A team of nine young people were selected and sent to St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana to serve with St. Tammany Parish School Board's 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program. They served in three different schools, all three Title I schools with more than 75% of their students on free or reduced lunch. These were communities affected by Hurricane Katrina but out of the public eye as they are rural in nature. They are all schools that are impacted by poverty. Many students are struggling with completing the Louisiana Education Assessment Program (LEAP) test. The following words from the program's director, Jamie Huard explains the team's impact best:

"My first response would be to talk about this team’s initiative. Shortly after arriving to Pine View the team members were shocked at how many 4th grade students didn’t know their multiplication facts. 4th graders take the LEAP test which is considered high stakes because it determines whether a child is promoted to the 5th grade. By the end of the first week each member was administering quick drill sheets to their students. In between classes, they would brag about how many "so and so" got right while they were hurriedly erasing the laminated sheets for their next class. This went on for weeks and weeks and I can promise you it paid off! Throughout the entire time the team was here, teachers would stop me in the hall ways to share anecdotes about the impact their AmeriCorps member was having on their students. Tommy turned a student around who was giving up and who the faculty had identified as someone who would be failing the LEAP test and therefore the grade. The relationship that Tommy built with this student completely turned him around

– he was feeling success and feeling hope for the first time this year and the teacher said she felt confident that he would pass the LEAP test! Sean had an equally significant on a student writing ability—the first skill tested on LEAP. He could not write a paragraph and had given up trying. His teacher had given up too. Sean patiently and systematically taught him how to organize his thoughts and put them down on paper. He went from a score of unsatisfactory to proficient in the time that Sean was here. Lindsey took the initiative to get her team to work on a unit on bullying. She came in one morning and showed me several lesson plans that the members collaborated on over the weekend. I was very impressed. I’ve never had a team write a whole unit of lesson plans before. She and I took it to the principal who was also very impressed and said she would work it out so that each class could receive the lessons during their library time. Wow it was wonderful. With young adults like this in our country, I have hope for the world!"