On Monday, August 3rd, Lakewood Public Library hosted a training session for the pilot partnership between Cleveland Scholarship Programs (CSP) and AmeriCorps. The program, called Ohio College Guides, will employ 12 volunteers in up to 11 months of volunteer service with the Cleveland Municipal School District and in schools throughout Lorain County where they will be acting as college access advisors. The major focus of the program is to guide first generation college-going, low income, and minority students in the selection and application processes for Ohio colleges.

On his first official day, Lakewood Public Library Director James Crawford welcomed the volunteers after an introduction to library services by Electronic Services Manager John Guscott. Volunteers were given a brief introduction to the Lakewood community, connected with resources and encouraged to explore and take advantage of all that Lakewood has to offer.

AmeriCorps was founded in 1993 when the Corporation for Community and National Service was established by congress to act as an umbrella organization for civic service. As mentors and community organizers AmeriCorps volunteers tutor and guide disadvantaged youth, fight illiteracy, improve health services, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, manage or operate after-school programs, help communities respond to disasters, and build organizational capacity.

Cleveland Scholarship Programs is a member of National College Access Network, National Scholarship Providers Association, and Ohio College Access Network. The organization works to expand work force development and educational opportunities in northeast Ohio. According to the CSP website, through their guidance, “CSP students received an additional $39 million in scholarships from government, institutions and private sources. This leverage amounted to $13 in financial aid for every $1 that CSP awarded.”

The Ohio College Guides program is a response to the critical conditional of educational attainment in the State of Ohio, which is below the national average. Ohio currently ranks 38th in the nation. These service-minded college grads have risen to the challenge and found an outlet through the Ohio College Guides program.

And the need is immense. Nationally, the student-to-guidance counselor ration is 488:1. Despite a seemingly daunting challenge, CSP has, and continues to make an impact within the region. In particular, CSP has a proven track record of impacting the Lakewood community. According to CSP’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Christine Jindra, “In the past five years, CSP has awarded scholarships to 128 Lakewood High School students. In the past year, 683 students at Lakewood High have consulted with CSP advisor at the school at least one time.”

As powerful players in the work to resolve northeast Ohio’s economic and educational challenges, CSP is raising the bar by increasing college attendance and retention of those who receive its scholarships and support services. According to Christina Milano, CSP’s Chief Executive Officer, “More than three-quarters of CSP alumni live in Northeast Ohio, enriching the economic, social and cultural environment of our region. Approximately 86 percent of our college freshmen are retained into their sophomore year, compared to 74 percent nationally and 75 percent in Ohio.”

The local Ohio College Guides initiative is part of a larger, state-wide program led by the Ohio College Access Network, in partnership with the Cleveland Scholarship Programs, the Cincinnati Youth Collaboration, and the Ohio State University’s Economic Access Initiative.

Locally, the partnership between CSP and AmeriCorps has drawn student volunteers from all corners of the state and throughout the nation. Nathan Blascak hails from DePere, Wisconsin. With an eye toward the power of economics, Blascak hopes to shrink the “critical disconnect” between himself and the population that AmeriCorps will serve in northeast Ohio. Blascak knows through experience the spirit and power of volunteerism, having spent time tutoring Spanish speaking adults in written and spoken English in Chicago, Illinois. Allen Dennis, son of Cleveland and graduate of Cleveland Central Catholic High School, majored in Sociology and Pre-Law at Ohio University. After numerous study abroad experiences including time spent with Engineering without Borders, Dennis applied to the AmeriCorps program. He brings a wealth of knowledge and worldly experience that will aid him in his role as college advisor, opening the world of possibilities for international travel and life experience available to the student willing to put forth the effort to achieve academic and civic success.

AmeriCorps volunteers will utilize wireless technology and social networking and multimedia sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to affect multiple modes of access to the group, its mission and work, and the resources it’s charged with making accessible to students.

An Ohio College Guides’ work isn’t done upon a student’s acceptance at an Ohio university or college. Advisors continue to monitor and support the academic endeavors of participants, keeping an eye to academic performance and financial needs, ready to respond with support and guidance as needed. According to Milano, “We monitor a student’s academic progress, provide assistance with college transfers, assist with financial aid questions and offer other help students need. We are another set of eyes looking at the student, and reach out and help when we see the need.”

The visible, public side of the Ohio College Guides program is the mentoring between college applicants and advisors. Another, more hidden aspect of the program is its systematic cultivation of members into regional leaders through mentorship and networking opportunities. The “Member Development Plan” achieves this goal by connecting AmeriCorps volunteers with leaders possessing knowledge of the region, its history, challenges and needs. CSP aims to pair each AmeriCorps volunteer with a CSP board of trustee member. “CSP aims high to cultivate the AmeriCorps members into leaders and expose them to the region so that they remain her after their service term,” said McFadden.

Lakewood Public Library Director, James Crawford, was excited at the opportunity to welcome these bright, service-oriented students to the community. “We warmly welcome to our community these volunteers. This is a group of educated and engaged young people who bring with them great talent, enthusiasm, and a genuine desire to improve both our community and its residents. This is a great gain for Lakewood,” said Crawford.

In developing an organized culture of civic service the Ohio Guides Program extends the work of AmeriCorps and SCP. For a region hit hard by a post-modern financial crisis during a winter of deindustrialization, the dedication to education and civic service characteristic of these volunteers is precisely the breath of life and fresh air that the region, and indeed the nation, will need to build a solid economic and civic base for the 21st century.