The FIRST AmeriCorps VISTAs
By Samantha Fleming FIRST VISTA, Virginia As ambassadors of FIRST , I’m sure everyone is well aware of what a job it can be to explain our group, our mission, and even our name. AmeriCorps VISTAs take that confusion one step further when we try to explain our specific job and our mission. The VISTA program is a subsidiary of AmeriCorps , a government-funded, volunteer-based organization dedicated to the alleviation of poverty in the United States. You might wonder, along with many others, what that has to do with FIRST or with robots. I questioned that myself at the beginning of my tenure here. Samantha Fleming A typical VISTA year will likely be spent among low-income schools, battered women, the homeless, or any other group in need of support. I’ve spent mine among enthusiastic students and their robots. What is so unique about the FIRST -AmeriCorps partnership is the scale and scope of its ability to improve lives. There are countless stories of students without direction who w...