Melissa Burwell of Minnesota Alliance With Youth Promise Fellows has 60 AmeriCorps members who work with schools on mentoring and service-learning projects. Before making her annual site visits, Melissa sends an e-mail to the site supervisor and member that:

• Requests an appointment
• Describes what activities will take place during the visit
• Specifies the amount of time needed

She also attaches a list of discussion questions.

"Members and supervisors appreciate having an idea of how the visit will be structured, who is responsible for what, and how the program staff will interact while at the site," she says. "It helps them collect their thoughts ahead of time and it emphasizes that the visit is for learning, rather than evaluation."

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