Brandi Buth is an excellent role model for students; she is organized, sees tasks through to completion, and often accepts additional responsibilities. These characteristics are essential to her service as a full-time Volunteer Muskegon's AmeriCorps member with the Mercy Health Partners Life Counseling You Turn program. You Turn is an alternative program for middle and high school students expelled from the public school system.
Through the You Turn program, Brandi assists students in the classroom, monitors attendance, and initiates communication with parents and court probations offices when appropriate. She is responsible for leading a daily life-skills group session, utilizing material from a variety of resources to teach personal responsibility, problem solving, communication skills, and feelings management. She also participates in pre-admission interviewing of prospective students. Through her service, Brandi has developed positive and mutually respectful relationships with both students and staff.
Brandi also coordinates the service-learning component of the program, placing students at non-profit community agencies for four hours of service work on Friday mornings. She provides information to the teacher regarding students' performance, participation, and behavior to be included in program summaries that are reported to the referring school when the student applies for re-admission.
Brandi's commitment to the You Turn program is continually demonstrated through her initiative. She is always looking for additional resources to assist students with connecting their education with the real world. Most recently she enlisted the aid of another AmeriCorps member who provides a job skills workshop on Mondays.
"In addition to the tasks Brandi has with the You Turn program, she has been a great asset to the AmeriCorps team," stated Lisa Schillaci, Program Director for the Volunteer Muskegon's AmeriCorps program. "She arrives on time, provides insightful thoughts to the meetings and trainings, and can always be counted on." Brandi recently became the chair of the Strengthening Community Committee and will lead this committee in the planning and implementation of National Days of Service.
Brandi balances time between her AmeriCorps team responsibilities and her site responsibilities exceptionally well. She also makes time to parent and care for her young daughter. Brandi is a graduate of the Grand Valley State University Bachelor of Social Work program.
For more information about the Volunteer Muskegon's AmeriCorps program, contact Program Director, Lisa Schillaci at 231-722-6600 ext. 15 or
americorps@volunteermuskegon.org
. For more information on other AmeriCorps programs visit
www.americorps.gov
.
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