “There was nothing we could do.” The listeners are enrolled in the same feeling of despair that we feel, which only spreads our impotence.

We must learn to tell stories of our anger that become rage and then allow the rage to mature into courage. We must learn to tell stories of our being victimized without becoming the victim and to use our telling as the signal of resistance, of fighting back, not giving up. Pain finds a voice and seeks a hearing that is on the path to healing. If all it does is wound us all over again, we are only deepening the hurt.

We must tell our stories but we must learn to tell them in the ways that honor our deeper intentions and our highest purposes. As witnesses to our own lives, we owe it to ourselves not to conform to the transactional and therapeutic model of neediness, of always couching our problems as struggles or as symptoms made for someone else’s expert diagnosis.

We are responsible for our own lives. We need not exchange our agency for cheap consolation. Most of the advice we get is nothing more than well intentioned chatter. It is rarely what another will do for you. Our friends and colleagues are telling you what you should do for you, and they are not you, so perhaps save time, and cut out the middle man.

You do you, and even in the rough patches, perform the hero, the rebel, the heretic, the fighter, the sage, the prophet. Stories give us the chance to transform our experience into something beyond just the sadness and the loss. They are humankinds most powerful tool of liberation. But the magic lies in how you tell it.

4 Useless Pieces of Advice No One Wants to Hear | Modern Mojo

Looking for a team of dedicated leaders to serve

May 11, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

What Have we Learned this Term? | Independent Coach Education

These final few months of the 2021-22 year of service with Project CHANGE prompt us to reflect on what we have learned. As we move slowly into a post Covid world, we want to ask ourselves what these last three years have taught us about serving through a pandemic?

So many of our usual expectations have had to be put aside. The normal rules of accountability, the measures of impact have had to be suspended to adapt to the changing circumstances. Yet through it all, we needed to ensure that Project CHANGE’s core business of serving students with the greatest needs was being met. Did we manage to do that? The jury’s is out on that one. We expect a favorable verdict but not unanimous.

Beware Covid 19 sign, Beware Corona virus sign, sign, signs, corona virus, Covid 19, covid virus, Covid 19 virus, beware sign, virus ahead, viruses Stock Photo - Alamy

One major lesson we are all learning is that mental health is not something we can take for granted. If the community we serve is struggling, we cannot expect to be superman or superwoman and always fly above the fray. That would not be human. However, what remains the challenge is how we take care of ourselves in a way that does not bleed into or dilute how we respond to the needs of others. Human need we know knows no boundaries but as volunteers serving with AmeriCorps, we are here to get things done, to solve problems, to persevere and put other’s needs first and to ensure we are emotionally robust and remain psychologically secure enough to be able to do that. It is not always easy and none of us always get the balance right.

Car Repossession: How it Works

One member came to drive to his service site one day to find his car had been towed. It had never happened before so he did not even know for sure what had happened. But he was in a panic more because the kids at school were expecting him in class to help with an assignment. He decided that finding his car was less important than showing up for the students as he rushed to find a bus. He had never been late before. He missed the early bus and decided that instead of waiting, he would walk the 3 miles to the school. When he arrived, he was covered in sweat but he was there and the students never knew a thing. When he had completed his service day, he went to find his car to retrieve it.

Here is a dedicated member who showed exceptional qualities of putting his needs second and honoring the commitment he had made to those kids. What was obvious to him was not obvious to another member.

This member was in full time study and semester exams were coming up and he knew that as he was still recovering from COVID, he had not done enough revision. With all the pressure, he decided he had to excuse himself for two days of serving, even though the students were relying on him to coach them for a special game. The member put the students second and himself first. It is understandable but that is not what AmeriCorps is about. He passed his exams with an A+ but the students the following week felt totally let down and wanted to know why his exams were more important than their game? What was he there for?

Imagine: Dear students, here are 7 tips to rock your exams | Parenting News,The Indian Express

If your needs during your committed service hours take precedence over the needs of the students you signed on to serve, then they are getting a bad deal, and you have misunderstood what a year of service is about.

For 2022-23, we are asking ourselves how to recruit candidates who can get this balance right. This is not a job and it is not for the rest of your life. It is one year of service. It is one year where you embrace the sacrifice for the greater good. It means that some of your legitimate needs will have to be put on hold, while the needs of struggling students takes priority. That means we are asking recruits- “Are you ready to make that sacrifice?”

