BELFAST — The Game Loft has announced the enrollment of two AmeriCorps mentors, Brian Phelps and Thalia Sweeney. Both will serve primarily with the I Know ME program operating in coordination with the Mount View school system and RSU 3 school district.

Sweeney is a social work student at the University of Maine, and Phelps is a graduate of Wells College and a recent navy veteran. Both are natives of Maine.

The Game Loft's I Know ME program is one of seven youth development programs participating in the Aspirations Incubator, a six-year mentoring-based initiative aimed at raising and sustaining the aspirations of young people in rural Maine communities.

The Aspirations Incubator is funded and supported by the Emanuel and Pauline A. Lerner Foundation. For more information, visit lernerfoundation.com. 

Students begin the I Know ME program in the 7th grade and continue throughout middle and high school. Participants are given opportunities to explore their home state, from meeting with legislators at the State House in Augusta to visiting all 48 Maine State Parks.

Groups of 10 kids receive individual support from program mentors who work with them to build confidence and competency over a six-year period. The program runs weekly at Mount View Middle School and is supplemented by regular field trips throughout the state.  

AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through its AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs and leads the nation’s volunteering and service efforts.

For more information visit: www.NationalService.gov