September 2025
Welcome to Program Year 2025-26! Members, following up on the "Welcome" email you received from your WSC Coordinator, please follow the instructions to get set up in TimeTracker, our online timesheet system, schedule time to complete WSC/AmeriCorps orientation trainings and check out resources available to you - including the Member Assistance Program. Get started on our Member Resources webpage, and reach out to your WSC Coordinator with any questions.
Each year, AmeriCorps and programs across the country promote neighbors helping neighbors through volunteer events and service projects on national days of service and other specially designated days of celebration.
Many programs host events on 9/11 Day of Remembrance or Make a Difference Day in October. If your site will be hosting a volunteer event in recognition of either of these, let us know so we can help share it out on social channels.
WSC's special days of service during the year will be MLK Day (January 19), Cesar Chavez Day (March 31) and Earth Day (April 22). We encourage all of our sites and members to plan a special service project around these days to get your local community involved in volunteering and experience the lasting impacts of serving those in need. We'll have more resources to share in the months ahead to help you plan for serving on MLK Day.
 2025-26 Annual Member Training Event
Mark your calendars! This year’s annual member training event is scheduled for October 28-30 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. each day. The training is mandatory for all members to attend, so please prioritize this event and refrain from scheduling service activities during these times unless absolutely unavoidable. If you anticipate any scheduling conflicts, please contact our Training Specialist, Bryce Bateman, and he will work to accommodate you.
The event agenda and links to join each session will be sent out in early October, so be on the lookout for emails from Bryce with more information!
 Help Us Celebrate Service
Washington Service Corps members have been building a better tomorrow through service in communities across Washington for 42 years! We know that service makes a difference in the lives of members too. AmeriCorps alumni are more likely to vote, more likely to seek out further education, and more likely to engage in dialogue with people they disagree with.
We think that’s pretty great.
We’ll be celebrating service in October through our #WhyServe campaign. We invite members, site staff, and alumni to join us. Sign up to be featured during the campaign.
 Accepting Applications to Host Members
Do you know an organization that would make a great partner site? We are still accepting applications from organizations to host members for 10.5- and 8.5-month terms.
>>> Info sessions for prospective sites are now daily @ 11:30 a.m. | Join via MS Teams
>>> WSC sites: refer a site and be entered to win a $1,000 discount on your WSC program fee. If the site you refer is awarded and lists you on their application, you’ll automatically be entered.
 Need Help Recruiting Your Member?
We’re here to help! Drop in to our recruitment office hours for sites twice a week.
Tuesdays @ 3 – 4 p.m. | Join on Zoom
Thursdays @ 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Join on Zoom
September 8 marks World Literacy Day, a global observance dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of literacy as a fundamental human right and a key factor in building inclusive societies. We are proud to partner with so many school sites across Washington that help to address literacy development in their students.
In celebration of this day, we're sharing a reflection from Alicia Hastings, one of our 2024-25 Washington Reading Corps members; Alicia served as a Literacy Tutor with the Orondo School District.
“During the third grade intervention time, I work with fifteen third graders on a rotating schedule. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we work on math, while on Tuesdays and Thursdays we work on ELA (English Language Arts). I have gotten to know the third graders really well and they are all making wonderful growth. One student in particular has made so much growth from the first time I met him back in October: this is his first year at the school and in the US; [at first], he was very shy, didn’t read in English, or speak very much. Now (in the second quarter) he is fully participating in group and is reading at the same fluency as half of his class. We just took a fluency test, and he was reading at roughly 80 words per minute in English. I am so PROUD of his hard work.”
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