Americorps Project MARS Helps Young Women Find Their True Paths By Meg Hale Brunton

While Americorps teaches its members a multitude of skills and life lessons, perhaps its most useful gift is that of direction. Project MARS (Mentoring Academic Assistance Resources for Success) is a government-funded program that places Americorps members in underserved classrooms across Western North Carolina to help support students, teachers, and the schools themselves.

“Americorps is a really cool program,” says former member, Abbey Reed. “I love the service aspect of it. It’s not a job; you’re giving back to the community. You’re really serving.”

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up,” Reed says, referring to before she served in Americorps. “But I knew I loved working with kids.” Though she grew up in a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth in Texas, Reed was eager to move to the Asheville area to join Project MARS. Her family has lived in Western North Carolina dating back to the 1700s.

Before joining Americorps, Reed worked at other schools and was the assistant director of a summer program for a boarding school. She found her experience as a member of Project MARS to be utterly different because she had the opportunity to work one-on-one with the kids. Reed served at Francine Delaney New School for Children in their mentorship program, as well as in their Exceptional Children department. “Not every kid is motivated to sit down and do work,” she says. Reed also says that, through her service with the school, she really got to connect with the students and was able to help them better understand their assignments. “I would say, ‘We’ll do it in chunks and break it up and work through it together.’”

After that experience, Reed says she knew she wanted to become a school counselor. “I chose Americorps to see if I was interested in the academic level [of education],” she explains, “and realized I wanted to get to know the students on a personal level.” Today, Reed has just finished her first year of online classes in School Counseling at North Carolina State University. She is also working as an assistant teacher in a first grade classroom at Peak Academy. She credits much of this to Americorps and Project MARS.

Caroline Sprinkle had a similar experience. She graduated from Wake Forest University, still unsure of what she wanted to pursue. “I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do career-wise,” she admits. She didn’t feel like she should commit to a field or a graduate school until she knew what direction she was headed in. She considered the Peace Corps, but was a bit intimidated by its two-year commitment requirement, so she opted to do a year abroad in The Philippines with her church service group. “I’ve always been interested in service. I find a lot of joy in it.”

When she returned, she found herself drawn once again to community service. She felt that Project MARS was a perfect fit for her. “I’d always wanted to move to Asheville,” Sprinkle says. “And I love getting to work with kids.”

During Sprinkle’s first service year at Shining Rock Classical Academy, she served her school wherever she was needed. In her second service year, she assisted students at Brevard Academy in Brevard. There, she was given the opportunity to shadow a speech pathologist, and fell in love with the process. She began applying to graduate schools, and is now working on her Master’s degree in Speech Pathology at Eastern Carolina University.

Sprinkle says she thinks Americorps is a great way to test the waters. “I think they have a program for everyone. It’s a great way to start out, find yourself and what you’re interested in,” she says. “You gain a lot of experience and a great foundation of people to connect with.” While Sprinkle admits she is still figuring out exactly what field of speech pathology she wants to pursue, she says she definitely discovered her love for working with kids through her experience serving with Project MARS.

Conversely, Alli Schreiner always knew that her career path would lead into education. “I came from a lot of educators in my family. The school was an exciting place to learn,” she explains. “I always knew I wanted to be in education somehow, but I didn’t know what realm.” After getting her undergrad in 2018, Schreiner opted to take a year off and figure out her next move. A friend recommended she look into Americorps. Schreiner read about Project MARS and thought it sounded exactly what she wanted to do with her time off.

Before she had even had her interview with Project MARS, Schreiner packed up her car and moved to Asheville. “I had a good feeling about it,” she says, justifying her leap of faith. “It was actually a very ‘Asheville’ thing to do.” As expected, Schreiner was accepted into Project MARS and attended their two-week training process. For her service, she divided her time between serving teachers and coordinating volunteers at Vance Elementary (now Lucy S. Herring Elementary), then going to Ira B. Jones Elementary to help run their after-school program.

Schreiner says the experience was phenomenal. She loved helping to build confidence in young students. “Children just need one person to believe in them – to care about them,” she explains. “It’s nice to know that I could be that one person.” It soon became clear to Schreiner that she wanted to go into School Psychology. Last May, she received her degree in School Psychology from Radford University, and already has a job lined up with a public school in Stafford County.

Schreiner says she would recommend service in Americorps to any young person who is looking for firsthand experience, but are still on the fence about what they want to do with their lives. She is overjoyed to be doing the work she loves, and is grateful for Americorps for helping her to find the way there. “I love the school atmosphere,” Schreiner says. “Educators make the world go round. They’re incredible! I love being in that environment because they are so passionate.”

Partnering with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of WNC, Project MARS serves the community in many ways, including academic assistance, mentoring, and community outreach. They promise their members a truly unique growing experience in a supportive team environment. That was certainly the case for Sprinkle, Reed, and Schreiner.

For more information on Americorps Project MARS and how to join, visit: https://projectmars.wixsite.com/americorps