Keni (and everyone),
I had two Americorps members as part of the Education staff waaaaay back when the program started under the Clinton Admin in the 1990s. I was working at a small museum in CT, and these two young women truly helped us accomplish a lot. At that time CT had an umbrella organization that got the Americorps grant and invited non-profits in the area (including museums, obviously) to request some members. I believe it was the Volunteer Center that ran that part of it. If I remember correctly, I posted a "job listing" as it would have been for any Museum Educator (that was what I called them) and I got one young woman who was studying to be a teacher, and the other had experience working with kids also.

I no longer have the job descriptions or any info from that time period (back in the day of computers with no graphics and just blue type on a large white monitor), but I do remember that what made it successful was treating them like a staff person and providing all the necessary training, as well as including them in as many meetings as possible, etc to make them feel a part of the organization. In turn, I also went to monthly meetings that the Volunteer center ran for the hosts, to show my support for Americorps. It was terrific to have these two energetic young women who helped teach more school programs and camp group programs and maintained a high standard of education programming in this small organization. Volunteers were hard to come by and not always available, and the two young women helped fill a need we had and we served more students and families as a result.

One downside is that they had to go to a meeting weekly or biweekly, so you pretty much can't use them on that day. Otherwise, I saw only positives in working with them, since I got to choose them just as I would have any other job applicant.

If I can find a copy, I did write an article about this for Museum Magazine in 1997 or so, it may have more info in it there.

Hope this helps.

- Claudia Ocello
President & CEO
Museum Partners Consulting, LLC
www.museumpartnersconsulting.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Keni Sturgeon <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Jul 10, 2009 3:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Americorp

Hello All,

I would love to hear from anyone who has successfully hired an Americorp worker in their education departments. I am curious as to what titles they have held for your organizations, how you think they have worked out, and that the +/- are. Also, if anyone who has had success obtaining an Americorp worker would be willing to share their strategies for success and if possible, sample applications, it would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks and best to all for the weekend,
Keni Sturgeon
Curator
Mission Mill Museum
Salem, OR 97301
503-585-7012
[log in to unmask]

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Claudia B. Ocello
Museum Partners Consulting, LLC
Education Programs, Exhibitions, Evaluation
www.museumpartnersconsulting.com
Engaging Audiences, Empowering Staff

========================================================= Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).