Grinnell College and Iowa Campus Compact Expand AmeriCorps Team

Iowa Campus Compact and Grinnell College have launched another AmeriCorps partnership to support the College’s civic goals of serving the common good. As the College’s statewide partner and AmeriCorps grantor, Iowa Campus Compact assists higher education institutions in deepening their ability to improve community life and in educating students for civic and social responsibility. 

Athena Frasca '23, is serving as an after-school enrichment aide for the Grinnell Education Partnership. At Grinnell, Frasca is studying biology and french. She has background in virtually tutoring students from around the world in English as a second language. Through her AmeriCorps service, Frasca will support virtual youth art and literacy programming offered by Grinnell’s Drake Community Library and the Grinnell College Museum of Art. 

“I am excited to help adjust the role of after-school enrichment aide to meet the needs of the new socially distanced, virtual world we live and work in while maintaining creativity, engagement, and curiosity,” says Frasca. 

Frasca joins a team of 5 other AmeriCorps members who serve through Grinnell College’s Office of Community Enhancement and Engagement to support the Grinnell Education Partnership. The Grinnell Education Partnership is a community wide initiative that brings together nonprofits, area employers, the Grinnell-Newburg School District, and community volunteers to ensure children in Grinnell get a strong start and a strong finish to their school experience. 

In her AmeriCorps service with the Center for Careers, Life and Service (CLS), Carina Wilson '19, contributed to community efforts by supporting college student volunteers in K–12 and senior engagement.  In her first year, she helped establish the first campus wide service survey to recognize students dedicated to service work, developed new senior and youth mentoring programs and stepped up to support local COVID-19 and derecho relief efforts. 

“Serving as an AmeriCorps member, I have grown and contributed to sustainable change in service through CLS programs and training geared toward fostering mutual relationships and connections between Grinnell College students and the community. This experience with the wider community has expanded and revolutionized the way I think about community, engagement within communities and fostering spaces for social change that are beneficial for everyone involved,” Wilson says.