Current Americorps Cohort

(she/her) Anli is from New Haven, Connecticut. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College majoring in economics and minoring in psychology and mathematics. Anli plans to attend a graduate program for environmental or educational economics either in the US or possibly abroad. She is excited to be serving at Alamosa High School + Alamosa Parks and Rec. Anli has recently come back from a three-month backpacking trip through Europe (visiting 19 different countries) and is excited to explore southern CO!

(she/her) Anna was born and raised in State College, Pennsylvania. She recently graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA with a double major in Psychology and Political Science and a minor in German. During college, she spent a semester studying abroad at Lancaster University in England. Anna is passionate about teaching and working with children, and hopes to pursue a graduate degree in child clinical psychology after serving with AAI for a year. She will be serving at the Alamosa 3-5 Elementary School. Anna enjoys spending time outdoors, backpacking, working out, art, and getting to know new people and places. She is looking forward to hiking 14ers and experiencing all that Colorado has to offer, as well as making connections within the Alamosa community.

(he/him) Anthony Hannan is from Lakeland, Florida. He is 20 years old and has focused studies on classical guitar in highschool and his first two years of college while giving lessons to all ages on the side. Though his passion for music and the arts still thrives, he has currently changed course towards an education degree which has opened him up to a gap semester. His love for travel and new, challenging experiences has led him to join the AAI team. He hopes to be of help to any and all that he meets along this new adventure.

(she/her) Ariel is from Louisville, KY, but a life-long fan & recent graduate of the University of Kentucky (go cats!!). She has a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and has worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant for six years, which has included working with children as young as newborns, to the elderly as old as 107 to be exact. She has a special love and interest in caring for children and plans to attend either a counseling psychology or physician assistant graduate program after her completion of AAI service in Salida at the Montessori school. Being the daughter of two teachers, she is interested in alternative, modern ways of education and mental healthcare that center around the kiddos and their needs. Outside of work, she enjoys the outdoors, playing & watching sports, plants, tattoos, painting, laughing & joking with her peers, spirituality & astrology, and hanging out with her friends. She is so excited to create new friendships and relationships this year and help underserved communities in need!

(she/her) Bethany is from Central Texas but is currently living in Detroit, Michigan serving with AmeriCorps City Year as a 4th grade Student Success Coach. Bethany has spent the past three years traveling the country dedicated to volunteer service work. She is driven with hope and is passionate about working with others to create a positive change for the youth and their future. Bethany is super stoked to serve with the Alpine Achievers Initiative in Saguache, CO! 😀

(she/her) Callie is from Fredericktown, Missouri. She recently graduated from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro with a degree in International Studies. Callie plans to attend a graduate program in Germany after serving with Americorps. She is excited to be serving in Alamosa at GOAL Academy this year. She has a passion for building relationships with students and helping them succeed in life. Callie went to Colorado in 2019 for vacation and promised herself she would one day live there and AAI has given her the opportunity to do that. She couldn’t be happier to explore everything the San Luis Valley has to offer!

(they/them) Beckham is a circus artist and teacher from Portland, Oregon. They are nineteen years old and graduated from Portland Community College with their Associates’ Degree in June, so they are seizing the opportunity to take a gap year and gain some experience and fun memories before transferring to a four-year college. They are passionate about educating and connecting with children, and are a huge believer in teaching young students how to communicate effectively, set boundaries, get to know themselves and their needs, and interact kindly with themselves and others.

Beck was born and raised in Portland in an outdoorsy family but has never been to Colorado, so they are excited to explore the beautiful and unique San Luis Valley. They cannot wait for this next adventure, but already miss their cats!

(she/her) Brianna is from the border city of El Paso, Texas and has lived there the entirety of her life. She commuted an hour a day to New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and majored in psychology. This past May, she graduated with her bachelors and plans to attend graduate school in hopes of becoming a licensed counselor and a certified art therapist. As she attended college, she worked a part-time job at an afterschool program with the native tribe in her city and found out how much she enjoyed working with kids and doing crafts with them. She likes to spend her time drawing, painting, or reading. She’s lived in the hot deserts of Texas her whole life so she is more than happy for a change of scenery and spend her day along with students at Monte Vista Middle and the boys and girls club.

(she/her) Catherine is from Stafford, Virginia. She recently graduated in May from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC where she majored in psychology and minored in political science. Catherine plans to attend a graduate program to become a therapist. She is excited to be serving with AAI this year and looks forward to getting to know everyone! Catherine enjoys reading, hiking, and going to concerts!

(they/them) Dakota is a second year member serving with AAI. They are originally from North Carolina, but grew up in a military family and have lived in multiple different states. Dakota previously served their Americorps term at Canon Exploratory School in Canon City, but will be serving their second term at Longfellow Elementary in Salida. They hope to move to Washington or Oregon post Americorps service to go to college and obtain a degree in Early Childhood Education. They are excited to meet and mentor all incoming members to the program!

(they/them) Dean is from San Antonio, Texas. They love visiting national and state parks, and they are excited to have a change of scenery that Colorado offers! They are graduating with a degree in health sciences and plan to study Biomedical Engineering. They are serving at the Rec Center in Creede, and they are excited to work in such a close community. They have always wanted to have a positive impact on people’s lives and through AAI they get to do so. They can’t wait to meet everyone!

