On August 10, 2010, R2LP welcomed its sixth AmeriCorps team. After three weeks of training in early childhood development, early literacy instruction and data analysis, the 35 members received their assignments and began their work in libraries, early-care settings, medical facilities and R2LP offices to strengthen the school readiness of the youngest children in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls.
(Download this PDF for information about the R2LP AmeriCorps program in Spanish.)
Members assigned to libraries serve as Early Literacy Outreach Aides. They work toward increasing the number of families and family child-care providers who use the library, and they participate in the library’s early literacy programs.
AmeriCorps members placed in child-care centers work as Early Literacy Activity Coordinators under the guidance of highly skilled center directors and head teachers in R2LP’s target neighborhoods. They design and lead activities that help elevate the role early childhood literacy plays in the overall curriculum.
AmeriCorps members also work directly with family child-care providers to enhance instructional expertise. These members play a critical role in the delivery of the HeadsUp! Reading program, collaborating with program facilitators and serving as HeadsUp! Reading coaches. In addition to their work in the classroom, AmeriCorps members visit the settings of family child-care providers to help them integrate newly acquired skills into their curricula.
Still other members work in the R2LP offices, supporting staff in family engagement, administration, data and research, and literacy instruction.
In 2009 AmeriCorps members began working with the Project LAUNCH program -- one at Hasbro Children's Hospital, one at St. Joseph's Hospital and a third at the Lifespan offices in the Coro Building. The two assigned to the hospitals assist parents in waiting areas as they fill out assessments on their child's development. The member based in the Coro Building tallies and enters this data for use by the pediatricians.
To see regular updates and pictures of AmeriCorps activities throughout the year, become a fan of R2LP's Facebook page.
R2LP’s AmeriCorps program, one of the largest in the state, is funded through Serve Rhode Island, formerly called the Rhode Island Service Alliance. The program runs from August to June, with the first month devoted to training at R2LP. At the end of their service, members not only walk away with a wealth of skills and experience, but also a $5,300 educational award. The living allowance members will receive for the 2010/2011 year of service is $11,800. Applications for the 2011/2012 AmeriCorps team will be available in the spring of 2011.
For more information, call Nazly Guzman, director of AmeriCorps, at 490-9960, or e-mail nguzman@provplan.org.
Meet the 2009/2010 team. Click here to see profiles. Click here to read their reflections as their year of service neared completion.
Click here to see pictures from the end-of-the-year celebrations for the 2009/2010 team and the 2008/2009 team.
