By Brooke Alt, West Virginia University-Pendleton County extension agent
Energy Express is an AmeriCorps program that can provide educational funds for graduating seniors and college students who are planning to or currently enrolled in a college or trade school.
Pendleton County has one approved site this summer and it will be hosted at Franklin Elementary School. The Energy Express County Collaborative is in the process of hiring mentors and community coordinators for the summer. To fully staff the site, four mentors are needed. All mentors must be college-bound and must be 18 years old by June 1. Applications are being accepted until May 1. There are also two positions that are not funded by AmerCorps, site coordinator and community coordinator, which are both integral parts of the programming. Applications are open for the site coordinator position.
Energy Express is an eight-week summer service opportunity that makes a difference in the lives of children in West Virginia. Children living in rural and low-income communities often fall behind academically during the summer months, starting each new school year behind where they were the previous spring. Successive summers of limited learning opportunities may cause children to fall below grade level by the end of elementary school. Many of these children also suffer nutritionally.
Energy Express promotes children’s school success by providing summer learning experiences focused on reading and eating two nutritious meals served family-style. The program works. Evaluation results show that most children enrolled in Energy Express either maintain or increase their reading skills.
This year’s site will be composed of team of four college student mentors and a community coordinator supervised by a site supervisor who is usually a local teacher. Youth and adult volunteers also support the program. The partnership continues with Experience Learning, who will be providing hands on learning opportunities weekly for kids who are enrolled in the program. They are considered a part of the learning experience, and provide a great connection to the community through the program.
Mentors serve directly with children, creating an enriching environment focused on reading, writing, and art that makes learning fun for a small group of school-age children. A mentor also eats breakfast and lunch with the children, a valuable time to develop strong bonds with the children.
Each Energy Express site is required to have a minimum of four mentors and a community coordinator to maintain the site and serve the children in that area. Program dates are June 1 – July 24. Students who are enrolled will attend June 15 – July 24.
Energy Express offers the following benefits: $4,050.00 living allowance, $1,565.08 education award (can be used for school expenses and can be used at an out-of-state school and/or any institution that accepts federal dollars), in-state tuition waiver (600 hours of service with AmeriCorps equals a semester waiver/1200 hours with AmeriCorps equals one year waiver), 300 service hours (earned in eight weeks), two meals per day (breakfast and lunch) when children are present, AmeriCorps gear, valuable training and career development and some universities will even match the education award
To apply, follow this link https://extension.wvu.edu/youth-family/youth-education/energy-express/get-involved or for more information, call 304-358-2286.