Service And Sacrifice | Wrytin

If your needs right now are so great, or you are struggling, then this may not be the right year to serve. You might need to rightfully to have your needs met. It is only when we know that you have a way to meet your needs, and these will not compete with your dedication to your students who need you more, that we can offer you a place.

If you come with a generous heart, but also with extraordinary needs, we cannot be sure that the students are going to gain the advantage of your care. Experience has shown us that you cannot care for your mother who has cancer and show up totally present to your students 40 hours a week. Eventually something has to give. Usually it is the member who burns out. You cannot study for your medical degree and mentor girls 35 hours a week. You are putting your studies at risk and your students at risk, and could end up failing both.

A Heart for Service - Home | Facebook


This means AmeriCorps members must have the heart for service. There is something that makes them step out of their own spotlight of self-concern and to focus on what can they do to make other people’s lives better. That means service is not going to be easy. It will cost you. Not just money or time, but in some degree of self-regard, for one year, you decide it can wait. Like the towed car was less of a problem than not showing up for your kids. Like risking a lower grade in your exam is worth coaching your kids in the game.

That does not mean you do damage to yourself, or ignore your mental health and your future prospects. No, but for this year, a special year in your life, you live a life that responds to a deeper calling to lead, to serve, to give. You are living your best self.

Serve Illinois Commission - Are you ALL IN to take the AmeriCorps pledge? Let's get things done! 🇺🇸 💪🏽 Join us today! https://bit.ly/2Oxp9Sg #AllInIllinois #ServeYourPassion | Facebook

Some members miscalculate what a year of service is going to demand of them. And when they do, Project CHANGE will do its best to support them through, so long as they stay in the story of service. But when the needs of the members become more paramount and more prominent than the needs of the students they serve, then something feels wrong.

Perhaps it is then that one realizes that some of the habits that we might have adopted for COVID times need to be corrected. The AmeriCorps pledge has always been a touchstone of what that service is about, to persevere through adversity. Every time I hear it, I hear the echoes of the Prayer of Saint Francis, which says it is better to serve than to be served.

In these cynical times of self-serving, populist leadership, the service of AmeriCorps is what is needed right now for the mental health of the nation. Narcissism is not our national calling. Not everyone is out for themselves. We can reach out, we can act in unselfish ways, we can create what MLK called the Beloved Community, or at least if we fail, we fail because we tried. You can’t expect much more than that.

Is There an Epidemic of Narcissism Today? | Psychology Today – Psychology Blog

New Book- “Our Stories Rise Up- Remembering as Resilience”

May 9, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

Cover of the new Book

We are thrilled to announce that on May 18th, at the AmeriCorps Training Conference in Burlington VT, Storywise will launch a new book inspired by our AmeriCorps members, and prompted by the pandemic challenge and how it changed our years of service.

The book is full of personal stories that testify to the impact of AmeriCorps service during the shutdown, and to the role that memory plays in giving us much needed resources for resilience facing the future. Now that we are slowly coming out of the crisis, the book argues that we must not forget, nor let our students forget.

When COVID19 shut down the school system in March 2020, we all presumed it was a precautionary measure, and that our leaders were wanting to be more sure than sorry. No one expected it to last for over a year or more, least of all the kids!

Our Project CHANGE program serves the students of the local school district, so if kids were not coming to school, they were also not coming to after-school programs that our members also helped to run.

Coping with Changes to MCPS Mask Policy - Montgomery County Public Schools
Students missing out on social support

What did COVID mean for members still committed to serve? It meant we had to adapt and recognize that needs did not suddenly go away because students were not showing up. In fact, it meant that the kids who relied on school for their primary social or adult support were going to be in greater danger of dropping out. So if the needs did not change but the access to meeting them did, what were we to do?

First, we told everyone to stay in the story of service. If for a time, that meant looking around your own neighborhood, then reach out to anyone isolated and alone. Include your families and your friends. Stay serving no matter what. The book relates the impact that had on Maria and her one elderly next door neighbor, someone she did not know till the crisis.

