In January two of our members of the 18-19 corps hosted a presentation on FAFSA at the Whitman Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia in South Philadelphia. Check out the blog post about it HERE. Also this month last year, the School of the Future team took their students to University of Penn! HERE is the blog post all about the visit.

February, the teams of Overbrook and School of the Future welcomed their new supervisor, Marylissa! Marylissa is an alumnus of the ’17-’18 service year. She served at School of the Future and was so excited to get back into the organization!

March, Students at School of the Future began their presentations on their senior project topics. Topics ranged from gun violence to wanting to be come a veterinarian. There was even a REAL guinea pig as part of someone’s presentation! Every March is AmeriCorps Week, a week filled with events, networking and appreciation for all AmeriCorps members. In 2019, the AmeriCorps Conference was held in Philly! All AmeriCorps Members across the state were invited to this conference. Our members got to participate in sessions with other members in different organizations around the state. It was quite the experience!

April, Think Tank 2019! Think Tank is our annual showcase where students from each of our four school sites can present a challenge that they face in their community to a panel of judges and audience members. Students presented on the lack of mental health support there is in the schools, the quality of school lunches and adding more extracurricular activities to their schools. Stay tuned for what is in store for this April!

May, we hosted our Alternative Careers in Education and Service Career (ACES) Panel for a second year in a row. This panel was open to Promise Corps members and any and all AmeriCorps members serving across Philadelphia. We hosted panelist that were in graduate school for the MSW, an adoption coordinator, counselor with another college and career readiness program, a therapist, a trauma coordinator and a social worker. The panelists also participated in a short networking opportunity following the Q&A.

June, we said goodbye to our 18-19 AmeriCorps members. And the leadership team began their summer planning for the 19-20 AmeriCorps members. This month we also welcomed our summer intern Kia! June was also the start of preparing to host 23 students for our first ever summer internship opportunity with The Philadelphia Youth Network!

July, Promise Corps welcomed 23 young men and women to our office at 1234 Market to begin their 6 week paid summer internship! We had students being hosted at daycare centers, summer camps and working alongside business owners. Each week they would all gather together for their professional development. They learned about proper business wear, how to brand yourself and had a final presentation or paper on their 6-week working experience. Two students even ending their summer with a part time job offer!

August, after many weeks of planning and preparing we welcomed our 19-20 members for their first day of orientation! During their orientation members learned all the ins and outs of Promise Corps. They got to meet people that work behind the scenes in support of the program. There was many opportunities for role playing in preparation for what was in store. The orientation ended with the members learning about their site placements and starting schools the same day as school staff and participating in their professional development.

September, members walk into their school sites on the first day of school alongside all the students. September was a tough month because members did not have caseloads yet, but they used the opportunity to begin planning college trips and get to know some students. One school, Overbrook, even hosted a Promise Corps Open House during the student’s lunch. This was their opportunity to get to know the students and to get their faces and names out there. The teams at Sayre and West also welcomed their new supervisor Tameka!

October, CASELOADS, CASELOADS, CASELOADS! October was finally when majority of the members got their caseloads. Some were final and some were still being worked on. It was time for coaches to get out and introduce themselves to the students on their caseloads. While the members got to know students those with seniors had to jump right in with FAFSA opening! Lastly, West Philly High took almost the whole school to Washington DC for a day with the support of the Promise Corps team!

November, the teams had many trips that happened in November. Three of the sites visited Shippensburg University thanks to our couch at Overbrook, Miranda, alumnus of Ship! The university provided 4 coach buses to our sites, the students experienced a whole day at Ship! Also, in November, all sites had students attend the Lincoln University Open House! It was such a lively experience. The students got to see the campus, see performances and just have a great time on the campus. The last trip in November was to Delaware State University by the School of the Future team! It was a great way to end the first half of college trips!

December, although no trips happened in December there were some in house events that took place! The West team partnered with other school partners to put together a career week! The week included a professionalism workshop by the Promise Corps team. They had Dunkin and Chipotle for the students that participated. The week ended with a career fair that was just a great experience for the whole school.

Overall, 2019 was a great year for the Promise Corps program. We are ready to get 2020 started with two major events happening in the weeks to come!