Each summer, the Virginia College Advising Corps (VCAC) holds a multi-week pre-service training for new and returning college advisers serving in AmeriCorps. This year, Serve Virginia staff organized a visit with Senator Creigh Deeds during this training, which provided a memorable day for the whole team.

During his visit, Senator Deeds met VCAC advisers serving in his district, sharing lunch with them. He also met with the full cohort of new and returning advisers, sharing inspirational remarks about the importance of service while encouraging the advisers to bring hope to others and to see their role as one way to help others see a brighter future.

The Virginia College Advising Corps is a near-peer mentoring model, recruiting recent college graduates who are near in age and have similar backgrounds to the high school students they serve as advisers. VCAC advisers serve in public high schools across Virginia, where they support the whole school, rather than a cohort of particular students, in order to foster a school-wide college-going culture. Advisers help students identify and apply to postsecondary programs that will serve them well academically and socially—thus increasing the likelihood that these students will earn their degrees.

Learn more about the Virginia College Advising Corps and their impact at vcac.virginia.edu.