In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by Analena Peterson, who was one of the honorees recognized as Volunteer of the Year at the 2025 Governor’s Service Awards. Analena discusses how after struggling with reading when she was a younger student, Analena came to love reading and wanted to provide books for other children to help them develop their own passion for reading. She describes how her volunteer efforts grew from donating books to local Little Free Libraries and a few nonprofit organizations to collecting, sorting, and donating over 25,000 books and opening up more than twenty of her own Little Free Libraries across Wisconsin and in a few other states before graduating high school this May. Analena also discusses her volunteering to assist numerous non-literary collection drives by the Volunteer Center of Washington County and other organizations and creating her own nonprofit organization to help her continue to open more Little Free Libraries. Listen to learn about how the connections Analena has made through participating in pageants has expanded her ability to open up more Little Free Libraries across Wisconsin and how she plans to continue her volunteer efforts in the future as she is preparing to start college this fall and be a student athlete running track while still making a difference for others.

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Jon Goltz, who served two terms with College Possible Wisconsin and previously served a term with Wisconsin Reading Corps. Jon describes his service providing coaching to students at Casimir Pulaski High School and St. Thomas More High School, working with juniors during his first term and seniors during his service this year. He discusses the different types of assistance he has provided to the students on their path to graduating high school and applying to and enrolling in college. Jon also describes his service with Wisconsin Reading Corps providing literacy tutoring to K-3 students at Whitman Elementary School and his path to serving students after a variety of positions in other career fields following graduation. Listen in to learn about how Jon’s AmeriCorps service with College Possible Wisconsin and Wisconsin Reading Corps helped him gain experience working with students and transition into a career in education next year, when he will be a physical education teacher with Milwaukee Public Schools.

NOTE: The interview for this episode was recorded on the morning of April 25, 2025 prior to the unexpected termination of Wisconsin AmeriCorps program grants that evening, which impacts questions and responses by Jon about the remainder of his service term.

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Connor Grossnickle, who served two terms with College Possible Wisconsin. Conner describes his service providing coaching to roughly 150 students from underserved backgrounds as they pursue their college degree, with over half of his students at Milwaukee Area Technical College, as well as those attending Mount Saint Mary University, UW-Milwaukee, and other colleges across the country. He discusses not only helping them with common pitfalls that students face, such as issues with financial aid and registering for classes, but also helping them become comfortable on campus, particularly with many of them being first-generation college students. Connor also describes how he was assisting a sizeable number of unenrolled students as they navigated various challenges, working to help them on a path to financial stability either through planning out their course towards financial stability, whether reenrolling for school, becoming a part-time students, or pursuing another path towards certification for a job or starting their future career. Listen in to learn about how Conner started his journey as an AmeriCorps member and how he hopes to build on that experience in his future career endeavors supporting the work of Milwaukee area nonprofits organizations.

NOTE: The interview for this episode was recorded on the morning of April 25, 2025 prior to the unexpected termination of Wisconsin AmeriCorps program grants that evening, which impacts questions and responses by Connor about the remainder of his service term.