MUW College Corps Students Get Special Lessons

Natasha Morris, left, a participant of the College Corps program at Mississippi University for Women, helps Boys & Girls Club members 10-year-old Johnasia O’neal and 11-year-old Shekinah Brown. O’neal is the granddaughter of Annie Pippins, and Brown is the daughter of Katina and Don Bankhead. (Photo by Chris Jenkins/MUW Office of University Relations)

COLUMBUS, Miss.—When Natasha Morris signed on for the College Corps program, a part of the national AmeriCorps experience, she didn’t know quite what to expect. The 28-year-old senior public health and education major found a calling.

Each of the eight student volunteers in the inaugural program at Mississippi University for Women were challenged to perform 300 hours of public service to a specified partnering organization, allowing them to earn a $1,175 AmeriCorps Segal Education Award. Morris totaled 442.75 volunteer hours at the local Boys & Girls Club.

“It wasn’t about the education grant,” said the Columbus native. “I’m trying to be a leader who can have a positive impact on young people. It is so rewarding when you are able to develop personal relationships and make a difference. I want to inspire students to learn and help them aspire to go to college. I want them to believe they can be successful.”

She cited one fourth-grader she worked with who struggled with spelling. Morris devised a variety of strategies to help him overcome obstacles. “One day he was so excited,” she recalled. “He came in beaming and said, “Miss Tasha, I made an A on my spelling test!”

Morris did such an impressive job that she has been offered a fulltime position with the organization and will begin serving as youth developer this summer. Meanwhile, she plans to continue her education at The W by earning a master’s in public health education, with a goal of teaching.

A member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, she also received a Service Award for her College Corps volunteer efforts.

Like Morris, Kayla Guest, a pre-physical therapy major, had a commitment to help others. A Caledonia high school graduate, she experienced a challenging childhood and said, “A lot of folks helped us. I wanted to help kids who had been in my situation.”

Guest volunteered at Hearts After School Tutoring program and the Boys & Girls Club, totaling 305 hours in late April. She will continue to volunteer until July 1. “The hours didn’t matter to me as long as I was helping,” she said.

She was distressed that some youngsters did not have adequate reading skills in the second grade to read kindergarten books. Working with one student who could not read at all, Guest was delighted when “by the end of the semester she could sound out words.” The experience has given her a goal of ultimately working at an elementary school. Guest will apply to UAB for its physical therapy program upon her 2016 graduation and see where the future takes her.

College Corps coordinator Dana Proctor said since the program launched last September, volunteers have logged a total of nearly 2,300 hours of service.  Partner sites, in addition to the Boys & Girls Club and Hearts After-School Tutoring, are Fairview Aerospace and Science Magnet School, Cook Fine Arts Magnet Schools, Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen and Helping Hands, Inc.

“Not only do I see great relationships growing from this program, but the community is benefiting greatly from our college students,” Proctor said. “The skill sets that our students are learning here on campus are being extended to students and patrons at host sites.”

Proctor is equally proud of what students gain through service. “Our members go above and beyond to help the most affected victims of poverty, and in return receive an experience of a lifetime as well as a Segal Award. They are truly amazing individuals and have bright futures ahead of them. I know that our students will continue to extend an extra hand to our community, and College Corps is a wonderful outlet for that.”