Connections Volunteer Application

Thank you for your interest in being a volunteer staff member with the 2025 Harold M. Marsh Senior Connections Institute! This year, Connections will be held at a site near Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. If selected, volunteers are required to arrive on-site the morning of Monday, August 4 to participate in staff training.

The Connections experience features a five-day residential program that allows student delegates to deal with biased behavior and develop an action plan to reduce prejudice. Volunteer staff members will lead small group discussions and serve as role models and mentors. Students will leave the program with tools to work toward school and community environments that are free from the distractions of prejudice, stereotypes, and bigotry.

Volunteers must commit to attending the full program, including staff training that begins on August 4. Lodging and meals are provided throughout the week.

Note that section three of this application asks both new and experienced applicants to respond to some short-answer questions:

New Staff: 

• What prior experience do you have with VCIC programs?
• Why do you wish to be a part of the Connections experience? What do you expect to gain/share as a result of being a volunteer?
• What specific qualifications, strengths, or insights would you bring to the Connections experience? Particularly for those applicants who have not seen the Connections / Project Inclusion program firsthand, what training or experience will be of assistance in assuming your position at the retreat?
• After the Connections session, in what ways would you actively support the delegates becoming change agents in their schools, communities, and families? How have you supported other groups/non-profits/youth and youth-serving organizations in the past?
• For those who have been participants in prior VCIC programs: Often, it is challenging for volunteer staff members to be comfortable with being role models to their peers. Accepting this challenge can begin by accepting the idea that the purpose of going back to a VCIC retreat program is not to attempt to repeat the delegate experience but to facilitate the best possible experience for others.  How will you focus on that priority?

Experienced Staff: 

• Given your past experience, where would you like to gain more skills or knowledge and why? How do you think these skills or knowledge would enhance the experience for all volunteers? 
• What do you find is the most challenging aspect of participating in Connections? What helps you to address that challenge? What, if anything, have you done to help others who have similar challenges?
• How has Connections impacted your life outside of the program? When have you relied on your Connections experience in your personal or professional life?
• What do you feel is your most valuable contribution to the Connections community?

Note that some applicants may be invited to take part in a virtual interview in May of 2025.

If you have questions prior to Project Inclusion, please reach out to VCIC’s Director of Educational Programs, Alejandro Prince, by phone at (804) 515-7950 or by email at [email protected].