Category Archives: Leadership

Teacher Appreciation Week

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By Adrian Pio
Adrian Pio is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the MFS Investment Management team at the Dever-McCormack Lower School in Dorchester.

In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week, our team would like to take the time to thank a few of the teachers with whom we serve:

“I appreciate the dedication Ms. Belford displays with regards to a handful of students in my classroom. She consistently checks in with these students, has meetings with them and activities planned to help them express their emotions, and consistently offers guidance when I am seeking help with my students’ behaviors.” –Courtney Reecer, corps member

“Ms. Galdi is kind and patient with the students, which helps foster a peaceful school atmosphere. Additionally, Ms. Galdi works hard in the afternoons during bus dismissal—a hectic time of the day.” –Ada White, corps member

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Comcast Career Day

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By Ben Horton
Ben Horton is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the Comcast NBC Universal Team at the Burke High School in Dorchester.

Tracy Baumgartner, Executive Director of Community Investment at Comcast, leading a mock interview. (Photo by Elliot Haney, 2013).

Tracy Baumgartner, Executive Director of Community Investment at Comcast, leading a mock interview. (Photo by Elliot Haney, 2013).

On Friday, April 5, Comcast employees and executives joined to provide career-building workshops and training for City Year Boston, City Year New Hampshire and Care Force corps members. As a member of the Comcast NBC Universal team serving at the Burke High School, it was great to know that there is a company who not only believes in young people enough to sponsor our team, but believes that each corps member has something unique to offer the workforce.

“I’m very thankful to Comcast for the resources and expertise they’re bringing. I appreciate their commitment to the corps members,” Program Manager Julia Leb said.

The event featured four workshops: personal branding, interview skills, building your social media profile, and a mock interview. We learned the importance of preparation before interviews, how vital it is to create an authentic and positive personal brand, and the necessity of LinkedIn in today’s technological world. “I really appreciated being able to go through interview skills, have a mock interview, and go through the social media piece of the job search,” Isabel Barros, senior corps member, said.

Casey Brennan, also a senior corps member, agreed. “The workshops hit home on skills that apply to anyone regardless of their plans after City Year.”

The day also was full of a fantastic lineup of guest speakers. With opening remarks by Steve Hackley, Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Greater Boston Region, we were welcomed into a day of professional development. “I hope whatever you do after this is fulfilling and gratifying,” Hackley said.

During lunch, Tracy Baumgartner, Executive Director of Community Investment at Comcast, along with keynote speakers David Shapiro, CEO of MENTOR, and Marty Martinez, the CEO of Mass Mentoring,  dispensed encouraging career advice and answered questions on mentoring, non-profits, and careers in general. Their advice? Be authentic, be aware, and follow your gut.

At City Year we utilize PITWs (Putting Idealism to Work), which are short sentences or phrases that contain some nugget of wisdom to improve our service. There’s something both powerful and convenient about a short quote, something you can recall whenever you need some extra inspiration. I took home a lot of solid career advice from Comcast Career Day, but I also absorbed pithy phrases that will stick with me long after I advance on to the next stage of my career.

When Kevin Riffe, Director of Technical Operations at Comcast, who has worked for the corporation for 35 years, told us to “act with integrity,” it meant something to me. When Tim Murnane, Comcast’s Regional Vice President of Government and Community Affairs, said, “Never say never; Just say not now,” it made me think about widening my job search and expanding my horizons. When Councilor Michael Ross, told us, “When you get to where you’re going and you’ve climbed that ladder, leave the ladder there. Don’t take it with you; leave it there so you can help those behind you continue to climb,” I remembered that my service year wasn’t about me or my professional development—it was about how we would take our experience to find careers in which we could continue to make a difference in the lives of others.

Corinne Ferguson: A Hero Among Us

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By Sarah Binning, Communications Coordinator

Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

The crowd at TD Garden quiets as the Hero Among Us takes the court. City Year Boston Board Chair Corinne Ferguson waves at the sea of green and white dressed Celtics fans. As the award is presented, the crowd rises to their feet applauding wildly.

