Jenny Nyberg knew she needed to make a change in her life in order to move forward โ and she found that change in joining AmeriCorps as a Minnesota Reading Corps tutor.
As a manager for group homes, the single mother of two often worked overnight shifts โ sometimes at the last minute โ and she felt burned out and worried about spending time away from her children. She had befriended another parent from her childrenโs school โ a woman who was also serving as a Reading Corps PreK school tutor, and who encouraged Jenny to apply for a Reading Corps position.
โI latched on to this idea that I could my make my hours match my childrenโs, and I could see them at dinner time and drive them to their sports,โ she said, but because of the modest AmeriCorps living stipend, the decision seemed financially untenable.
Jenny said she will never forget explaining her situation to a county case worker when she applied for aid โ โbasically begging for them to let me do Reading Corpsโ โ and fortunately, the case worker knew of a rule that exempted AmeriCorps stipends as traditional income. Because of the little-known exemption, she was able to continue to serve and still qualify for government assistance and food benefits. Plus, she also could receive the AmeriCorps education award to fund her college education in the future. Jenny set a four-year plan in place to gain financial stability and build her credit.
โI learned to budget. I was able to raise my credit score over a hundred points throughout those four years, which is no small feat when, when your taxable income ends up being like $16,000 some of those years,โ she said. โIt was really hard, but I felt so empowered in being able to be involved in my kidsโ education.โ
Recruiting and Offering Empowerment
After serving four years in Reading Corps, Jenny was hired by Reading & Math, Inc., the organization that administers Reading Corps and Math Corps, to be a full-time Recruiter for the Twin Cities East Metro area. She also volunteered at her kidsโ school PTA for a time and serves as a Commissioner on her county Parks & Recreation Board. Plus, she is a part-time student at Century College.
She often draws upon her personal experiences when she appeals to other parents to consider serving as a tutor.
โI just keep thinking about how I canโt be the only parent who would benefit from like a stable schedule and a steady experience and the opportunity to connect with my children over academics,โ Jenny said. โAs someone who doesnโt have a degree, it was really empowering for me to feel like Iโm able to help my kids with homework. And now Iโm able to be a resource for other parents and families who could really support their kids in this way, too.โ
Jenny said that AmeriCorps service leveraged her and her sons out of poverty, and she hopes that in her work as recruiter, she can do the same for other people.
โI can be that light bulb for folks that donโt see working in education as something accessible to them or something that they could do, because they donโt already have professional experience with it โ I can say if youโre willing to do training, follow the process, weโll give you everything you need to be successful, and youโll be able to know that youโre making a difference โ and it can help you get out of the situation youโre in if thatโs what youโre wanting,โ she said.
She added, โI really love the idea of, of having tutors that look reflective of the schools theyโre serving. I would love for all of our tutors to be parents or members of those communities. I just think thatโs good for students and everyone.โ
Reading Corps Shifted Patterns at Home, Too
Jenny said joining Reading Corps brought on positive changes within her own family, too. Her older son, who is now in middle school, was struggling as a third grade reader, and she became his Reading Corps tutor that year. He learned to love to read, and later that year read the Hunger Games and Percy Jackson series.
โIt really shifted our patterns at home โ like I would get ready in the morning and he would talk to me about what he was reading. And he would ask me like, โMom, what are you reading? Whatโs the greatest struggle of the main character in that book?โ she said. โAnd then my youngest would see that and heโd want that.โ
Her younger son also became a strong reader because reading was such an important priority to them as a family, she said. They all still talk about books, and they strive to read together as a family as often as possible before bedtime. Although reading was a skill and value that was important to her before her service, it took joining Reading Corps for it to become a family passion.
โI had all those values before, but I didnโt have the ability to implement them or the skillset, necessarily,โ she said. โReading Corps was a big deal for us. It changed my life.โ
You can learn more about how to become an AmeriCorps member in Minnesota Reading Corps here.