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Canisius High School Today
Think of it as a combination of Teach for
America, the Peace Corps and the “best intern-
ship in the world,” and you’ll get a close approx-
imation of Canisius’s new Alumni Volunteer
Corps (AVC) program.
AVC is an 11-month, academic-year program
during which alumni just out of college offer ser-
vice to Canisius. During their AVC tenure, they
receive training and take part in orientation
along with the school’s new full-time teachers.
Then, they make for classrooms and other places
to tutor students, assist teachers in class, proctor
in the library or cafeteria, and other duties.
Four young men—Evan Richards ‘07, Joshua
Scrivani ‘07, Adam Hains ‘07 and Jonathan Rost
‘07—are devoting nearly a year of their lives to
the school’s first AVC. In addition to their daily
work at the school, they live together in an “in-
tentional community” in a house near campus.
Says Paul Cumbo, Canisius
English teacher and program di-
rector, “This means that you live to-
gether with other young men who
are dedicated to the same mission
for the year and who are interested
in the growth and self-discipline it
requires.” The alumni volunteers
receive a stipend for their living
expenses other than rent, which
Canisius supplies. The AVC pro-
gram also emphasizes volunteers’
spiritual development by focus-
ing on simple living and active re-
flection, along with prayer and reading in Jesuit
philosophy.
“The AVC program is philosophically ground-
ed in the same tenets, such as spirituality, as the
Jesuit Volunteer Corps,” Cumbo explains.
A desire to give back, especially to Canisius, is
the volunteers’ “common bond,” says Richards.
“We’re rooted in the school’s traditions. We also
were still deciding on what we were looking for
after college, so to do something non-traditional
made sense.”
Scrivani agrees, adding, “I thought [AVC]
would be a great opportunity to take a step back
from academics and give 11months of my life to
serve the high school that mademe into theman
I’ve become.”
A good number of other Jesuit high schools
also run AVC programs. In fact, President John
Knight directed such a program at a school
where he served before Canisius.
“We just decided to offer AVC about a year
ago,” says Knight. “Already, our students are
benefiting from young alumni who are com-
mitted and generous with their time. We all get
that additional hit of energy fromthem.” Cumbo
says that faculty “appreciate the work of the AVs,
both for enhancing student life and in providing
coverage for absent colleagues.”
The benefits seem to run in both directions.
Hains, who is considering a teaching career, feels
that his time in the classroomwill help him gain
a “better idea of what I want to do.” Richards
echoes that thought: “This program offers lots of
time for reflection and internal searching. I also
like the idea of living simply and discerningwhat
I prefer.”
Scrivani gets a boost from “interacting with
students and seeing things from their perspec-
tive. I was tutoring a kid today, and I knewwhere
he needed help just by talking with him.”
In this inaugural year of AVC, “None of us knew
how it would pan out,” Cumbo admits. “But the
volunteers havemore than enough to keep them
busy, and they’re now sought out.”
AVC does put the volunteers’ life on hold in a
certain respect, but ultimately, Knight adds, “It
moves their lives forward in a less predictable
way.”
Recent Alums Ofer Time, Energy,
Dedication as NewVolunteer Corps
“Our students are
benefting from
young alumni who
are committed and
generous with their
time. We all get that
additional hit of
energy from them.”