At each home game the Boston Celtics foundation takes a moment to recognize “an individual or individuals who, through their unique commitment and humanitarian spirit, have made exceptional and lasting contributions to our community.”

March 16’s recipient, Corinne Ferguson is no stranger to service. With more than 17 years and 15,000 hours of volunteer experience, Ferguson has been as been a key advocate for bridging the achievement gap and investing in the future of the Boston community. In addition to her role at City Year, Ferguson chairs the board of Pine Street Inn and is an active board member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. She spoke with us about her experience and what receiving this award means to her.

City Year Boston: Last weekend you were recognized by the Boston Celtics as the Hero Among Us. What was your reaction when you first heard the news?

Corinne Ferguson (CF): Sandra [Lopez Burke, Vice President and Executive Director of City Year Boston] said to me, ‘Have you heard about this?’ I was really interested in hearing who we had nominated and then she said it was me.

I have to say I was overwhelmed and a little nervous. I really don’t feel like I did anything to merit this award, but I’m very flattered, of course, to be nominated in this way.

CYB: Can you tell me what it was like the day of the event? What was it like to stand on center court?

CF: I have to tell you that the gentleman who runs the program at the Celtics, whose name is Matt Meyersohn, is an extraordinary person. He’s the Director Community Relations and Player Development. He does this 40 times a year because they have a Hero at every home game. […] But you would never dream that he does this 40 times a year. He made me feel that I was the only person ever who was getting this award. He was so gracious, so polite, so patient, and so kind. I was actually kind of nervous going out there. But he was so thoughtful and caring that it made the experience even more special.

Being out on the court before the game had started, seeing all the players warming up, I felt very, very small. It’s kind of noisy and fun. Being from the UK originally, it’s a very American thing for me—the organ sounds and the music. I just felt like I was in a dream.

CYB: If you had to pick a favorite moment from that evening, what would you say it is?

CF: This is very vain, but I must say getting a standing ovation, getting that from 18,000 people […] that was a pretty extraordinary experience. But the best part of that was that City Year, we got recognized.

I know our [City Year] team was up there as well, cheering away. I knew exactly where they were. I could feel their energy even though I couldn’t hear them above all the other cheers.

CYB: How has this recognition sparked new conversations or helped you share the news about City Year?

CF: I had text messages appearing on my phone within moments, and emails this week. It was on television as well, which I hadn’t anticipated. I thought it would be a commercial break. But people saw it on television and now they’ve been asking me about City Year all the time.

It’s just been great. I’ve been able to talk about City Year, but also the other organizations as well. Pine Street Inn was incredibly grateful, too…for being mentioned. Some of them were actually there in the audience by chance. They were thrilled. I felt really good about that since it really is all about community.

CYB: What does service mean to you?

CF: Service is really just treating others the way you’d like to be treated yourself, I think. Making sure you care about others, and other issues that are outside of yourself.

CYB: There are so many other service and education organization that you could be a part of, and I know you’re a part of several, but what do think makes City Year unique?

CF: City Year seems to harness the goodness in people and give it the place where it can really be used in a way to help others. It’s really such a wonderful facilitation place. In the same time you’re doing it, it’s such a joy. The people who are doing the good meet each other and feed off each other.

In closing, Ferguson added, “I would really like to say it’s an incredible honor to be part of City Year. It’s been an honor for me and my family for the last, goodness, it must be 15 years or so. We’re very grateful to the organization for their friendship and support. I’m really thrilled about the great work they’re doing for the kids in our country. I’m just very honored to be a part of it.”

Friday Five: Fun Facts for President’s Day

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By Ben Horton
Ben Horton is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the Comcast NBC Universal team at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester.

Photo by dbking (source: flickr)

February 18 is President’s Day. To celebrate, I compiled some fun, educational facts about our nation’s Commander-in-Chiefs. Although it should come as no surprise that not only do the President’s themselves have, on the whole, excellent educations, they also largely commend the importance of education in the broader context of our nation.

