AmeriCorps; College Possible

I am ecstatic to nominate Shanae Phillips for the 2012 Service Impact Award. I have had the great pleasure of supervising her for the last nine months in her term of service at College Possible. College Possible is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making college admission and success possible for low-income students through an intensive curriculum of coaching support. The level of commitment she has to service makes her a great candidate for this honor.

Shanae serves as a junior coach at Bloomington Kennedy High School, a brand new school we partnered with just this fall. Entering a school where there is no history of success can be daunting. As the only College Possible staff at Kennedy, Shanae is charged with much more than serving her students. As the first coach at a new school, Shanae was responsible for building relationships with the entire school body. This particular position can be difficult to manage, but we knew Shanae would rise to the occasion and she continues to reaffirm that we made the right decision.

Shanae wasted no time in reaching out to staff so that she could have the resources to support her 36 students in the best possible ways. I have been greatly impressed with the skills she brings to her role and the amount of detail she exhibits when preparing for her session. The thought and effort she has put into building a connection with her students has made her sessions that much more effective. She has created a culture for her students where she is considered a valuable resource as well as other students.

Shanae has been able to accomplish so many great things in the short amount of time she has been with her students. She is willing to go the extra mile without being prompted or complaint. She is early to rise and stays extra hours at school to get students caught up or provide extra support. This level of commitment has helped her students raise their ACT scores by nearly 19% thus far. I am confident that this percentage will increase greatly by the end of the year. Shanae has high expectations for her students and believes everyone has what it takes to be successful not only in school and our program, but in every aspect of their lives.

In addition to support her current students, Shanae has played a significant role in recruiting the next generation of College Possible Students. Normally, a recruitment team consists of at least three individuals; however, being that Shanae is placed at a school alone, she was charged with conducting recruitment on her own, having minimal assistance. Again, she never complained about the duties she was charged with and performed her responsibilities with grace.

It has been refreshing to have Shanae Phillips on the College Possible team. She has shown a great deal of dedication to our mission and serving the students she works with. I cannot be more proud to nominate someone so deserving for this award.