(she/her) Emma is from Omaha, Nebraska. She received her B.A. in Psychology in 2020, and plans to return to school to obtain her Master’s degree in Social Work. Emma will be serving at Bill Metz Elementary and Kids Connection in Monte Vista. She is passionate about service–this will be her third AmeriCorps term, having previously served with NCCC and VISTA–and excited for the opportunity to connect with a new community! In her free time, Emma enjoys exploring the outdoors, practicing yoga, and reading.

(she/her) Eva is a second-year member who is excited to be staying with AAI for another year. She served in Canon City at Washington Elementary with the kindergarteners last year, and will be at Longfellow Elementary School in Salida this year. Eva is from Miami, FL and graduated from the University of Florida (go gators!!) with a degree in history. After her second year, she hopes to go to law school. She likes traveling, swimming, and going to concerts and is very excited to be living in the Arkansas River Valley for a second year!

(she/her) Grace is beginning her second year with Alpine Achievers Initiative. She is originally from Columbus, Ohio and graduated college in 2022 with a degree in Chemistry. Last year, she worked with the homeschoolers in the SLV and ARK communities and is looking forward to serving with Silver Thread Public Health in Creede. Grace plans to attend dental school after her years of service. She enjoys reading and running and is looking forward to meeting a new cohort of AAI members!

(she/her) Jamiya Bacote is from Chesterfield SC. She is 20 years old and aspires to be a child psychologist one day. She is taking a gap year from college to figure herself out a little more while doing something she is extremely passionate about. She will be serving at Bill Metz Elementary and Kids Connection in Monte Vista, CO. She is super excited about this opportunity and hopes to do more work like this in the future! She also has other hobbies like baking and cooking and also wants to own a flower shop one day. She is very excited to meet all her new lifelong friends!

(she/her) Jocelyn was born and raised in Tiffin, Ohio. She recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Ohio University. Jocelyn decided to work with Alpine Achievement Initiatives during a gap year before attending Master’s and Education Specialist degree in School Psychology because of her love for new experiences and working with children. She hopes to be a positive and uplifting role model to the third through fifth graders at Alamosa Elementary. Jocelyn is looking forward to the connections she’ll make and having a new place to call home!

Josh is from Omaha, Nebraska. He was born into a family of entertainers, with his mom, mostly known for her balloons and hypnosis shows, she runs her own entertainment agency/ singing telegram business. Once Joshua rejected the offer of being a part in the family business (as a singing chicken), he decided to pursue his love of giving back, travel and sports! After spending the last year and a half recovering from a back injury, and surgery he is thrilled to be back on his feet and ready to be serving in Creede at the Rec center this year!

(she/her) Junie is from New England. She spent part of her life in small-town Maine and several years in the city of Boston, where she received her BA in psychology from Boston College. Most recently, she obtained her MSc in clinical psychology at Newcastle University in North East England. Junie is passionate about developmental psychology and supporting rural communities like the one she grew up in, so the chance to serve with AAI in Saguache is super exciting! She loves hiking, traveling, baking, playing and writing music, and everything motorsports.

(she/her) Kyra is a second year member with AAI. She is originally from Baltimore, Maryland, but moved to Ohio when she was 13. She served at McKinley Elementary School in Canon City last year and will continue this year. She graduated from Tiffin University in 2020 with a double bachelors in Forensic Psychology and Criminalistics. She will be working on her masters degree and a TEFL certification during her second year. She can’t wait to meet everyone.

(she/her) Finney is from Akron, Ohio. “Finney” is her preferred name. She has an Associate’s Degree from The University of Akron. She’s spent the last year leading afterschool programming at her local public schools. That experience really sparked her passion for working with and nurturing local youth.

She has spent this summer creating and hosting artistic community gatherings, including starting a crochet club. She has a deep passion for art in its many different forms. She is very free-spirited and expressive. You can catch her painting, crocheting, writing, or on an adventure outside when she’s not serving.

She is eager to serve with AAI in Salida. She looks forward to the exposure to new cultures and identities she will inevitably encounter in Colorado. She is also excited to build relationships with other AAI members and the children we will be pouring into.

Mykala was born to a military family in South Carolina, and spent her childhood near Little Rock, Arkansas. Growing up she went to six different schools and was even homeschooled one year. In 2016, Mykala, her father and two younger siblings moved to Illinois where she finally went to her last school and gained the nickname Myky/Myk (Mickey/Mick). Though she calls Illinois home, Myk loves to travel and experience as much as possible. She grew up camping and canoeing, as well as trying as many extracurriculars in school as possible. She tried band, orchestra, choir, theatre, photography, art, cheer, gymnastics, swim, and track. At 12 years old she was Red Cross certified in babysitting. In 2021, she did a three month term with American Conservation Experience traveling for trail maintenance and ecological restoration work, which ended up becoming five months. Mykala has never been further west than Texas nor spent more than three months without seeing family; however, she’s extremely excited for the experiences and opportunities for growth that a year with AAI in Salida have to offer.

(she/her) Stephanie hails from the Northeast, specifically Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In May she graduated from Washington & Jefferson College with a degree in Psychology and Environmental Studies. She is looking forward to working at Salida Montessori School and the Boys and Girls Club this upcoming year! She is passionate about helping children learn in exciting and supported ways, and can’t wait to see what her days will be like at a Montessori school. In the future, she plans to pursue a career teaching in the State or National Park system or other environmental education opportunities. She loves the outdoors and all that comes with it (yes, even the bugs!) and looks forward to connecting with the members of the AAI and discovering the outdoors of Salida!