LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It's an exciting year for AmeriCorps, which is marking its 20th anniversary.

In 1993, the Corporation for National and Community Service developed the AmeriCorps program as a way for Americans to give back to their communities.

Every day in communities across America, AmeriCorps members are making a powerful impact on the most critical issues facing our nation.

Since its inception, more than 820,000 men and women have taken the AmeriCorps pledge, serving more than one billion hours and improving the lives of countless Americans.

Locally, the Lake County AmeriCorps program partners with the Lake County First 5 Commission to meet the needs of the age 0-5 population.

Over the past decade of the First 5 funded AmeriCorps program has trained 166 members in early childhood development, early childhood education and children's oral health.

These members have provided nearly 7,000 second step and oral health lessons, provided more than 2,400 dental and medical screenings to preschool students, assisted nearly 1,000 families with health insurance/Medi-Cal paperwork and have educated more than 1,000 preschool parents on their children's oral and nutritional health.

This would not be possible without its partnership with the Lake County First 5 Commission.

The Lake County AmeriCorps program offers a number of services, including academic enrichment, the violence prevention program and oral health.

Academic enrichment

Many young children explore literacy play on their own, with little need for encouragement from adults.

Other children need the one-on-one attention of a tutor to help them make literacy discoveries such as: print is talk written down, reading books is fun and interesting, and printed words carry messages to the reader.

Members assist all preschool students in making these literacy discoveries and prepare the students for kindergarten.

Violence prevention program

Members provide the Second Step Curriculum, a classroom-based social skills curriculum for students.

The curriculum aims to reduce impulsive and aggressive behaviors and increase protective factors and social-emotional competence.

Organized by grade level, the program teaches children empathy, problem-solving skills, risk assessment, decision-making, and goal-setting skills.

The Second Step program is classified as a universal intervention, meaning that it is appropriate for whole classrooms of children and not just those at risk.

Oral health

Members provide oral health and nutrition lessons to preschool students and their parents. The curriculum aims to increase oral hygiene and proper nutrition.

Members also assist families in completing health insurance paperwork (including Medi-Cal and Healthy Families), assist students and their families in accessing resources or services, and assist the Lake County Office of Education's Healthy Start program staff in day to day activities.

Research confirms that classes on oral hygiene can significantly reduce the incidence of dental caries. Establishing good oral health at an early age sets the stage for good oral health at later stages.

Dental caries, if left untreated, can have significant medical and health consequences including severe toothaches, oral abscesses, bone destruction and spread of infection via the bloodstream.

Dental caries can also affect a child's eating habits and nutritional intake, potentially influencing growth and early development and school readiness.

For more information or questions about the AmeriCorps program, contact AmeriCorps Specialist Victoria Garrison, 707-263-8795, Extension 241.

This is the second in a series of articles recognizing the 15th anniversary of First 5.