Courage, conviction and service are three words to describe Yvette McCollum, an AmeriCorps Alumni of EducationWorks, who served in Philadelphia. Yvette’s decision to join the National School & Community Corps (NSCC) was prompted by her life long history of educating young people. Although she has worked in educational settings, it wasn’t until she was employed as a Kindergarten teacher in an affluent suburban neighborhood that fueled her desire to teach children in low-income communities. During her terms of service with the NSCC, Yvette has worked, and made a difference, in schools plagued by low educational achievement, high poverty, and crime-ridden communities. She was unfailing every day, to ensure those children knew they had a future and the window to their future was through education.

Yvette’s mother was a large catapult in providing service to others. Yvette’s commitment to service began as a young child, going to work with her mother, who is now retired after 39 years of service as a special education classroom assistant with the Philadelphia School District. Yvette talked about how she and her siblings would often share their meals, food and clothing with her mother’s students. Her mother volunteered for the Special Olympics Organization and was honored by the Philadelphia Chapter in 1999 for her volunteer services.

As a long term activist in her community for children’s rights, Yvette has served as the neighborhood Block Captain, facilitator of a Charm and Etiquette classes for her Church and co-founded a Helping Hands Committee, an intergenerational program, whereby youth assisted older members of the committee by running errands, going shopping, washing their hair, and spending time with the elderly.

Mother was a large catapult in doing service, retried in 2002 from the PSD after 39 years of service as classroom assistant in the special education classroom. When mother was a teacher, teachers could bring home students. They shared their clothes and toys at an earlier age. Mother volunteered for the Special Olympics Organization and was honored by the Philadelphia Chapter in 1999 for her volunteer services.

Yvette feels her time spent with the NSCC was invaluable because it opened her eyes to so many other needs in the community. During her first term of service, Yvette, served in a family shelter teaching mothers of these children ways to positively engage with their children and enhance their love of learning process. Although her “obligated” time to serve is over, she continues to build upon the relationships she has made at the shelters by volunteering her time, especially during the holidays.

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