Category Archives: Corps Experience

Top Five Fridays: My Top City Year Culture Shocks!

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By Nithya Prabhala, City Year AmeriCorps member on the CSX Team serving at the Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy.

PITW #66: Do Three Squishy Things A Day. BING!

1. The moment I entered the Civic Forum at the City Year Boston Headquarters, I noticed a huge group of senior corps members singing and clapping. The enthusiastic greeting overwhelmed me and it took me a moment to realize that the chant-like words and phrases were words of welcome. At the time, I was slightly taken aback as I had no understanding of what a power greeting was. Little did I know that it would become a daily part of my life for the months to come. As a member of any City Year team, we greet students in the morning as they enter the school with similar chants, high-fives and above all else, wide smiles. In the beginning, I think I felt silly, but at this point, I know I’ll do whatever, silly or otherwise, to make sure that my kids smile when they walk in the doors of my school, the Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy.

PITW #133: Share “Ripples” Constantly- They Increase The Joy.

2. “Please share a ripple, joy or appreciation.” Everyone in our circle at a service project proceeded to talk about one of these. This is a phrase we hear all the time at City Year and a way to begin a meeting or project with positivity. A ripple is an action that has been repeated and gone on to cause further change. Joys are moments of happiness and appreciations are reserved to commemorate other individuals.

Ripples, Joys and Appreciations on a CY Bulletin Board

PITW #128: Take Enormous Pride In The City Year Uniform.

3. “City Year!” Those are the first words I heard when I walked into the Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy. The kids were so excited to see us! I was confused as to why, since they didn’t know who I am. What they did recognize was my red jacket. From that one article of clothing, they were able to connect me with City Year and Continue reading →

Wordless Wednesday: Starting a School Day – A Look at First Circle

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By Jordan Frias, City Year AmeriCorps member serving on The National Grid Team at The Blackstone Elementary School.

It’s not often that I get downtime to spend with my teammates who serve in different grade levels. That’s why I cherish the funny and love-able moments we have during our morning meeting time known by City Year as first circle. Check it out for yourself in the video below!


Some photos:

Readiness check begins with our notable “boots or shoes!”
One of our friends joining us for our readiness check. He is also checking to see if his “heart, mind and soul” are ready for the school day.

Students Inspire Me to Write: An Original Poem

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Written by Kevin R. Fish, City Year AmeriCorps member serving on the Bain and Company Team at English High School.

Some of my most interesting conversations with my students at the English High School happen in the most casual of settings. Many of these discussion inspire my writing. I thought it would be appropriate to share an original poem I have written from my students’ perspective. It largely centers around the outcomes I hope to achieve with my students this year.

Waiting

 
High School,
The beginning of Our freedom,
Freedom to choose,
Freedom to be who we want to be,
Yet we find ourselves,
Waiting.

Waiting to be granted the choice-
No, the opportunity to choose.
We are waiting for the moment,
When we are treated
Like the adults we are waiting
To become Continue reading →

Top Five Fridays: My Best Moments at Dearborn Middle School

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Written by Epiphany Acevedo, City Year AmeriCorps member serving at Dearborn Middle School.

5. The day I asked our principal how much it would cost for our team to buy school sweatshirts; he gave them to us as a gift.

A few of my teammates and I sporting our Dearborn sweatshirts

4. When I made a bet with Orlando*, one of my 8th grade students, that he couldn’t stay completely silent for five whole minutes. He ended up winning Continue reading →

Wordless Wednesday: No Ordinary Uniform

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By Diana Mai, AmeriCorps member serving on the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care/PTC Team at Holland Elementary.

Whenever I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see is my City Year uniform. Keeping all the parts laid out on my bed – dress shirt, khakis, belt, and bright red jacket – save me a lot of time in getting dressed. But besides being generally awesome, the uniform also symbolizes what City Year stands for. Even though it’s a uniform that we’re all required to wear, it’s also representative of the unity we all feel. And despite the fact that we each come from different backgrounds and serve at different schools, we are all committed to City Year for the same reason – to serve full-time for a school year in communities that need it the most and to make a difference in the lives of others.

A Ripple of a Joy: “Patience is Bitter, But Its Fruit is Sweet”

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Quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Written by Kevin Fish, City Year AmeriCorps member serving on the Bain and Company Team at English High School.