Zoom Use Skyrockets During Coronavirus Pandemic, Prompting Wave of Problems for Schools
ZOOM kept the team together

Second, we met weekly on ZOOM to be sure that every member had a chance to share their experiences and to share any frustrations or problems. We did not presume that this was going to be business as usual. The situation was dramatically different, and we needed to acknowledge that and establish a different set of expectations. Hearing each other out meant that the members did not feel so alone. Also, the meetings established some benchmarks to measure what was emerging, what was changing and how we ourselves were changing in the process. Some meetings, everyone was just exhausted and others, we were silly and a but irreverent. There was a cycle to how we showed up.

We mapped that journey in terms of Beginning, Middle and Ending, and we share these maps in the book. At each phase, we asked the magic question of “What do we know from here that we did know from there that, put into action, will help us get through this?” Though path ahead was unknown, that did not have to trigger our anxieties but rather, to heighten our curiosity as to what was on offer here as far as learning something new.

Third, we gave permission for members to innovate, to get creative. We invented a Phone App to support student SEL needs but the school’s internet system could only see its problems with permissions and not its possibilities. Meanwhile, most members battled with security blocks on their having access to virtual Classrooms. These administrative obstacles to serving students was proof enough that large organizations did not know how to cope, except to become more risk averse. AmeriCorps members did not have to be trapped in that institutional inertia. We could become a rapid response team, making sure we could adapt to the changing climate of needs. And this is exactly what members did.

One member, a former teacher, decided she would produce her own educational materials and broadcast them on her own YouTube channel. The audience were kindergarten kids so the challenge was huge, but kids got used to the fun in what became “Aunty Genean’s Room.” Teachers relied on her materials.

Congress Addresses Food Insecurity in Its Legislative Response to COVID-19 | Civil Eats
Food Insecurity

Another member more used to a teaching support role, realized that food security was a huge issue for many of her students and a large part of her service became delivering food. Another member developed a hydroponics tower system for families to use to grow their own vegetables at home.

Another member signed on to a school district 3000 miles away on the West coast, where their teacher shortage was acute and where, using ZOOM, they could take advantage of her extra support. It was not exactly what our mission envisaged, but AmeriCorps members’ DNA is to serve. If the local system could not use their talents, then others would. Bureaucracy is built for permissions in normal times. In an emergency, one has to be ruled by need.

In reviewing the two years of service during the Plague Year, the Project CHANGE director got to thinking about how to honor the struggle and the success of the students we had served and the members who had served them. This is what prompted the idea that to make something positive out of the pain requires committing to a conscious way of remembering it all. One tangible way to do that was to write a book about it, featuring some of the stories.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Book-Co-ver-back-1024x768.jpg
back Cover of new book

Our Stories Rise Up is a testimony to how we “Made it Through” and that even if this coming Fall and Winter, the pandemic will return, we need to close this chapter at least. That is what the book suggests, to declare an ‘Ending’, stage “Comeback Parties” to witness that we got through, and write letters of gratitude to those who helped us the most to get through it. These are some of the methods that AmeriCorps used and they are user friendly, for parents and kids and teachers.

The book warns us that the future relies on how well we remember because in the face of the suffering and the loss of so much, memory is ultimately a decision we make in the face of death’s forgetting, by deciding what it is we want to keep alive.

Your Ultimate Guide to Job Interview Questions

May 9, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

Published: Sep 03, 2019 By Washington Post Jobs

There’s often no right or wrong answer when it comes to answering job interview questions, but it can be helpful to prepare in advance of your interview. Here’s our ultimate guide on how to answer every interview question.

ultimate interview guide

How to Answer: “What’s The Best Piece of Career Advice You’ve Ever Received”

Let’s face it: There’s plenty of career advice to go around. Some pieces of it are more relevant than others, but for many people it’s almost impossible to sort through the number of well-intentioned career tips they’ve heard throughout their lives to highlight just one.

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “What Makes You Unique?”

You don’t want to seem painfully abnormal or bland and unoriginal—how do you let your potential employer know you’re unique (in a good way)? Here are our tips for striking that all-important balance.

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “Tell Me About Yourself”

It seems like such a simple question, but “tell me about yourself” is notorious for wrecking many interviewees’ chances to make positive first impressions. Turns out there’s a simple formula, and we’ve got you covered.

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “What Are You Passionate About?”

When you go to an interview, you expect questions about your work history, skills, and drive to succeed. The last thing you expect is for the hiring manager to ask you a personal question like, “What are you passionate about?”