1)    Only nine presidents either did not attend or dropped out  of college. (The last President to do so was Harry Truman). Of the rest, Harvard University has the most undergraduate alumni as President of the United States—five in total. Included in this illustrious group are John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. The College of William and Mary comes in a close second with four, then Yale with three and Princeton and West Point each with two.

2)    Rutherford B. Hayes graduated from Kenyon College first in his class, William Taft graduated second from Yale and Franklin Pierce graduated third from Bowdoin. Pierce’s rank is all the more inspirational because he entered his senior year at the second lowest rank in his class, and worked hard to raise his grades.

3)    If you are looking to become President, it seems like going to law school might be a good starting point: Twenty-six Presidents (that’s more than half!) practiced law at some point in their lives.

4)    The Department of Education was signed into law in 1979 by Jimmy Carter. Although an earlier department was created by Andrew Johnson, it was more concerned with collecting statistics than created policy, and was demoted to an “office” in 1868. According to the Department of Education’s website, the current department “is the agency of the federal government that establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education.”

5)  Presidential wisdom on the importance of education:

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. […] The human mind is our fundamental resource.” John F. Kennedy said in a special message to Congress on February 20, 1961.

 

In a letter to P. S. du Pont de Nemours, April 24, 1816, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.”

We hope you have a restful President’s Day and encourage to you to reflect on the importance of education, and both the people in power who have been able to affect great change and those who work on the front lines of education every day.

Alumni Spotlight: Naomi Porper

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By Sarah Binning, Communications Coordinator
Naomi Porper was a 2009-2010 corps member who served on the MSF Investment Management team at the Dennis C. Haley Elementary School in Roslindale.

Naomi Porper, CYB alumna

Naomi Porper, CYB alumna

Naomi Porper, Prize Coordinator at Peace First, is no stranger to the belief that young people can change the world. A City Year Boston alumna, she studied economics at Brandeis University. She said her courses often discussed the importance of education equity. “I didn’t just want to address the outcomes of these [educational inequalities]. I wanted to fix the problem and build foundations before the issues even started,” Porper said.

“In the classroom you can talk about injustice and inequity as much as want, but until you’re there in that community, witnessing it firsthand, you don’t fully understand. […] I wanted to put my money where my mouth was and experience it firsthand—see what urban schools were like instead of just reading about them.”

To aid efforts in closing this achievement gap, Porper decided to do a year of service with City Year Boston. The biggest lesson she learned during her year was that “There isn’t ‘good schools’ and ‘bad schools.’ There are good teachers everywhere—and parents who care, too.” Porper said she was thankful to be a part of an organization that works to support and provide additional resources to Boston Public Schools.

Porper said her favorite part of City Year was serving a fourth-grade cohort. “I loved connecting with the students,” she said. “Through City Year I had a unique role of not necessarily being the authority figure. But at the same time, you’re not quite a peer either.” This near-peer component of City Year allowed Porper to successfully mentor and relate to her students.

“Sometimes students just need somebody to listen to them. They just want to be heard,” she said. “I’m not someone who’s going to get them in trouble when they tell me what’s going on in their life. I was there to validate their feelings, and to help them grow as leaders.”

Porper believes that children are natural peacemakers. This passion for youth leadership development drew her to Peace First, a nonprofit organization working to create and support the “next generation of peacemakers.”

“We hear stories over and over in the news about kids becoming more violent. [Peace First is] trying to change that conversation and talk about the positive things kids are doing. I think it’s important to show that kids can really make a difference,” she added.

To recognize young leaders who are leaving a positive footprint on their communities, Peace First is launching the Peace First Prize. “It’s sort of like a Nobel Peace Prize for children,” Porper explained. “We want to celebrate children’s natural capacity as peace makers and to celebrate their achievements.”

Starting this January, they will accept applications and nominations for individuals between 8 and 22 years of age. Applicants will be judged on three main criteria, Porper said: compassion, courage and their commitment to collaborative change. Five winners will not only each receive a $50,000 Peace First Fellowship, but also leadership development opportunities over the next two years.

