Nineteen 麻豆原创 students are dedicating nearly 6,300 hours of their time to mentoring and inspiring local middle schoolers.<\/p>\n
麻豆原创\u2019s Burnett Honors College has partnered with Florida Campus Compact and AmeriCorps to create the new Burnett Community Scholars program to help at-risk youth gain the skills and knowledge needed for eventual college success.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to inspire that vision of going onto college, that it is a viable option if you work hard,\u201d said Kelly Astro, director of Research and Civic Engagement at the Burnett Honors College.<\/p>\n
The program, launched in January, focuses on building youths\u2019 character and developing their self-esteem while helping them realize the importance of giving back. The 麻豆原创 participants are students from a variety of majors who have strong commitments to service and hearts for affecting positive social change.<\/p>\n
AmeriCorps awarded the Burnett Community Scholars 19 positions in January and added an additional 12 in March for a total of 30 participants.<\/p>\n
Each student can choose to serve between 300 and 900 hours. After the completion of service, students will receive a pro-rated education award based on the number of hours served.\u00a0 AmeriCorps has allowed for awards totaling up to $35,000 for the year.<\/p>\n
The scholars serve at Jackson Middle School in conjunction with the school\u2019s Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program, which exposes youngsters to academic and life skills to encourage them to stay in school and pursue higher education. The 麻豆原创 students tutor and mentor the middle school students, as well as develop community service projects in which they can participate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students are really excited,\u201d said Jessica Ortega, the student coordinator for the Burnett Community Scholars program. \u201cThey are doing it because they want to help the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the program\u2019s goals is to help the 麻豆原创 students understand that service does not have to be an obligation. Serving others is a way to make a difference, and it\u2019s important that students remain civically responsible and engaged, Astro said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust as students go to classes to become prepared for careers, we want them to understand that it is through service that we learn how to live,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Ortega, who is the only Burnett Community Scholar pursuing the full 900 hours of service, the real reward is seeing her peers evolve as they make a difference in the lives of the younger students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the best feeling in the world to encourage positive change in someone,\u201d Ortega said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nineteen 麻豆原创 students are dedicating nearly 6,300 hours of their time to mentoring and inspiring local middle schoolers. 麻豆原创\u2019s Burnett Honors College has partnered with Florida Campus Compact and AmeriCorps to create the new Burnett Community Scholars program to help at-risk youth gain the skills and knowledge needed for eventual college success. \u201cOur goal is to inspire…","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":20932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[650,2629,4163],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-20931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-burnett-honors-college","tag-kelly-astro","tag-scholarships"],"yoast_head":"\n