Member Spotlight: Xianszelle Grace, AmeriCorps Instructional Support Team Member

Meet Xianszelle Grace, currently serving at Bright Beginnings Pre-School, in the AmeriCorps Instructional Support Team.

1. What motivated you to join AmeriCorps? My mother served in AmeriCorps. Observing her serving the community and schools, motivated me to join in 2014. I joined AmeriCorps and served for 2 years. I enrolled in Lurleen B. Wallace Community College and received my Associates of Arts Degree. After receiving my Associates, I transferred to Alabama State University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education. AmeriCorps helped me earn money towards my education in Early Childhood Education along with learning unique skills on how to serve people and children in the community and the schools.

2. What would you like to get out of this service opportunity? I would like to get more Professional Development Trainings on continuing my education. I would also like to demonstrate a positive impact on people in the community and children. The awesome experiences I had during my two service years brought me back three years later. I am ready to "get things done" and then some.

3. What will your service focus on for the 2019-2020 program year? I will be providing direct support to economically disadvantaged children in a Pre-K program to develop school readiness skills in terms of social and/or emotional development, literacy skills in one or more domains: phonological awareness, book knowledge. Also, I will be demonstrating gains in school readiness in terms of numeracy (math) skills. Each domain of math (numeracy) skills development has a set of specific, measurable indicators.

4. What are your plans after AmeriCorps? Thanks to AmeriCorps, I was able to continue pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education. My plans after graduating in December 2019 are to pursue a job in my field of education, give back to the community and school system. My plans are to create volunteer groups, non-profit organizations, and contribute to those in need.

Thank you for your service, Xianszelle!