GGO Capacity Building Associate VISTA

Gateway to the Great Outdoors (GGO) provides students living in low-income St.Louis communities with comprehensive STEM education. The mission of GGO is to engage students with the outdoors through experiential learning and mentorship to improve academic engagement and social-emotional skills through classroom and field-based educational experiences. The proposed AmeriCorps VISTA project will support GGO’s expansion of programming into the Ferguson-Florissant school district.

The GGO Capacity Building Associate VISTA members will build GGO’s capacity by researching and helping to implement procedures that support GGO’s reach into Ferguson-Florissant District partner schools in Ferguson, Missouri. As a result of VISTA members’ service, approximately 200 students living in low-income communities will have access to an enhanced STEM curriculum to improve student academic engagement with science education and social-emotional skills, and members will establish a sustainable funding plan that supports the long-term impact of GGO programs. GGO education programming and mentorship provide students the skills and resources to direct them on a course to be lifted out of poverty and pursue academic and professional careers in STEM.