Created in 2022, Flipside AmeriCorps is a national service initiative where AmeriCorps members help improve the social, academic, and emotional wellbeing of students at 4 area schools: Taylor County Middle School, West Fairmont Middle School, East Fairmont Middle School, and Mannington Middle School.
Flipside AmeriCorps members serve middle school students directly through Tygart Valley United Way’s flagship education program, the Flipside Afterschool Program. The Flipside Afterschool Program was created in 2021 by the Tygart Valley United Way, in collaboration with the Marion County Board of Education, to fill the need of an afterschool program at our area middle schools. Then, in 2022, the program was expanded to include Taylor County Middle School, in partnership with Taylor County Board of Education.
Over their 11-month service term, our 17 AmeriCorps Members serve over 16,600 hours as an integral part of Tygart Valley United Way’s Flipside AmeriCorps Program. In appreciation of the great service they perform in our schools, AmeriCorps Members receive a living stipend, an education award, and other benefits. In addition to this they gain valuable professional, education, and life benefits. This service has a lasting impact on members and the sites they serve.
Through a series of critical evaluation, pre- and post-tests, parental and teacher input, and evidence based practices, AmeriCorps members are responsible for demonstrating improved metrics of student success surrounding emotional and social wellbeing. Through these demonstrable, measured efforts, we certify what has been long known: afterschool programs work, and AmeriCorps members ‘Get Things Done!’
More information about AmeriCorps is available at https://www.americorps.gov.
For more information about the Flipside AmeriCorps Program, contact
Kaitlyn Wilkerson at kaitlyn@tvunitedway.org.
