The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Ready to serve
Riverside graduate leaving for overseas Peace Corps service
Riverside High School graduate Jonah Magid is leaving for Peace Corps service May 22 as the agency resumes foreign service for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Magid, who grew up in Concord and Painesville townships and graduated from Riverside in 2015, will spend three months in Peru as a trainee. He will learn about the local language and culture and receive training for the Peace Corps’ Water, Sanitation and Hygiene program.
“The WASH program improves access to healthy and safe water, adequate sanitation, and improved hygiene,” said Carla Koop, public affairs specialist at the Peace Corps.
After he completes his three months of on-site training, Magid will be given a two-year assignment with the Peace Corps in Peru. During that time, he will help teach and implement the WASH program. As a Peace Corps volunteer, his help may also be needed in other areas, such as running sports activities, teaching classes like English and science or helping the local community with needs related to COVID-19.
Magid’s interest in the Peace Corps started during his senior year of college, as he prepared to graduate from Cleveland State University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
“I just really wanted to give back to the community and, you know, kind of help people, just because I got a lot of support and help in my life,” Magid said. “I got a lot of scholarships and aid to be able to go to college in the first place…I just felt like I needed to give back before I started working in the chemical engineering industry.”
He learned about the Peace Corps and applied that summer. He went through the agency’s vetting process, but shortly before he was set to go to training in early 2020, the pandemic began and the Peace Corps halted overseas work.
Magid expected a slight delay at first. When it became clear that the pause would be longer than that, he started working at a local Chipotle. He then moved to Oregon with his brother and took a job as a pharmacy technician, where he administered COVID-19 vaccines.
By August 2021, Magid hadn’t heard anything certain from the Peace Corps, so he looked for another opportunity to serve. He started a remote role as a SAGA Education tutor for the 2021-22 school year, volunteering as part of a partnership with AmeriCorps to teach math to high school students in Chicago.
“He embodies the true essence of service,” said Percy Austin, the SAGA Education Chicago site director. “Mr. Magid has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide academic assistance, mentoring, etc. to our scholars.”
In addition to his national and international volunteer service, Magid also served his local community as he was growing up. He was in the Boy Scouts, and for his Eagle Scout project he set up wooden displays to highlight mission trips at Lakeside Baptist Church in Painesville Township. He also helped with fundraisers for Temple Am Shalom in Mentor.
“He was a well-liked kid,” said Gary Tucker, Magid’s former scoutmaster. “He was pretty easygoing, and he always seemed happy to help out.”
The Peace Corps began to send volunteers abroad in March, and the agency noted in a press release that it currently plans to send volunteers to 24 of its 60 locations.