At the Council of Urban Boards of Education Annual Conference, keynote speaker Michael D. Smith highlighted the tens of thousands of AmeriCorps members and senior members supporting pre-K-12 schools and after-school programs.
January 15, 2025
AMERICORPS CEO MICHAEL D. SMITH.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMERICORPS.
As the CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency that connects people and organizations to national service and volunteerism, Michael D. Smith says he gets to see the “power of service each and every day.” He notes that more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and senior volunteers provide results-driven service via a network of local, state, and national service programs in nearly 40,000 locations across the country.
During a keynote address at NSBA’s Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) annual conference in Las Vegas in October, Smith explained that 54,000 AmeriCorps members and senior members contribute directly to pre-K-12 student success in nearly 10,000 schools and thousands of after-school programs, serving as tutors, mentors, role models, success coaches, advocates, and college advisors, among other roles. Through the Youth Mental Health Corps, for example, young people receive paid training and provide mental health support to middle and high school students.
After discussing the mentors and community leaders who influenced his own life, and the transformative power that service as long held in creating social change in America, Smith sat for a Q&A with NSBA Executive Director and CEO Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs. Smith encouraged conference attendees to consider AmeriCorps to increase capacity at schools, create educator pipelines, and build safe and welcoming school environments.
“We have resources that are ready for you,” said Smith, who shared AmeriCorps’ Superintendent’s/Principal’s Toolkit to Utilizing National Service. He also urged school leaders to talk with students about national service “as a meaningful pathway upon graduation” that offers a living allowance, education awards, and world-class training. “And what we’ve heard is it can change their lives,” Smith said.
Can you tell us more about AmeriCorps’ presence in public education, and what type of impact AmeriCorps members are making?
We are a part of your communities. AmeriCorps celebrated its 30th anniversary last year and AmeriCorps VISTA goes back further to the Johnson administration in the 1960s, so we are part and parcel of your communities. I was talking to some of our AmeriCorps members earlier, and they commented that, so often, people don’t know AmeriCorps. They just know there’s that person, that foster grandparent that comes to visit my class, that there’s this person that’s tutoring.
AMERICORPS CEO MICHAEL D. SMITH OBSERVES AN AMERICORPS MEMBER INSTRUCTING STUDENTS.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMERICORPS.
We’re in 10,000 schools with members representing programs including Foster Grandparents, City Year, Literacy First, ArtistYear. Our members are working through evidence-based programs to make sure that they can support teaching and learning all across the country. What I’m really proud of is the fact that we are dealing with evidence. Seventy percent of our mentor programs have strong to moderate levels of evidence. We know when AmeriCorps members show up to support your community, impact is going to follow.
How can urban and rural school districts better leverage AmeriCorps in terms of employment and career opportunities?
I’m proud that about 20% to 25% of AmeriCorps funding goes to rural communities. We also have a 1% set-aside for dollars that go to Tribal communities, making sure that we’re honoring our government-to-government responsibility with Tribal communities. And the fact that 75% of our alums end up staying in the social sector is fascinating. So when you bring them in as AmeriCorps members, you know that folks are going to get the training and the support that they need to become part of a talent pipeline, to become teachers, principals, superintendents, or work in the environment that supports education policy. And we have a 30-year track record of being able to do that.
As urban districts work to create more inclusive and equitable schools, how can national service initiatives promote a deeper sense of belonging and inclusion for students from marginalized communities?
A couple of years ago, President Biden hosted a United We Stand summit where we brought people together from across the country to talk about community violence and polarization. Some of you may have seen the study where about 75% of Americans say that they think polarization has gotten so bad that we can no longer solve problems as a country. But we know that there is something special about long-term, sustained service that brings people together. We have the data to back it up. About 80% of our AmeriCorps alums say that they’re more comfortable working with people that are different from them. About 72% of our AmeriCorps alums say that they actually changed a long-held belief after their AmeriCorps service. There is something that when you are rolling up your sleeves teaching a kid how to read, when you were tutoring and mentoring, when you are among the hundreds of AmeriCorps members on the front lines of Helene and Milton, two of the worst storms in decades, there is something about service where your ideology slips to the background. It creates a window and opening to bring people together. If we create more of these opportunities, we know that we can start to heal some of the rifts that we see.
What role can national service play in providing additional support for teachers, counselors, and school staff in communities that are often overwhelmed by demands and a lack of resources?
AmeriCorps is a force multiplier. We don’t talk about AmeriCorps members as being volunteers, because they’re not episodic volunteers. Many AmeriCorps members work 1,700 hours a year. They work before school and after school. They’re doing remediation, encouraging kids, working on behavior curriculum. We are able to come in and provide a high level of support for both students and teachers, but we are also able to organize and manage other volunteers. When you need extra hands, extra feet, think about how national service can be there to support you along the way.
How can school districts integrate AmeriCorps into their long-term strategic planning?
We can be an immediate response if you urgently need something on the ground in 6 to 12 months. We also can sit down and discuss longer-term plans. Every state has a governor’s appointed state service commission. Every single state receives formula funding from our agency to make sure the dollars are going toward where the need is greatest. We have regional and state commission staff who would be happy to sit down with you to discuss your needs. Is this about absenteeism? Is this about behavior? Is this about curriculum? Is this about college-going? And then what are the resources that AmeriCorps has that we can map and start slowly and begin to grow over the years?
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)