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Montana State Parks recruiting eight AmeriCorps service members for 2017

Press release

HELENA — Montana State Parks announced that it is now recruiting for eight full-time AmeriCorps members, whose terms of service will run from Jan. 17 to Nov. 18. These members will be completing tasks that improve park land, provide educational and interpretive programs, and engage volunteers in state parks.

AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages more than 75,000 Americans each year, nationwide, in service to meet community needs in environmental stewardship, education, disaster services, economic opportunity, healthy futures, veterans and military families, and more. Funding for AmeriCorps is provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency and administered through the Governor’s Office of Community Service.

“We are pleased to be able place individuals dedicated to providing service that reinforces the significance, relevance and accessibility of our parks for the people of Montana and for our out of state guests,” Joe Naiman-Sessions, program coordinator for Montana State Parks AmeriCorps, said. “Our members serve amid the natural wonders and rich cultural heritage of state parks doing projects that have lasting impacts which benefit both the park and the community. Whether they are teaching kids about nature or history or organizing a group of volunteers for a tree-planting project, our members lead the way in our communities by exhibiting stewardship principles and a strong conservation ethic through hands on engagement.”

Montana State Parks AmeriCorps is offering seasonal full-time positions in eight locations across Montana. The sites Americorps members are placed at in 2017 are: Bannack State Park, Chief Plenty Coups State Park, First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, Flathead Lake State Park, Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, Lone Pine State Park, Traveler’s Rest State Park, as well as one member to serve as a team leader at Montana State Parks Headquarters in Helena.

The members will complete 1,700 hours over the course of 44 weeks and will receive a Segal Education Award of $5,775 upon completion. The Segal Education Award can be used toward college tuition and paying off student loans, or members who are 55 years or older can transfer the Education Award to a child, grandchild or foster child. All Montana State Parks AmeriCorps members will receive a modest living allowance and are also eligible to place their student loans in deferment during the term of service. Full-time service terms may also be eligible for up to 12 qualifying payments in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

  Members can range in age from young adults to retirement, but all members must be a legal U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident who is at least 18 years old and has a high school diploma or GED. Some college experience is preferred. These positions are filled on a rolling basis, so early application is encouraged.

Applications are accepted through Dec. 9.

For application instructions and to view specific position descriptions for each site, pppppeople can gp online to stateparks.mt.gov/americorps/.

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Online: Montana State Parks: stateparks.mt.gov

AmeriCorps: nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps

Governor’s Office of Community Service: serve.mt.gov

 

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