Meet the Team Leaders: Allison Hunter

Allison Hunter, CalSERVES Team Leader at RL Stevens

My name is Allison Hunter and I’m 23 years old. I was raised in Petaluma by my mother and father and have always loved the country life. I speak four languages and have a deep passion for travel, culture, and of course, teaching! I attended UC Santa Cruz where I received my bachelors in American History with a focus on Latin America. While in Santa Cruz I was also the lead teacher at Little Legends Preschool. After finishing school I moved back up to Sonoma County and started looking for a new job. After some failed searching my sister told me that some people from a place called CalSERVES came to her school at Sonoma State to talk about what the program and she thought, “Hey, my sister would love that!” After a bit of my own research I had to agree with her and I applied right away! I signed up as a literacy tutor but in the interview I was asked if I’d be interested in being the team leader and, of course, I was. I’ve always had leadership qualities and the fact that I get to exercise that leader part of me while also helping the kids is something that I’m enjoying thoroughly.

I hope that during my time here at Robert L. Stevens Elementary I can learn to be someone who has the ability to help both the tutors and tutees become everything they want to be. That may seem like a vague statement, but what I mean is that I want to be able to help my tutors not only hone their teaching skills but gain a life enriching experience while helping the children at my school gain the tools they need to be academically successful as well. For myself, I know this experience will give me the building blocks I need to shape a purposeful life for myself both professionally and personally. I’ve been very fortunate to have been teamed up with a fantastic group of AmeriCorps members and classroom leaders.

Everyone I’ve been working with is so driven and just as motivated as I am about helping children succeed in their scholastic endeavors. A lot of the people I’m working with are returners who worked for this program before and they have helped me feel right at home. Their prior knowledge of the students and the way things work here has been helpful in more ways than I could say. My site supervisor is a gem; she has been on site for years and knows all the ins and outs of this place. I also have come to build very pleasant relationships with the teachers on campus here. All in all, I’ve come to love this school – the kids, the teachers, my coworkers – everyone has contributed to make this a great experience.

After my service in CalSERVES I plan to leave the country to teach English abroad. I’m not sure where yet, but I know that I will be applying the skills I’ve learned at CalSERVES when teaching abroad next year (and for the rest of my life). I cannot sign off without giving some advice to anyone who is interested in being a team leader: there is never a dull moment and sometimes there’s more to do than one person can handle, but this experience is something that I would never want to take back. I’ve already learned so much about myself and how to interact with other people, and children. Every day is different and new, and the kids make your day never devoid of excitement. I wouldn’t change a thing!

By: Allison Hunter, AmeriCorps Team Leader, Robert L. Stevens Elementary