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.

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Haiying Yang, who is serving this year with College Possible Wisconsin. Haiying describes his service providing coaching to 164 college students from underserved backgrounds, helping them navigate academic and financial challenges they face throughout the year and assisting them with career development along their path to graduating from college. He discusses how he connects with the students on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus where he is based, as well as how he provides assistance to students at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Tennessee State University. Listen in to learn about how Haiying is making a difference for college students while also gaining experience he hopes to use in a future career assisting students in higher education.

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Emma Ehlers, who is currently serving her second term with WisCorps at The Nature Place in La Crosse. Emma describes her service this year as a Community Program Educator and the programs she helps lead, such as visiting schools and other organizations with their Critter Mobile and a combination of their two lizards, three snakes, ornate box turtle, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches. She discusses the wide variety of programs and efforts she supports in her role, from participating in community events to share about the natural world to the Memory Camps for adults with mild to moderate dementia with different presenters at their center in Myrick Park. Emma then describes her service as an Environmental Educator the previous summer, providing themed environmental program for children on different nature topics each week. Listen in to learn about how Emma gained a love of nature in elementary service and how serving at The Nature Place let her reconnect with Humphrey, the corn snake that had once been in her fourth grade classroom but is now one of the animals at The Nature Place that she uses when providing environmental education.

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Trisha Bradley, who is currently serving her second term with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Community Corps at the Dodge County Public Health Department, and had previously served another term with MCHS Recovery Corps. Trisha describes how she helps get information out to the public about health concerns as part of her service at the Dodge County Public Health Department, ranging from spreading the word about recent food recalls to giving presentations about the impacts of social isolation on mental health. She also discusses her efforts helping the health department complete its Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan, including doing focus groups and surveys to help assess community needs and creating standard operating procedures. Trisha then describes her service with MCHS Recovery Corps, providing coaching and resources to support individuals in recovery from substance abuse disorders. Listen in to learn about why the MCHS midterm training was one of her favorite experiences from her AmeriCorps service and how the training and professional development she received because of her AmeriCorps service helped lead her to a full-time job helping families that she will have following her service.

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps alumnus Randy Schneider, who served for four terms as an AmeriCorps members with Wisconsin Reading Corps and has been one of their program managers over the last three years. Randy describes his service as a literacy tutor working with kindergarten through third grade students over four years at Longfellow School in Milwaukee, including in-person tutoring sessions and modifying to virtual sessions for a portion of his service during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also discusses serving as a lead tutor for his final three terms, gradually expanding the number of fellow AmeriCorps members he supported during his time with the program. Randy then describes his transition to becoming a program manager with Wisconsin Reading Corps and how he has continued providing support to their AmeriCorps members in this new role, as well as the advice he would give to those interested in AmeriCorps service or those already serving. Listen in to learn about the significant impact that serving with AmeriCorps has had for Randy as a physically disabled cancer survivor, who has gone from struggling to make ends meet to thriving thanks, in no small part, to the doors opened by his AmeriCorps service.

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Nicole Eshelman, who is serving her second term with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction AmeriCorps Farm to School. She has been serving students in the greater La Crosse area the last two years, being based at the Holmen School District and Extension La Crosse County - University of Wisconsin-Madison. Nicole describes the variety of service activities she has done supporting the sustainability of Farm to School programming at thirty-four schools across the region, including fostering partnerships with various community organizations to bolster various Farm to School lessons and activities. She also discusses leading nutrition education lessons for a wide range of students, from 4K to seniors in high school, and how she adapts concepts and activities for different grade levels. Listen to learn how Nicole began her AmeriCorps service as a way to use her degree focusing on health and wellness management and program building after making a career change and how she has found enjoyment making an impact in the community by being a part of providing healthier meals and nutrition, environmental, and garden education for her own children and those across all of the schools she serves.