Great Stories
Montana Campus Corps:
College Students Meeting Critical Community Needs
1700 and thats it? by Jonathan Stephani

As the Campus Corps Leader for Dillon Montana this year I walked into the position not really understanding the full impact that my team could do in its first year. I wandered my way through the first few months completing the required tasks, recruiting members, and just trying to figure out what my goals were for the year.

As time went on and I realized the importance of our Campus Corps Team to our community I realized what my goal was. My goal was not to fill all of my team member slots, or have the best national day of service project, but rather to ensure that my members were walking away with a positive experience throughout their term of service. I had to ensure that they were not only meeting critically unmet community needs, but that they were applying their own individual skills in real life situations that would prepare them for their future as productive citizens. My team members had to enjoy themselves to ensure the success of our program and that was the bottom line.

My greatest moment didn't come until very late in the year. During the final week of school me and my Coordinator, Ilene Cohen, decided to do a Campus Corps Awards and Recognition ceremony. We sat down together and came up with some pretty intriguing awards for our members that really spoke to their year of service and their personalities. When each individual received their award we asked them to comment a little about their year of service. As a sat back and allowed my members to take the center stage I realized that through our relationship, I had been able to help my team members take steps towards their future goals and instilled the value of giving back to their community selflessly. At the end of the evening I received the greates award that could be given, the appreciation of a community, and the success stories from my team.




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