Leader Profile: Hazel Todd

Hazel (right) at a Campus Corps event at MSU-B

          This week's featured leader is Hazel Todd who has already had an impressively successful year leading her Campus Corps members serving at MSU-Billings. Hazel is a Montana native, born and raised in the town of Butte. She left her hometown for her college years which were spent in Bozeman, MT studying at MSU. Hazel is proud of her Montana roots and shares that "I like telling people I am from Montana; I feel really proud to be a part of such a beautiful place!” . This year she has made a new home for herself in Billings and has already, in these past few months, created for herself a strong sense of community in her new town. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, baking, and running.  Hazel has big plans for next year, as she intends to move all the way to Austin, Texas!

         In college Hazel focused her studies in the field of Family Sciences and foresees the pursuit of a masters degree in Social Work in her future. As a student at MSU Hazel was a member of Campus Corps and her experiences serving others seem to have had a lasting effect on her, as involvement in community service has become an important component of her life. Hazel's lifelong commitment to service is illustrated in her vision for her future; specifically, she explains that in 10 years she sees herself "working at an organization that values service as much as I do". Wherever that may be will certainly be lucky to have such a passionate, fun, and dedicated addition to their organization!

Campus Corps Helps Prepare Students for College with "Know How 2 Go"

 During the month of January, The University of Montana-Western and Montana Tech have been working together to bring the “Know How 2 Go” initiative to Southwestern Montana to the high schools in the Ruby Valley area. Montana Tech also brought the “Know How 2 Go” initiative to middle students from Butte, Anaconda, Deer Lodge and Helena.

Know How 2 Go is a national initiative that aims to help high school and middle school students successfully make the transition from high school to a post-secondary education. These visits comprise fun, educational, and interactive lessons on the steps for getting into college and adapting to college life. Schylar Canfield-Baber the Student Assistance Foundation based at Montana Tech gave presentations concerning applying for scholarships and other means of financial Aid. Campus Corps members facilitated games such as Jeopardy or “Double Dare” that intended to get the students engaged in learning about the college experience. One student from Harrison High School even said, “We should have assemblies like this more often”.

Along with going into the high schools, middle school students from Butte, Anaconda, Deer Lodge and Helena were able to visit Carroll College and the University of Montana-Helena to gain valuable first-hand experience from real world professionals. These students also attended workshops that were facilitated by Montana Tech Campus Corps members that pertained to the 4 Steps of the “Know How 2 Go” initiative.
             Cheyanne Marcy, Campus Corps Team Leader at UM-Western, was one of the many representatives involved in the program. “Opening the doors to options beyond high school by educating students on the resources available to them is pertinent to their success. Many students do not have the access or support outside the classroom, bringing the KnowHow2Go college access program to the students opens their minds up to the possibilities that do exist for them to accomplish their dreams.”

Sean Cochrane, Campus Corps Team Leader at Montana Tech says, “It was great to see the students get involved and really take a vested interest in their futures. I feel that we were able to reach a lot of the kids, which is always great, and I look forward to seeing them continue their educations.”

For more information on the Know How 2 Go Initiative, visit their website at www.knowhow2go.org.

Sean Cochrane Wins MLK Day Photo Contest!

Montana AmeriCorps Connection challenged volunteers from all over the state to see who could capture the best photograph from their MLK Jr. Day service events. The award for top photo went to Campus Corps' very own Sean Cochrane whose submission was taken at the "Stop, Drop, & Read" event that M-Tech's Campus Corps program hosted in honor of MLK Jr. Day! Congratulations to Sean for a job well done!

Photo by Sean Cochrane, 1/16/12 “Butte children meet a firefighter in full bunker gear, so they won’t be scared by the man in the suit in the event they need to be rescued.”

Visit the Campus Corps Facebook Page to see more photos from this event and from other MLK Day projects that took place across the state and check out the other photo conenders on the Montana AmeriCorps Connection Website. Furthermore, the Governor's Office of Community Service featured an article about Sean's achievement on the Serve Montana Website.