NSCC TEAM LEADER RECEIVES
ALL AMERICORPS COMMON GROUND AWARD

Tom Kim, an NSCC AmeriCorps member in Philadelphia, has been named a recipient of the 2002 All AmeriCorps Common Ground Award. This award recognizes individuals who have brought together diverse, and sometimes opposing, organizations and people, and helped to create tolerance and a respect for differences among people of all backgrounds. The award presentation will be made at the National Conference on Community Volunteering and National Service in Salt Lake City in June.

Tom joined the NSCC in 2001 after graduating from Johns Hopkins University and working for two years with an Internet consulting firm. Throughout two terms of service with the NSCC, he has demonstrated a willingness and enthusiasm for collaboration and a commitment to foster understanding among people of various backgrounds.

During his first year as a corpsmember, Tom served at University City High School, working with many students who were limited-English students and a number who have disabilities. Navigating a large, urban high school can be difficult, and at times daunting, especially for students whose native language is not English or for those who face additional challenges. Tom helped to guide them and made the school environment one in which they could thrive.

A number of his specific accomplishments included:

• Collaborating with Arcadia University to design and implement independent research projects for twenty gifted students;
  
• Creating an SAT Preparatory program around the scheduling difficulties of seniors, particularly those who were physically disabled;
  
• Assisting a weekly pre-Algebra class for students in the Gear-Up program;
  
• Coaching an Academic Competition Team; and
  
• Organizing student cultural affairs activities, including trips to the Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadelphia Opera Company, and numerous performances of international dance and theater companies at the University of Pennsylvania.

This year, as a Team Leader at a charter school which buses most of its students from other areas of the city, Tom engaged more than 225 students, teachers, parents and community members in a year long service learning program in which students learned about the culture and issues of the community that surrounds their school.

Students interviewed community business owners, and personnel from other neighborhood schools, organizations, churches and city agencies to learn about the community's history and individuals' perspectives of the state of their community. Students used this information to identify nine service learning projects they would conduct in the community, and Tom skillfully integrated these projects into a new computer science course he taught to all students. So while learning about "community" and "diversity", students were also learning word processing skills, how to create spreadsheets, and Internet research techniques. And in a time when using and understanding technology are at the forefront of educational and professional achievement, Tom's efforts have helped students equip themselves for the future.

Tom's dedication and ability to see the commonalities among people while not ignoring the differences makes his contributions a solid foundation on which to build Common Ground.