“We need [you] to be our eyes and ears on the ground. Corps members and teachers are in the classroom and see things that kids are doing to make the community better. They can nominate students.”

“I’m really looking forward to that first application. You know how businesses talk about framing that first dollar. Well, we all keep saying that we’re going to frame that first application—that’s how much this means to us.”

To nominate someone or to apply for the Peace First Prize, please visit their website. Stay tuned to City Year’s blog for a special guest post from Porper this January!

Interested in learning about more CYB alumni?

Friday Five: Gifts that Keep on Giving

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By Ryan Carroccino
Ryan Carroccino is a 2012-2013 corps member serving at the Mildred Avenue K-8 School in  Mattapan.

With the holiday season upon us, most of the country is in a panic to purchase the perfect gifts to celebrate the most important people in their lives. Perhaps some of the most unsung heroes in our daily existence are those in the educational community. While giving a holiday gift to a teacher in your or your student’s life is completely optional, educators who do receive gifts typically get the same presents year after year (knick-knacks exclaiming “World’s Best Teacher,” candles, baskets of fruits and coffee just to name a few). But perhaps this year you’d like to honor these educators with a gift that is both unique and useful in their classroom? Here are some ideas for you to consider while holiday shopping:

1.  A subscription to a literary magazine is a gift that will keep giving through the year. Although Reader’s Digest or The New Yorker are some of the obvious choices, there’s a world of possibilities for an avid reader. Consider gifting a subscription to a kid-focused publication that the whole class can enjoy. For example, New Moon Girls is an ad-free magazine with positive content for girls ages 8 and up; another great option is Cricket–the four-time print magazine winner of the Parent’s Choice Award.

2.  A handsome, leather-bound notebook will certainly go over well with an interested writer. I recommend accompanying this gift with a set of pen and ink to get the creative juices going with a touch of class and elegance.

3. Try picking out a great educational game! Classic card and dice games can help students improve their basic math skills. Even mainstream and board games can be educational. Apples to Apples® can be used as to help students understand adjectives. Other options include Cranium®, Boggle® or Scrabble®.

4. Day passes to a museum are gifts that could inspire possible field trip ideas/opportunities for the class. For a Bostonian, a day spent at either the Museum of Fine Arts or the Institute of Contemporary Art can provide a break from the hustle and bustle of city life.

5. A long day of work can do much to create a foggy perspective, so keep your gift-recipient’s brain agile with a collection of brain-teasers or puzzles. Books of riddles or crosswords can keep even the trickiest brain on its proverbial feet, not to mention they can be fun and educational time-killers to carry throughout the day.

From the Basketball Court to the Classroom

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By Ben Horton
Ben Horton is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the Comcast NBC Universal team at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester.

Mr. Hugh Coleman (Photo courtesy of Mr. Coleman).

Mr. Hugh Coleman (Photo courtesy of Mr. Coleman).

Mr. Hugh E. Coleman has taught English Language Arts (ELA) in Boston Public schools for ten years. However, teaching ELA was not always his dream; an avid basketball player, Coleman once dreamed of playing professionally, overseas. But Mr. Coleman’s path to teaching began while attending Bowdoin College. There, he decided to enroll in an education class.

Mr. Coleman said he distinctly remembers a passage in a book, which detailed an educator’s experience in a predominately black, urban school where an academically successful student was teased for being “white.” Mr. Coleman remembered thinking, “If doing well is ‘acting white,’ what is ‘acting black?’”

A Boston native, Coleman realized that students from his neighborhoods “needed a positive role model.”

“When I think about where I’m from, many of my friends have not gone on to higher education,” he said. Coleman said he can relate to and understand students who struggle in school. He wanted to show these students that academic success was both possible and necessary, regardless of their race. He stressed that students could be successful without sacrificing their identity or culture.

As a teacher, Coleman tries to show his students the value of a college degree. A 2011 survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that there was an 83 percent income gap between those with a bachelor’s degree and those with only a high school diploma.

For Mr. Coleman, it’s about what he can do for his community—how he can best serve others. “I want to give the students what they don’t have… [to] fill in the gaps.”

