It's that time of the year again, and PSP is happy to announce the official 2016 PSP Summer Associate Placement Sites! Our 8 Summer Associates will be serving at: Bridger Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Sound Beginnings Preschool, the Family Place, Cache Makers, USU CCESL, and the Logan Family Center (FIRC).

Staff and personnel will begin recruiting as soon as possible. The application deadline for candidates is April 22 and interviews will take place the last week of April and first week of May. This year's Summer Associates will serve 10 weeks from May 16 through July 22. If you know of anyone who may be interested, share the recruitment flyer with them and encourage them to submit an application packet!

Thank you to all of our partners and to all of the organizations who applied for a summer associate placement spot. Our CNCS state office received a lot of great applications and had a very difficult decision to make this year. 

The Corporation for National and Community Service's (CNCS) Mayor's and County Official's Day is a nation-wide event celebrated in the month of April, National Volunteer Month, to offer community mayors and officials the opportunity to show their appreciation and raise awareness for National Service and community volunteers. 

This year's Mayor's and County Official's Day of National Service and Volunteer Recognition will be held Tuesday, April 5 from 3:00pm-4:30pm at the Historic Cache County Courthouse in Logan (199 N Main). The event will feature keynote speaker Logan Mayor Craig Petersen, Cache Valley Mayors and County Officials, and special guests from the Corporation from National and Community Service. During the event, a ceremony will be held to recognize our community's most dedicated volunteers who work in schools, senior centers, and community organizations here in Cache Valley.

Refreshments will be served following the ceremony, and photos will be taken by Jesse Walker Photography. The event is hosted by the Cache Valley National Service Alliance and the Public School Partnership.

In the past, all VISTA members have been required to attend a weeklong, in-person pre-service orientation (PSO) in various western U.S. cities where they connect with other VISTA members and learn about poverty in America, their role as VISTA members, and how to navigate through VISTA service.

For the first time, starting March 21, new VISTA members will have the opportunity to participate in a different style of PSO, called PSO Blend, where members will engage in online webinars and guided fieldwork activities for the first five weeks of their VISTA term. VISTA members will attend an online orientation webinar March 21, and for the following five weeks, they will be asked to participate in various informative webinars and complete tasks at their sites that will help them better assess site and community needs as well as solidify their role as VISTA members at their sites. Members will not be asked to leave their sites for a week; instead, they will serve onsite during their five-week PSO.

Our newest VISTA members - Tonia Day (CLASS), Jenni Allred (CCESL), Jasmine Powell (Cache High), Taylor DeVilbiss (Fremont High), and Jessica Westover (Title VII) - will be among the 350 VISTA members to participate in this new style of PSO. Our PSP office staff will be working closely with each of them and the CNCS State Office so that we can better understand the PSO Blend coursework and better support all of our members as they take on PSO Blend for the next five weeks. 

​If you would like to watch a PSO Blend informational video to learn more, click here!