Through the Civic Futures program, K-12 and higher education institutions will strengthen a pipeline for civic learning and engagement, creating opportunities for youth to be meaningfully involved in their communities. Hear from some program participants to understand how the Civic Futures program creates change in communities.
The Impact of K2H
Site Supervisor
Charla Agnoletti
Program Director, Public Achievement
University of Colorado
We began participating in the K2H Civic Futures program during the planning stages of the grant. Since the awarding, we have utilized 1700 hour and 300 hour AmeriCorps members to expand the capacity of our program to serve more students in the Boulder Valley School District utilizing the Public Achievement curriculum. Our AmeriCorps members are primarily First Generation college students and graduates who work with many students who are undocumented or are family members of undocumented immigrants. At a time such as the one we are now facing in our society, we find it really important to continue to empower these students who have otherwise been voiceless.
The access we have been allotted through our partnership with Campus Compact to host AmeriCorps members has increased our capacity to serve 20% more K-12 students than we would have been able to without being a part of the K2H Program. Our hope is to continue this partnership and expand the reach of our PA program sustainably through this work.
AmeriCorps Members
Sam Day
1700 Hour AmeriCorps Member
Arvada High School
I remember the day I was asked if I wanted to join Campus Compact’s K2H Civic Futures AmeriCorps program in the summer of 2019 as a full-time AmeriCorps member at Arvada High School. Before my service in AmeriCorps, I did not know where to start to reach my goal of teaching after finishing my master’s degree. I experienced a lot of doubt and thought that this would be impossible before joining this program.
In my role, I have worked to create and expand the career exploration program at Arvada, by building partnerships within the community that did not exist before I was here. Through my work, the site has been able to create sustainable programming that would not have existed without my service and students have access to service-learning and civic engagement opportunities that they would not have had before.
My year of service with Arvada allowed me to pursue my passion, teaching. I am in process of obtaining my teaching certificate and I will be hired part-time at my site in a new position after I complete my service. My service has been so fulfilling. My life has changed because of my service. I now have the confidence to navigate systems and pursue my dreams.
Josie Ampaw
300 Hour K2H AmeriCorps Member
University of Denver
During my service, I served at Sobesky Academy in Wheat Ridge, CO through the University of Denver’s Public Achievement Program. As a 300 hour member, my role was to facilitate the curriculum we learned at DU to students at different partner schools. I would say that one of my most memorable successes was working with a newer student in our class who was shy and hard to engage in activities because he didn’t seem to have confidence in himself. After a few weeks of working with him through our PA curriculum, he began to show attitude changes. Seeing this student jump into the sessions and contribute so effectively was heartwarming. The true success was when one day, while sitting next to him, he turned to me and said, “Miss, this project is going to be super cool.” I nearly teared up because It made me realize that students like him who were not always easy to encourage to get involved were invested in this process.
