A new program in California is paying students while giving them valuable tools for the future.
“I will harvest the different fruits and vegetables that we grow and that we sell or bring to the food bank. Some days I'll be doing field trips like K-12 education or working with high schoolers who come every Monday and Wednesday,” said Cal Poly student Holly Brue about her work at City Farm SLO.
Brue is part of the California College Corps. It's a state program that allows some low-income college students to complete 450 hours of community service in exchange for $10,000 from the state for tuition and living expenses.
“It's a way to earn money while also serving our community,” Brue said.
City Farm SLO is one of several organizations that Cal Poly has partnered with this year for the California College Corps program, which focuses on K-12 education, climate action, and food insecurity.
At City Farm SLO, Brue gets to experience all three.
“Getting to get outside and learn about sustainable agriculture, regenerative agriculture, and getting my hands dirty, I've just kind of found what interests me,” Brue said.
The program has also helped students like Mary Norman redefine their career goals.
“Right now I'm learning about what it would be like to be a water resources engineer and the program helped me get my summer internship this summer so I'll be working with a local engineering firm,” Norman said.
In the program, Norman, who is majoring in environmental engineering at Cal Poly, is focusing her time on climate action, working once a week at the water resources recovery facility in San Luis Obispo.
“A lot of the outreach we've been doing is to high schoolers about letting them know what the WRRF is and how important it is to know where your drinking water and where your water, in general, comes from,” Norman said.
Annika Francis is also part of the program and wants to be a teacher. She's currently working in K-12 education coaching 5th and 6th grade boys basketball at Hawthorne Elementary School.
“It's been a cool way of getting to know how the district functions, how do I talk to a principal, how do I operate with this admin office, and also get that one-on-one experience with the kids,” Francis said.
She rushes from classes twice a week to hold practice for the boys' team.
“It's been a huge lesson in not just providing physical movement and athletics but also creating an experience to talk about teamwork and sportsmanship with these kids,” Francis said.
The California College Corps program is in its second year, covering 46 campuses across California, including Cal Poly, Cuesta College, and Allan Hancock College.
“It's a win for our young people who get help paying for school, it's a win for our community because they are doing really meaningful work around food insecurity, climate change, and education and it's a win for the state of California because we're creating the next generation of young people with the tools to work together,” said Josh Friday, Chief Service Officer for California College Corps.
College Corps is now hiring so if you're interested in being a part of the program, click here.