Two of my favorite aspects of City Year culture are “Ripples” and “Joys.” A “Ripple,” like a ripple in water, is when an aspect of City Year is passed on to someone who is not affiliated with the organization. A “Joy” is a story or experience that brightened one’s day.

One of the most difficult aspects of my service year so far is not knowing whether or not my students appreciate my presence. I signed up for City Year being well aware that instant gratification would be something that I may have to sacrifice, but I have learned that receiving even a minor appreciation is sometimes the difference between a negative and positive day for me.

[More: Read Kevin's List of 'Tips for the Ultimate Mentor']

The Hallways at English High School

I serve in a cohort of all male 9th grade boys, making it even more difficult to receive the feedback I yearn. The classes at English High School are separated by gender and the boys aren’t exactly willing to express their gratitude or feelings on Continue reading →

Learning More Than A New Language

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Written by Epiphany Acevedo, City Year AmeriCorps member serving at Dearborn Middle School.

Through the sea of students I pass on the way to our team space, I spot his movie star smile and call out to him in excitement: “Mi amigu!” It’s Cape Verdean Creole for my friend. Juan* reaches out to shake my hand as I recite one of the many phrases he has taught me in his native language this year. Juan holds back a laugh as he listens to me struggle to properly pronounce gosta dibu sorisu (I like your smile) and tells me that he likes mine too. My days are never complete without a conversation with this energetic 6th grader who makes even my best days at school remarkably better.

[More: Red Jackets the Latest Craze Among Middle Schoolers at Dearborn!]

Being silly after school

My first interaction with Juan was during our after-school program when I saw him sitting alone. I sat down across from him and asked if he would teach me Creole.  He enthusiastically pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write out various words in his native language. Every couple of weeks I ask Juan to teach me a new phrase and I practice whenever I see him in the hallway. Even though I repeat the same phrases to him over and over, Juan is never frustrated or impatient with me, a quality that is not too common among 12-year-olds. Juan’s openness and inclusivity is truly inspirational!

 

12 Days of City Year: A New Day Brings a New Experience

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Written by Nithya Prabhala, City Year AmeriCorps Member Serving on the CSX Team at the Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy.

Although the holidays are now over, the adventures continue as one Corps member reflects on 12 days of new experiences serving in a City Year uniform:

Day 1: Seeing kids at the Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy have a real playground to use, enjoy and act like real kids in.

Our new playground!

Day 2: Watching Steven* attempt to telepathically move the ball closer to him during a game. He thought that strategy would beat going to pick it up himself. Smiling every day at things kids do or say.

Day 3: Kids in our Starfish Extended Day Program starting to take initiative and help their peers or younger students with homework. Some of the fifth graders are becoming a routine part of my third graders’ lives. It is inspiring to see them take on challenges.

Day 4: Watching 20 kids devour 8 very large cartons of ice-cream Continue reading →

Math, Mentoring, & “Teach Me How to Dougie”

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Written by Samantha Schnell, City Year AmeriCorps member serving on the Westfield Capital Management Team at Neighborhood House Charter School.

“Danny*, that’s a demerit.”
“Danny, go sign in.”
“DANNY…I’m calling home.”

Danny is a name that I often hear spoken – or shouted, more likely – in the halls and classrooms of Neighborhood House Charter School (NHCS). Danny* is a 6th-grade student who has trouble staying quiet or sitting still. Multiple times a class he’ll get up. He’ll sharpen his pencil, grab a drink of water…sometimes he does a little dance when he thinks the teacher isn’t looking. One of Danny’s teachers promised to award him 100 merits if he can go an entire class without getting up; needless to say, he still hasn’t made it.

That Danny is a math whiz is a lesser-known fact. He finishes his worksheets faster than almost anyone. He is also funny, whimsical, curious and kind. I Continue reading →

The Art of Classroom Medicine

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Over the past few months at the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School, I have come to notice that there is a certain type of healing quality to the art of education. In addition to serving as the central hub of knowledge passed down to their students and taking on all the demands and responsibilities of being in loco parentis, educators function much like doctors in their classrooms. Whether they may strive to raise a student’s reading level or to cure a patient from an illness, professionals in both of these lines of work can successfully enhance the well-being of people through patient perseverance, careful observation, and empathetic flexibility. Moreover, educators and physicians alike have a solid understanding of how relevant individual social and psychological circumstances can be to their respective efforts  in helping their students or patients. Accordingly, in recent decades these two professions have evolved into stronger mentorship roles that are more involved in the personal lives of the people they serve.

