I am extremely delighted and proud to nominate Darielle Gengler for the 2011 Service Impact Award.  For the past seven months I have had the privilege of supervising Darielle in her term of service with Admission Possible.  Darielle’s passion and work with her students have exemplified the values of Admission Possible.

Admission Possible is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making college admission and success possible for low-income students through an intensive curriculum of coaching and support.  Darielle is currently a College Coach supporting students from the University of Minnesota, Hennepin Technical College, and Dunwoody College of Technology.  Her position called for her to serve a variety of students in various settings ranging from a large institution to local community campuses.  Her attitude, professionalism, and motivation have been instrumental in guiding her students to be successful at each of their institution.

Darielle’s role is to be a resource and guide for her students to reach the goal of college graduation.  She has excelled in this role by working diligently with each of her students to ensure that they are all taking the right steps towards successful completion.  To date, Darielle has connected and worked with 96% of her 184 enrolled students.  She leads her team in working with student to renew their 2011-2012 FAFSA with 70% and counting.  While Darielle been a leader with successful results, she has also been a great leader by sharing her strategies with the rest of her teammates.  She has a great sense of teamwork and has often lent a hand to help the rest of the team meet their goals.

Darielle is committed to supporting students and doing whatever it takes to help them succeed.  This often meant multiple visits to campus offices, driving to different locations to meet with students, and late hours in the office.  Darielle has sought out new campus support, as well as, helped strengthened current relationships between students, school staff, and Admission Possible to ensure ongoing support.  She organized an After Admission event to help students explore post-college opportunities and engaged students in sharing their college experiences with high school students.  Darielle has done an outstanding job in supporting students to their fullest potential.

In addition to supporting students, Darielle has gone above and beyond in her responsibilities outside of her coaching role.  She has never passed up the opportunity to step in and substitute for High School coaches when they cannot attend their sessions.  She took initiative in leading AmeriCorps recruitment at the University of Minnesota.  Her recruitment efforts helped Admission Possible foster even more relationships with staff and faculty at the University of Minnesota along with further advocating the significance of national service.  In addition to recruiting efforts, Darielle has contributed to the development of the College Program by writing curriculum and facilitating discussions on college career centers and their support for students.  Her leadership helped to inform others about how to best guide students to take advantage of one of the most under utilized resource on college campuses.

Though many talented and bright AmeriCorps members serve with Admission Possible, Darielle’s commitment to the mission, dedication to service, and selflessness in her work stands her apart from the rest of her fellow Corps members.  She is without a doubt an ideal candidate for the 2011 Service Impact Award.  Admission Possible and her students have been fortunate to have such a dedicated and amazing person.