AmeriCorps Retention Project Data

Washington Campus Compact AmeriCorps Retention Project Data Released

The Evergreen State College Students Contribute over 2,000 Hours Mentoring Youth

Bellingham, Washington, May 11, 2010 – Students at The Evergreen State College have contributed over 2,000 hours in mentoring students, most through the Gateways for Incarcerated Youth. These efforts are organized by the AmeriCorps Retention Project, funded by Washington Campus Compact, a program that supports and directs efforts to recruit college students to mentor at-risk youth to prepare them for college.

The Retention Project has placed 20 AmeriCorps members at 15 campuses statewide and has long had a presence at The Evergreen State College and its Gateways for Incarcerated Youth. In this model, Evergreen students are recruited and trained by the AmeriCorps member to mentor incarcerated youth at two state juvenile detention facilities, Maple Lane and Green Hill. The program serves approximately 40-45 juveniles at Maple Lane and 20 young men at Green Hill each year. The number of hours already served in mentoring and academic support by Evergreen students is over 2,000 hours.

Sixty one Evergreen students are members of AmeriCorps Students in Service. They can be found tutoring, working in school gardens, at the food banks, fighting homelessness, supporting literacy programs and much more.

Established in 1992 and hosted at Western Washington University, Washington Campus Compact is committed to providing meaningful experiences for students to become active, engaged leaders in their communities, furthering the civic and public purposes of higher education, and strengthening communities. Washington Campus Compact has 35 college and university members throughout Washington state. It is an affiliate state office of Campus Compact, a national organization comprised of more than 1,200 colleges and universities committed to the civic and public purposes of higher education.

Contact: Brian Heinrich, (360) 650-4147
brian.heinrich@wwu.edu