ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan student Natalie Erb has been selected as a semifinalist for a national service award for her work improving math literacy in middle and high schools. Erb, who will graduate in April with a history degree, is one of 50 semifinalists for the Students in Service Awards program, supported by Washington Campus Compact, which recognizes outstanding college students whose volunteer service positively impacts society and inspires others to serve.

Erb, who is from San Diego, is a leader and volunteer with the Young People’s Project, a national organization that seeks to promote social justice, community engagement and youth empowerment through math literacy. She works in five high schools and five middle schools in southeast Michigan to facilitate a curriculum of math games and social justice activities to high school students. These students then facilitate algebra-based workshops to local middle school students. Erb is working minimize this country’s socio-economic disparity by challenging the achievement gap in mathematics. She said her work with the YPP has taught her that every child has an insatiable quest for knowledge.

“Every child has not only the ability to learn but the right to learn and the right to receive a quality education,” she said. “I hope that my impact on these students, if nothing else, keeps their passion for learning alive and helps them realize that there are people out there who care about their success.”

The public can vote for their favorite student and service project at www.serviceawards.org through March 3. The national selection committee and results from the “fan vote” will identify three winners, schools and nonprofits to receive scholarships and grants totaling $25,000.

Scholarship recipients and their service projects will be recognized at the 14th annual Continuums of Service Conference, a nationally recognized service and civic engagement conference in San Diego on April 28.

Established in 1992 and hosted at Western Washington University, Washington Campus Compact and its membership of 41 two- and four-year colleges and universities are committed to providing meaningful experiences for students to become active, engaged leaders in their communities, furthering the civic and public purposes of higher education and strengthening communities.