RISD partnered with the Mount Hope Learning Center for an MLK Day of Service at MLK Elementary School in Providence. Before the event, I helped to set up activity stations as well as the food tables in the cafeteria, where most of the festivities took place. Stations included screen printing, face painting, jewelry making, origami, and more. I served as a point person for volunteers and helped to relay the day’s plans and opportunities to volunteers and the public. The event gathered 130 volunteers and 175 kids with family. I acted as a floater as the day took on its own rhythm and generally engaged the kids and made sure the activities had all the resources they needed. Towards the end I helped to organize and facilitate clean-up.

Nicole Morse works with The Learning Community, a nationally recognized public charter school with a focus on literacy and an expectation of leadership at every level. The Learning Community is Rhode Island’s highest performing school with its level of poverty. Students meet or exceed RI’s average NECAP scores in reading, math, and writing despite a poverty rate that is twice the state average.

Nicole Morse, After School AmeriCorps VISTA at The Learning Community shares her MLK Day story…

Leann HeathI was a single mother who never got a chance to finish college. At the age of 30, she decided it was finally time and enrolled at Roger Williams University. There, she discovered a program called College Unbound, an individualized project-based approach for adult learners. Without that program, it would have taken her years to finish my degree one class at a time. Because of everything College Unbound had done to help Leann to the finish line, it was important to her that she give back in some way. So, she applied for the VISTA position. As a VISTA, Leann works in two different areas to build capacity in College Unbound’s final year as a pilot program.