Local Students Participate in Foundations Summer Youth Corps

Last month, 14 college students from Bucks County were chosen to participate in Foundations Community Partnership's Summer Youth Corps, which offers paid student internships at local non-profit human service agencies in Bucks County serving children, youth and families.

According to a release, the program combines the ability to gain practical experience while helping to effect positive change in the community working at non-profit human service agencies.

This is the fourth year in a row that Foundations has offered the internship program. Non-profit agencies have the benefit of additional helping hands and the students gain meaningful work experience with groups that are making a difference in Bucks County.

"Service learning combines community service with academic study," said Ron Bernstein, Executive Director of Foundations Community Partnership. "Our Summer Youth Corps encourages students to learn civic responsibility and enrich their communities. I am also pleased that many of our Partnership in Education winners have been selected for the Summer Youth Corps so they can broaden their community service endeavors."

Through a relationship with Bucks County Community College, students are able to experience "service learning", a form of experiential education where students learn to solve community problems and achieve real objectives for the community while earning college credits. Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Service-learning is different from volunteerism in that it is a teaching and learning approach that integrates community service with academic study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.

Agencies participating in the program for the first time this year include The Peace Center, Ridge Crest Pediatric Services, Bucks County Housing Group, and Libertae.

This year's Summer Youth Corps is led by Field Supervisor Laura Brobst of Doylestown, a graduate student at Temple University, where she is earning a Master's degree in Social Work.

Students in the 2011 Summer Youth Corps program have been placed in the following locations:

1.  Doylestown resident David He is assisting the Boy Scouts of America, Bucks County Chapter in Doylestown. He is attending the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and majoring in Pharmacy.
2. Levittown resident Chiara Tilli is working at Bristol Riverside Theatre. She is attending Kutztown University, majoring in Speech Communication.
3. Yardley resident Kataryna Evanowicz is working at The Peace Center in Langhorne. She attends Kutztown University and is a Social Work major.
4. Doylestown resident Kierstyn Rose-Gunn is working at Community Conservatory of Music in Doylestown. She attends C.W. Post/Long Island University and majors in Music.
5. Doylestown resident Sean Pyles is interning at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown. He is an Economics major at Clemson University.
6. Furlong resident Marianne Patterson is working at Big Brothers Big Sisters in Jamison. She attends University of Scranton and is majoring in School Counseling.
7. Yardley resident Ashley Mullican is interning at Network of Victims Assistance in Jamison. She is a Marketing and English major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
8. Doylestown resident Crystal Moyer is working at Pearl S. Buck International in Perkasie. She is a Psychology major at Taylor University.
9. Quakertown resident Jaclyn Miller is working at Central Bucks Family YMCA in Doylestown. She attends Villanova University and is majoring in Business.
10. Langhorne resident Peter Jacoby is assisting Ridge Crest Pediatric Services in Sellersville. He is in the Biochemisty/Pre-Med program at Temple University.
11. Carversville resident Jennifer Barbo joins Special Equestrians in Warrington. She attends Barry College in Georgia where she is studying Graphic Design.
12. Holland resident Kristen Plantz is working at Bucks County Housing Group in Newtown. She is a sophomore at Wake Forest University.
13. Yardley resident Lauren Shunk works at Libertae, Inc. in Bensalem. She graduated from Bucks County Community College and will be studying Psychology at Arcadia University.
14. Holland resident Amanda Schlupp is assisting the YWCA of Bucks County in Trevose. She is studying Social Work at Kutztown University.

Students who have completed their freshman through junior year at college and who are residents of Bucks County are eligible to participate in Foundations Community Partnership's Summer Youth Corps. The 10-week service-learning program runs from May 31 through Aug. 6. Internships are subsidized by Foundations Community Partnership.

Foundations Community Partnership (http://www.fcpartnership.org) provides grants and technical assistance to non-profit organizations, awards scholarships to Bucks County high school seniors, subsidizes service learning internships for college students, underwrites community education programs and supports behavioral health education and research.