Because he is passionate about connecting with youth, Mr. Coleman would like to start his own non-profit life-coaching organization for youth. “I believe that [a life skill’s] class would benefit every other class.” Using his mentoring skills, Mr. Coleman believes he could make an impact by building relationships with kids that make them more mature, dedicated individuals. And those life lessons will help them with whatever path they choose.

Coleman said he believes that City Year plays a role in helping students on the path for success. He added that City Year was “the support teacher’s need.” City Year supports teachers in the classroom, supplementing the lesson with small group tutoring and mentoring. By delivering focused support for the students who need it the most, teachers are able to maintain high expectations without students falling behind.

Addressing attendance, behavior and course performance, City Year helps keep students on track to graduate high school. An education will help position these students to not only do better for themselves, but to use what they have learned, as Mr. Coleman did, to give back to the communities who need their skills the most.

Human Rights Day 2012

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By Xia Rondeau
Xia Rondeau is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the MFS Investment Management team at the Dever-McCormack Lower School in Dorchester.

On December 10, Human Rights Day is observed and celebrated every year.  It was formally designated by the United Nations in 1948 as a way of saying, “no more” to the atrocities committed in World War II.  Since then, leaders and activists of equality movements have used this day to highlight the accomplishments and the work that still needs to be done for human rights.

One of the many human rights activists here in our own backyard is Arline Isaacson, Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus (MGLPC). “Oppression doesn’t end because you wish it away,” Isaacson said. Oppression ends when people stand up and advocate for equality.

Since 1983, Isaacson has advocated for GLBTQ rights. She began by volunteering at the MGLPC when they were lobbying for a civil rights bill that would’ve prohibited discriminate against gay people in several key areas of life: employment, housing and credit.

After her first day lobbying for this bill, Isaacson said she felt successful and made some strides with a few legislators. When the MGLPC offered her a position working three days a week for one hundred dollars a week, she said yes.  The money wasn’t what motivated Isaacson, rather it was the belief that she could help change the world. “[I] was lucky enough to make a difference,” she said.

Isaacson said this movement was fundamentally successful because so many GLBTQ people came out.  “So many people coming out normalized us,” she said.  Additionally, media helped open societies eyes as members of the GLBTQ community, such as Ellen DeGeneres, stepped onto America’s center stage.

The lessons Isaacson learned over the years resonates with all freedom movements, she said.  Lesson number one: “It’s the hard work–the unsexy, everyday focus–that gets you to the breakthrough.”

I was surprised when Isaacson said, “Rallies are cathartic, but they are often for self-expression more than effective political action.”

She added that “oppressed people want their rights and they want them now.” But real change takes time. Deep change comes from working in the trenches, “working hard and working smart.”

When I asked Isaacson how she stayed motivated all these years, she quoted Cesar Chavez, the farm labor leader.  “Keep your eye on the grape.”  Keeping your eyes on the prize gives you the energy to, “keep on keeping on.”

She also credited humor for helping her through the difficult times.  She said she often received death and rape threats. Arline Isaacson said she used to put her phone in the fridge so she wouldn’t hear it ring at 3 a.m. She was able to dodge the psychological harm of these threats by making sure she didn’t hear them. She eventually replaced her answering machine with a fax machine, so that any hostile calls would be met with the machine’s annoying screeching sound. “Humor can be your saving grace,” she said.

Isaacson is proud to be part of the GLTBQ movement. On May 17, 2004, she was at Cambridge’s City hall when the city’s first gay marriage licenses were legally issued.  She recalled, “I was sitting at Cambridge City Hall at the top of the stairs, two people away from the front door, waiting for them to open at midnight. There was no way I was going to miss that. [… ] I breathed in the energy and I looked out at the crowd and I cried, because it was really very moving to be there and to see it—to live through it.”

I was in the crowd that day too, accompanied by my mom and sister.  A fourth grader at the time, I didn’t realize the significance or the sweat and tears that went into that day. But on this Human Right’s Day I understand and I thank Arline Isaacson and all the other amazing leaders for their dedication and hard work.

