THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140473
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
When more than 270 bright-eyed college students hit North Carolina through a new national service program this year, a handful will land in northeastern schools and communities.
The state is receiving $2.2 million in federal grants for the 1994-95 year as part of President Clinton's new AmeriCorps program, in which students trade community service work for financial aid or loan repayment help.
Pasquotank and Currituck counties each are expected to receive funds for at least five part-time workers to enhance after-school programs. They will share nearly $400,000 with six other counties throughout the state.
In some of those counties, the program will be run jointly with Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.'s ``Support Our Students'' initiative, one of the major crime prevention plans he touted early this year.
Officials in Pasquotank and Currituck will find out today if they are slated for state SOS funds to provide more AmeriCorps volunteers.
Hunt's program focuses on putting volunteers in middle schools to keep adolescents busy and off the streets. The AmeriCorps after-school program helps school-age children through mentoring and enrichment activities.
``These people will be highly qualified and trained to work with children,'' said Eddie Locklear, assistant professor and extension specialist with the 4-H Youth Development Department at N.C. State University.
Locklear is statewide project director for the AmeriCorps after-school plan, which he said will receive matching funds and supervision locally from participating counties' cooperative extension services.
Local officials who had heard about the grant awards said Tuesday they were pleased.
``I'm real excited about it,'' said Georgia Kight, home economics extension agent with the Cooperative Extension Service in Currituck. ``We don't have the resources that some of the larger counties have.''
Although participating counties are spread throughout the state, officials said volunteers will share information, curriculum and ideas.
``They are going to be connected,'' said Diane Jackson, program officer for national and community service in the Governor's Office of Citizen Affairs. ``There's going to be a real strong effort to bring people together.''
The AmeriCorps funds will help kick off a total of 14 projects throughout the state this year in education, crime prevention, human services and environmental protection.
Among the funded proposals is ``Service for Shelter,'' which numbers Tyrrell County in its 10 participants. The program will use AmeriCorps members to help the homeless and improve low-income housing.
Halifax County will take part in a prekindergarten child care program, and Halifax and Hertford counties were among those to receive planning grants for improving relations with state Indian tribes.
Funded programs were selected in part by the 25-member North Carolina Commission on National and Community Service, appointed by Hunt in January for the specific purpose of administering the new federal initiatives.
Elizabeth City served as one of eight sites for state ``summits'' on community service this winter, where goals and ideas for a statewide volunteerism plan were established.
The state's portion of federal dollars for the program depended in part on the success of those proposals. State officials said North Carolina fared well.
The state topped the nation in per capita funds received through the AmeriCorps program and was behind only California and Texas in the number of programs funded, said Linda Shealey, outreach coordinator for the Office of Citizen Affairs.
``We hit 65 counties with $2.2 million,'' Jackson said. ``I think that's a very good track record.'' by CNB