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “What Should We Know About You That’s Not On Your Resume?”

You’ve spent so much energy constructing a succinct, yet informative resume, but now you have to cast it aside and hope an improvised answer makes you shine. Tricky? Yes. Impossible? Not if you’re prepared.”

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “Tell Me About a Time You Handled a Conflict”

Most interview questions ask you to discuss the positive aspects of your working life. But every now and then, a question takes a turn for the negative, potentially wrecking your whole enthusiastic vibe. “Tell me about a time you handled a conflict” is one such question.

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “Tell Me About Your Leadership Experience in the Workforce”

When an interviewer asks you to tell her about your leadership experience, it’s important to have an answer ready. If you stutter at this question, you’re automatically putting yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to convincing the interviewer you’re a strong, confident leader.

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “Why Do You Want This Job?”

When recruiters ask, “Why do you want this job?”, what they really want to know is, “What is it about this company and position that interests you, and what assets can you bring to us?” Here’s how you can answer that.

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “Why Are You Looking to Leave Your Current Job?”

Most people’s biggest interview fears include having to respond to classic hard-to-answer questions, including “Why are you looking to leave your current job?” It’s a completely understandable query—after all, most people don’t leave positions they love, so the reason for your job search isn’t always going to be a pleasant one. Whether you can’t stand your boss or are uninterested in your day-to-day responsibilities, there are ways to answer without throwing anyone under the bus or burning any bridges—something you should avoid no matter how tempted you are.

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years”

At one point, “where do you see yourself in five years?” was a great question. It let interviewers gauge your ambition, or lack thereof, as well as your thought process. Slowly, it became a cliché. Yet, it’s still asked. Your challenge: to take it seriously and turn the predictable into an opportunity. Here are five formulas that can guide you toward a great answer to “where do you see yourself in five years?”

Read Article >>

How to Answer: “What is Your Dream Job?”

What is the best way to answer, “What’s your Dream Job?” While you don’t want to set the bar too high, setting the bar too low can make it sound like you don’t have goals and aspirations. So how do you find that middle ground between “I want it all” and “anything will do?”

Read Article >>

How to Answer “Why Should We Choose You Over Someone Else?”

One day you’ll face a recruiter asking, “Why should we choose you over someone else?” Here’s how to prepare the best answer to this question.

Read Article >>

Take Steps to Modernize Your Resume

May 9, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

Published: May 09, 2022 By Andrea Moran Washington Post Ads

When it comes to resumes, there are some classic mistakes you always want to avoid. But there is also room for interpretation about what makes a “good” resume. Tips and tricks you learned from your parents, or your teachers may be outdated at this point. So how do you freshen things up? Read on for ideas that can help you set your resume up for the modern age.

Ways to Modernize Your Resume_In Article

1. Clean it up

If you have been “updating” your resume by slapping on additional job titles as your career advances, it’s time to clean house. If you have spent ten or more years in the workforce, chances are you can go back and remove those first few entry level jobs you had when you were fresh out of college. Better yet, select which ones to keep based on how well the skills for those jobs match the skills required for the new position.

2. Replace your objective with a summary statement

Include a “summary statement” (aka: a brief blurb describing what skills and experience you can bring to the company) instead of the previously popular “objective” (aka: a brief blurb describing what you want). This is a terrific way for recruiters to get a better idea of exactly how you could fit into their office culture.

3. Remove dated language

Once upon a time, “references available upon request” was a mainstay at the conclusion of any resume. Nowadays? Employers recognize it as the space waster it is. It’s an obvious phrase (of course you will give references if requested!) that uses up valuable space that could instead be dedicated to fleshing out your work experience.

4. Refresh the format

Forbes mentions that one new consideration for resume writers is the fact that oftentimes, applicant tracking systems (ATS) are used to screen them before a human ever takes a look. Since you want both the ATS and humans to be able to read your resume with ease, it’s important to keep the formatting clean, simple, and consistent. This means putting job titles and section breaks in bold, using an easily readable font, and skipping any overly busy graphics or charts.

5. Make it pop

Your resume, when it does meet a human eye, will be skimmed extremely quickly. What is easier to read than long paragraphs and chunks of text? Lots of bullet points. These can be used when mapping out your various accomplishments, job responsibilities, and any other relevant facts that can be conveyed in short, digestible pieces. Making each bullet point succinct and action-oriented will further help move things along for the reader. Just remember to list your job experiences in reverse chronological order (aka: start with your current/latest job)—that is one piece of advice that has not gone out of style!