Happy Human Rights Day. Thank you to all our country’s fearless leaders and advocates for equality!

Friday Five: How to Excite Your Lunch Buddies

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By Jordan Shafer
Jordan Shafer is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the Deloitte team at Washington Irving Middle School in Roslindale.

Irving Lunch BuddiesEating lunch with students is a great way to engage the students. During the lunch period, we can help these children with goal-setting and self-regulation. We also can develop strong positive relationships with them in hopes to strengthen them as leaders in their classrooms, school and community.  The Lunch Buddies program can also help us get to know students in a more casual, relaxed atmosphere.

Of course, students of all ages often feel hesitant about giving up their precious 25 minutes of lunch to spend with us. With the school’s busy schedule, students aren’t always enthusiastic to give up the only time of day they have to hang out and socialize with their friends. Here are five tips that I have found helpful in getting students excited about our Lunch Buddies program.

1. “Invite” the students: Frame your lunch program as a fun, positive program. The student should feel privileged to be there. You can even make lunch a VIP event by handing students a printed invitation that doubles as a VIP pass. This will make the students feel special and make the event appear fun and exciting, instead of feeling like a meeting with a teacher.

2. Make it personal: When inviting your students to lunch, tell them why you want to get to know them better. Make note of the student’s sense of humor, leadership in the classroom or even a special interest that you share with your student. The student will appreciate being noticed for something individual and want to share more about it.

3. Start off friendly: At your first lunch with a student, ask him or her about himself! Show interest in his hobbies, friends and family. Try to establish a common ground, such as a shared hobby, a sports team that you both follow or even a favorite book or movie. Show the student that you are a person who cares about his success both inside and outside school.

4. Get a teacher on board: A friendly reminder from a teacher will make the lunches seem more concrete and non-negotiable to the students. The teacher also can dismiss the student directly to you while the rest of the class files down to lunch.

5. Be firm and consistent. Make sure that students know that this is required by you and their teachers. Let them know that, even if they pick the day, they must eat lunch with you once a week. Be sure to remind them that you’re there because you enjoy spending time with them. Letting your students know you are committed to your weekly meetings will foster respect and trust in your relationship.

Following these tips will help you build a stable, enjoyable and productive lunch behavior development program. Students will be excited to spend the extra time with their City Year corps member!

The Man Behind the Name: William Monroe Trotter

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By Christian Kmiecik
Christian Kmiecik is a 2012-2013 corps member serving at the Trotter Elementary School in Dorchester.

William Monroe Trotter

William Trotter

For the William Monroe Trotter School community, qualities like compassion, dedication and service are by no means foreign values. They can be seen when a teacher helps a student struggling with a math problem, or when the Playworks coach facilitates a game of dodgeball during recess. These values also can be seen when the City Year team works with students for two hours after school, or when the custodians ensure the hallways and school stay clean.

However, as we carry out our days, we don’t give much thought to the person whose name is printed on the building: William Monroe Trotter. Trotter, an early 20th century civil rights activist, not only epitomized the virtues of compassion, dedication and service in the Boston community, but he continues to serve as a role model for our school.

Born in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1872, Trotter and his family moved to Boston in 1879. His record of idealism and achievement started early when he graduated from Hyde Park High School as an honors student in 1890; he moved on to Harvard University where he became the first person of color elected to Harvard’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (a national academic honors society).

After earning his bachelor’s degree Trotter went into business as an insurance and real estate broker, but found the burgeoning civil rights movement a more compelling calling. In 1901 he established The Guardian, a Boston newspaper that would act as “propaganda against discrimination based on color and denial of citizenship rights because of color.” This paper would become known as a mouthpiece for Trotter’s speeches for social equality in the Boston community and across the country. In addition to his work with The Guardian, Trotter was involved with the Boston Literary and Historical Association, a forum for radical intellectuals where he engaged with individuals such as W.E.B Du Bois.

