For 20+ years, AmeriCorps and University of Notre Dame Have Been Partners for Educational Success

This piece first appeared on the Corporation for National and Community Service Official Blog. 

The President’s recently proposed budget includes a small amount of money to support the shutdown of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the agency that runs AmeriCorps, in anticipation of ending the program the following year. As you will read below, ACE has been a member of AmeriCorps for more than 20 years. If you support the AmeriCorps service program, please consider contacting your elected representatives and asking for their support to continue the program. 

This weekend, 40 seniors from the University of Notre Dame will walk across the stage, proudly accept their diplomas, and march into their future as members of AmeriCorps and the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE).

They’ll be joined by more than 50 graduates from colleges and universities around the country who will be members of the 24th class of ACE Teaching Fellows. Another 75 ACE AmeriCorps teachers will earn their Master of Education degree this weekend as they near the end of their service.

As ACE teachers and AmeriCorps members, these passionate, motivated graduates will serve their country by serving children as they earn a Master of Education degree from Notre Dame. They’ll live in more than 30 cities across the country while they spend the next two years living in community and renewing and transforming classrooms, often in some of the most under-resourced schools in the United States. They will also spend time working after school as coaches, club moderators, class sponsors, and tutors.

ACE has been a proud member of the AmeriCorps network for more than 20 years. More than 1,000 ACE teachers have been AmeriCorps members over that time – including Patrick Manion and Bobby Sylvester, who were named Fulbright Scholars for 2017-18. The newest class includes members such as Casey Gelchion, who was named one of the top 10 graduating business majors by CNBC.  

While they help students succeed in school, ACE AmeriCorps members also help achieve their own educational dreams. Not only do they come away with a master’s degree in education and valuable work and leadership skills, they earn more than $11,000 in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards from the Corporation for National and Community Service to help them pay back student loans or finance further education. ACE AmeriCorps members have earned nearly $3 million in AmeriCorps scholarships to pay for future education or pay back student loans.

Each year, millions of students fail to reach their potential because they lack access to the quality education they deserve. Outstanding educators establish the environments in which young people want to learn, and make a significant difference in the lives of children and the communities in which they serve.

With education being one of the most important challenges facing our country, it’s no surprise that ACE teachers – motivated by a sense of service to others and a desire to work for the common good – stay involved in education. Almost 75 percent of them are engaged in education in their daily work after they leave ACE.

The opportunity to serve others is the principal motivator for ACE teachers. Over the past 23 years, ACE teachers have returned from the field with the same sentiment – you get back far more than you put in. The effort can be great, but the rewards of teaching and community life cannot be quantified. As one ACE teacher said, “ACE is the hardest job I ever loved.”