PAL: Lewiston High School: Multilingual Leadership Corps AmeriCorps Member

Lewiston High School is in one of Maine’s largest and most diverse high schools in one of the state’s largest cities. Throughout their four years at Lewiston High School, students will go through many activities that will allow each individual student to discover themselves as a learner and identify their specific strengths and opportunities. We have programming that facilitates self-discovery, career discovery/exploration, and college discovery/exploration. The culminating activities, during their fourth year, are the college application, financial aid application, scholarship search, and application process. With over 50% of our students receiving free/reduced lunch, our school is home to many "new Mainers" attempting to make sense of the culture and the educational system. Our district has demonstrated a strong commitment to ensuring that all students are prepared for post-secondary learning opportunities.

Members will implement the Social Emotional Learning practices mentoring program, an intervention for academically disengaged students. In addition, AmeriCorps members will leverage volunteers to engage in mentoring and in-school/afterschool service-learning, academic support, parental engagement, and enrichment interventions. The member in the Lewiston High School Aspirations Lab will provide mentoring, aid in event planning, and connect students and families to support services and post-secondary planning support. This planning support will include completing self-discovery activities that will identify careers, college majors and post-secondary learning institutions that meet their specific needs, and the pathways that allow goal attainment in addition to the discovery process. Our AmeriCorps member will also support students with academic success planning, monitoring students’ achievement to ensure successful completion of high school requirements and standardized test preparation.

The Multilingual Leadership Corps AmeriCorps Program places AmeriCorps members in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont schools and nonprofit organizations serving K-12 English Language Learners. This program increases academic engagement among English Language Learners through implementing Social Emotional Learning practices. Members implement the SEL model supporting students through weekly meetings with 15-25 students. Members will 1) prioritize youth engagement, 2) facilitate peer to peer engagement, 3) coach youth through goal setting, and 4) encourage staff engagement. Member support is provided through mentoring, academic support, service learning, additional interventions, and/or planning for or recruiting volunteers to support these activities. In addition, AmeriCorps members leverage volunteers to engage in mentoring and in-school/after-school School Skills Support, Aspirations support, Enrichment, and Community Engagement programs. 

AmeriCorps members receive a living allowance of $14,279 evenly divided over the course of an 11-month term. Upon completion of their term, members receive a $6,195 Education Award, which can be put toward student loan payments or future education costs at a Title IV institution. AmeriCorps member are also eligible for federal student loan forbearance and interest repayment.