As the Kokos of B.P. Carbullido Elementary is away from their nest for summer break, a community effort is taking shape to welcome them back to a brighter campus.

“So, we’ve just been helping with the sprucing up of the schools with the revitalization of paint, and any surfaces that need to be scraped and whatever that may be. And making it safe and ready for kids to come back to school,” said Charlene Masiwemai, Program Director of AmeriCorps at the University of Guam. 

Masiwemai is leading the charge with a dedicated team of volunteers who have been putting in the work since the start of the week. Part of a mission that’s rooted in supporting education both inside and outside the classroom. 

“One of our primary focus areas is education—providing mentoring and homework assistance to school-aged kids from kindergarten through 12th grade–but in order to do that, they have to have schools to come back to,” added Masiwemai. 

But for AmeriCorps, painting walls is just the beginning.

“In our program, we concentrate on coming into the school environment and providing that one-to-one assistance to the students, and so, that’s what we’re hoping to achieve is to build that partnership, so in the beginning of the school year, we can be here just to help the students that need the one to one assistance,” added Masiwemai.

Meantime, Masiwemai encourages others to join the effort with just days left to sign up and make a difference.

“Our deadline is June 30th–so, if anybody is still interested in being a part of our team, you have until June 30th to do so,” she said. 

And as the new school year nears, AmeriCorps is rolling up their sleeves to help the island’s public schools on a case-by-case basis–standing ready to assist with manpower.

For more information on how to join, visit sgc.guam.gov.