In addition to serving as the central hub of knowledge passed down to their students and taking on all the demands and responsibilities of being in loco parentis, educators function much like doctors in their classrooms.

From my experiences so far at Orchard Gardens, I have been fortunate to gain many enlightening opportunities that have helped me unravel this enigmatic healing characteristic within the art of education. One recent incident in particular has provided me with significant insight. On a crisp, rather cloudy Thursday morning in November, in the last half hour of a double-block period, I asked a student in the classroom I serve to follow me to Continue reading →

Staying On Track with my High Schoolers: Finding Inspiration in James

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By Erin O’Donnell, corps member serving on the Comcast Team at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School

He sat and stared into space, eyes blinking periodically, rocking back on his chair. A notebook lay upside down in front of him. No pen.

“James*, try the first question.”
“James, would you like to work on this problem with me?”
“Hey, James, please take out your homework.”

A nod, or a glance. A few mumbled words. But none of these ever translated into action. It became a half-hearted routine. Me, squatting down at eye-level, delivering constant little reminders that seemingly did nothing. Some of the teachers thought James was a slow processor, but I had glimpsed his potential in geometry. He was consistently the first to grasp a new concept, apply it, and shout out the answer, before withdrawing once more. I quickly realized the biggest challenge Continue reading →

Winter Showcase Fills Harbor Middle School with Joy; Corps Show Off New Moves

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By Michaela Kinlock, AmeriCorps member serving on the Summit Partners Team at Harbor Pilot Middle School

On Friday, December 16, after a day of team bonding, the Summit Partners team returned to Harbor Pilot Middle School for the school’s first ever winter showcase!  Organized from top to bottom by Harbor’s music teacher Ms. Fraser, the winter showcase gave more than 60 students the opportunity to perform for a huge turnout of their teachers, family and friends.

The showcase began with the school choir (currently in its first year of existence) who performed holiday selections such as “All I Want for Christmas is You”, “Noche de Paz/Silent Night” and “Umoja”, the Kwanzaa song, which also featured a seventh grader showing off his talent playing the djembe drum.  Next, The Harbor Middle School Steppers performed an impressive routine that caused cheers to ring out in the crowd.  In between musical sets, a handful of seventh graders were selected to read to the audience the free verse poems that they’ve been working on in class.

The Winter Showcase was amazing and left students, parents and teachers alike smiling from ear to ear.  It was really inspiring to see our students so proud of themselves and their school.

The Summit Partners Team has been so impressed by how hard Ms. Fraser and our students have been working on the showcase.  We were thrilled when Ms. Fraser asked if we wanted a slot in the show!  We decided to give the students a glimpse of what we do on Friday mornings when we’re not there to greet them at the door.  Below is the abridged PT routine that we performed for the school, including the Summit Partners Team’s original PT move: the Washing Machine!

My Home Away From Home: Finding Support in Boston

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Written by Jennifer Javier, corps member serving on the MFS Investment Management Team at the Dever-McCormack Upper School

On a cold Saturday evening, I received a two word text message from my teammate Zach: “Look outside.” I turned my head to the window and there it was. Snow! I screamed for my roommate, Alisha Thompson, who proudly serves on the PTC/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Team at the Holland Elementary. “Alisha! It’s snowing!”  Before I knew it, Alisha and I were sprinting down the stairs while my other roommate, Hayley Confrey, serving on the Bank of America Team at Young Achievers, followed behind muttering, “Are you kidding me? It’s October!”

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Californian at heart, but attempting to make a life for myself here in Boston, I am grateful for being able to come home to these girls. Alisha, a Lousiana native, and Hayley, from Connecticut, are supportive, understanding, and never fail to make me laugh. I love Alisha’s southern hospitality; and I love Hayley’s willingness to help me through difficult times.

We recently decorated our apartment for the winter holidays. As I reminisce about what I left in California during Christmas time and as the months get harder and longer, I will look to my roommates for comfort and perspective.

Alisha, Hayley – thank you for serving at City Year Boston with me in this amazing, life-changing experience. I wouldn’t want to spend the year with anyone else.