MONTEREY COUNTY — As the 2023-24 school year begins, a fourth cohort of Monterey County Preschool Service Corps members are entering classrooms from King City to Monterey, eager to start their journeys with the program.
This program year, 18 Preschool Service Corps (PSC) members recited the AmeriCorps oath, accepting their duties to support preschool students as they start their own journeys with learning.
Before entering classrooms, the PSC members completed a two-week intensive training, during which they learned to engage preschool students in Play-Based Learning.
This allows young students to “interact with their surroundings in a way that encourages curiosity and relationship building, while fostering language and literacy development,” according to United Way Monterey County, which hosts the local PSC program administered by California Volunteers, Office of the Governor.
PSC members also learned about the importance of entering a classroom as a collaborator and a supporter by supplementing and supporting teachers within the environment they have created with students and their families.
During the recent swear-in ceremony, Preschool Service Corps members shared why this opportunity is meaningful to them. Some were excited to take the first steps in a career in Early Childhood Education, while others spoke of how their early education lacked literacy development and were now dedicated to being part of the solution.
“Their stories were passionate and inspiring, and we are so excited to support them as they make life-long impacts in students’ lives,” according to United Way Monterey County.
The Monterey County Preschool Service Corps is still accepting applications for the 2023-24 school year. For more information, visit unitedwaymcca.org/americorps-psc or contact Mayra Perez-Diaz at 831-318-1978.