6. Play the numbers game

Numbers tend to make a much stronger impact than words when it comes to resumes, so keep that in mind when inputting your information. Think beyond the usual roles that numbers play and consider other ways to incorporate them into your resume: How many clients did you serve? How large was your team? How many products did you sell? How often did you represent your company?

7. Add something extra

With the space you save by streamlining your resume (and deleting “References available upon request”), think about adding another experience that (while not work related) could help identify you as a good fit for the company culture. Whether it’s volunteer work or an extra college course you took, these additions can help potential employers get a better picture of you as a whole person.

No matter which style you choose for your resume, just remember: Proofreading will never go out of style.

Asian students are victims of Montgomery County’s achievement gap

May 9, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
Off

Carol Park is a strategic research analyst at the Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit legal organization that defends Americans’ liberties when threatened by government overreach and abuse.

Is it legal to penalize top-performing Asian American students to help students of other ethnicities? Legal or not, it is happening all around the country. In February, a federal judge sided with the Pacific Legal Foundation and ruled that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County adopted a test-free admission process to discriminate against Asian American students.

Just a short distance away in Maryland, Asian American students have also been suffering discrimination in Montgomery County Public Schools since 2018.

To make more room for Black and Hispanic students, the Montgomery County Board of Education manipulated the admissions process of its four highly coveted magnet middle schools to guarantee that fewer Asian American students would be offered admission.

The new admissions process includes peer grouping and local norming, meaning applicants are at a disadvantage if they live in a low-poverty area with many high-performing students.

Because Asian American students are clustered in 25 of MCPS’s low-poverty schools, the new process forces those students to compete against each other instead of competing against every MCPS student — with the purpose of altering the racial composition of magnet schools to include fewer Asian Americans and more students of other ethnic groups.

The school board’s admissions changes achieved their intended result. The number of Asian American students enrolled at all four magnet schools dropped from 2017 to 2021: from 58.9 percent to 24.3 percent at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School; from 64 percent to 44.4 percent at Roberto W. Clemente Middle School; from 39.3 percent to 35.4 percent at Takoma Park Middle School; and from 26.4 percent to 23.9 percent at Eastern Middle School.

More than a dozen Asian American students who scored between the 95th and 99th percentiles on the entrance exams (CogAT) and received top scores on state assessment tests were rejected.

To combat this overt racial discrimination, the Association for Education Fairness, represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, filed a lawsuit against MCPS on behalf of the Asian American students.

The board adopted a racial balancing scheme that systemically excludes high-performing Asian American students. It was designed to cover up the government’s systematic failure at improving public education for low-income Black and Hispanic students.

From a legal perspective, a policy with discriminatory intent is unconstitutional even if it uses nonracial or seemingly race-neutral factors to achieve a racial result: It violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Also, from a social science perspective, a policy that pits one racial minority against other minorities is unacceptable.

Here is the cold and sad truth: Asian American students are being used as scapegoats for the serious and growing achievement gap problem that MCPS has avoided dealing with: The county is failing at educating many of its Black and Hispanic students.

For example, only 34.4 percent and 30.1 percent, respectively, of Black and Hispanic students between third and fifth grades passed state math exams in 2019. Meanwhile, the rates were 79.8 percent and 71.8 percent for Asian American and White students, respectively, despite that many Asian American students also come from families with modest means.

Though MCPS claims that lack of diversity at schools is the problem, there is little to no academic evidence that increasing racial diversity, especially in middle schools, helps students perform better in reading or math. Nor is it a good idea to enroll Black and Hispanic students into magnet schools where they might not succeed.

The focus should be instead on strengthening the educational quality of all local MCPS schools so that students of all colors can succeed.

Or even better, how about increasing the magnet school options so that more children can be admitted? Maryland is known for ranking near the bottom in the nation for its school choice, but Montgomery County can be a leader in driving change for the better.

In any case, the solution is not to water down the admissions standards for the district’s highest-performing schools and hard-working students, threatening these schools’ quality and reputation.

We all know that the ambitious children of Montgomery County deserve better. The Montgomery County school board must address its achievement gap problem without victimizing high-performing Asian American students.