Promise Fellow Spotlight: Molly Reuter

Some individuals are inspired to serve, and sometimes, entire families are.  The Reuters take the ethic of service to a whole new level.  Molly Reuter is a 2014-15 AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Hastings Middle School.  Her husband, Jeremy, also served as a Promise Fellow from 2009-2011.  Together, they are creating tremendous change for the students at Hastings Middle School.  Not only does Molly serve as a Fellow, she also teaches 8^th grade Language Arts at Hastings Middle.  You can find Jeremy just a few hallways down, working with students with learning disabilities as a Special Education teacher.

Molly was inspired to serve after seeing her husband, and other Promise Fellows, help students grow and succeed.  Now, as a Promise Fellow herself, she’s able to bring her skills and expertise into her new role with AmeriCorps.  With a BS in Elementary Education, a Specialty License in Reading K-12, and experience teaching elementary students, Molly knows what it takes to help young people reach their full potential, and her students definitely notice. “My favorite time of day is when my students come to me rather than me come find them.  I have a handful of students that check in with me periodically throughout the day for academic support or planner checks.”

Molly’s goal is to make the students know that she cares about them.  She greets them in the halls when they arrive at school and asks about their day. She meets with students to help with class work, get them on task, and helps make their day at school a success. If a student is absent, she checks in with them when they return. “Making a student know that I am here for them is how I make the biggest difference in their lives,” she says.   Fortunately, she has an extra resource to help her accomplish this each day.  “Jeremy is very supportive when it comes to the amount of time spent as a Promise Fellow.  He is also a great resource that I can turn to when I have questions regarding service learning projects that he did with his students, ideas to involve families, or any other question I may have.”

Between their work and service at Hastings Middle School, and raising their two young children, the Reuters are a busy family.  Molly, however, has no plans to slow down, and is working to organize a “lunch bunch” program, as well as get more students involved in service-learning activities.  Together, there is no doubt that Molly and Jeremy are living out the AmeriCorps pledge to “get things done.”