Suffolk native Katie Persons graduated Nov. 20 from the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps after a year of serving her country. NCCC members travel throughout the northeastern United States and serve in the areas of education, public safety, environment, unmet human needs, and disaster relief. Persons was inducted in February.

During her term in NCCC, Persons developed and presented environmental lessons to elementary students at Horizons for Youth, an outdoor environmental education camp in Sharon, Mass.; organized decades of backlogged resident files and updated a mentor database at the Covenant House in Manhattan, N.Y.; built homes and restructured an expansive warehouse with Habitat for Humanity in Albany, N.Y.; and tutored fifth-grade students with low reading comprehension scores at Claymont Elementary School in Claymont, Del. She also aided the American Red Cross with mass care and disaster relief after Hurricane Isabel on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Corps members, all aged 18 – 24, must complete 1,700 hours of service during their 10-months term. In exchange, they receive $4,725 to help pay for college or repay student loans.

For more information about NCCC, visit wwww.americorps.org or call 1-800-942-2677.