Du Bois, along with Trotter and other like-minded activists, would help establish the Niagara Movement (which first congregating in a hotel on the Canadian side of the Niagara river since U.S. hotels were segregated) in 1905. This collective organization of radicals was harshly critical of Booker T. Washington, a prominent leader of the African-American community at the time. Trotter himself denounced Washington as an apologist for Jim Crow segregation and impotent when it came to promoting liberal arts education for African-Americans. The Niagara movement dissolved in 1910, and many of the founders would go on to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). However, Trotter decided to remain dedicated to The Guardian, and his work around Boston. His crowning achievement is considered to be his attendance of the 1919 international Paris Peace Conference where he protested the discrimination of non-white employees in government offices.

Trotter was a passionate and outspoken advocate for those of his community. His promotion of liberal arts education still resonates today with his Boston Public Schools namesake. Though he may not be widely known among his contemporaries in the civil rights movement, he was no less dedicated to his service for those less fortunate than him. I am proud to serve in a school that bears his name and hope to teach the students about his activism and impact on our community.

Lion Pride!

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By Winston Wan
Winston Wan is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson team at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury.

In America, fall is football season. Things are no different at the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School. The football team, which was open to competitive tryouts for all middle school students, began organizing for the season before the first day of school. Coach Jose Colon said he picked the roster of 30 students based on the players’ unity and leadership skills.  He believes that the team that he has created plays well as a unit.

“Our biggest strength is our intelligence,” Colon said. He leverages this ability to teach his players high-school level offenses and defenses. Not only was this an effective strategy during each game, but this advanced coaching also prepares the football players for their transition into high-school sports.

“This [year’s] team has portrayed a sense of unity more so than the past,” Colon added.  He attributed much of this success to the captains of the team, who were given the responsibility based on their demonstration of great character, strong self-confidence, and academic soundness.

After closing out the five-game season with the respectable record of 3-2, the players are looking forward to their first playoff game of the year, tonight (November 9) at 6:00 p.m. The OGPS Lions are seeded third in an eight team single-elimination bracket and will be playing for a semifinals spot against Rogers Middle School, the school to which we suffered a narrow defeat in the last game of the regular season.

City Year members attended the Saturday game on October 13 against Murphy Middle School to witness the hype. The OGPS Lions played a dominant first half, outscoring Murphy 14-0. They continued to control the game, pushing their offensive line back to cause a safety and making room for big runs with the ball.

Recently, City Year also helped to create a football bulletin board recognizing the dedication of each player, as well as to identify some special awards selected by Coach Colon to outstanding players.

We are eager to see the team show their excellence at today’s playoff game and we hope to see Orchard Gardens in the finals!

Decision 2012

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Student-made signs decorate the halls of Harbor Middle School. Photo by Nowmee Shehab.

By Nowmee Shehab
Nowmee Shehab is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the Summit Partners team at the Harbor Pilot Middle School in Dorchester.

Mitt Romney or Barack Obama for President?

Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren for Massachusetts Senate?

Dean* or Rosemary* for student government President?

Yesterday, we explored how the election has inspired educational activities at the Mildred Avenue K-8 School. The Harbor Pilot School is experiencing the election season through different layers and perspectives. Along with the high-profile national and state races, the school also is abuzz with excitement about the student elections.

Additionally, the Government Club (which is run by three City Year corps members) is planning a school-wide election to teach the students the American political system. Shanika Boadu, a corps member working with the club said the student elections are important because it helps students express their concerns to the school and foster responsibility and leadership amongst them.

The Government Club also is running a mock election for the Harbor students where they will cast their votes for the presidential and Massachusetts Senate elections. This gives students a chance to experience the process of voting. Students will go into booths run by Government Club during lunch to vote. In an attempt to model the Electoral College, each grade was assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on number of students per grade. The results will be announced over PA at the end of today.

Corps members also incorporated the election into their small group work. Students read about the presidential and vice presidential candidates: their biographies, their stance on issues and how they have voted in the past on critical issues. Corps members focused on giving students a chance to talk about politics and about what issues matters to them. A seventh grader said he appreciated this platform to talk about government with his peers and is excited to see what the outcomes of the national and the school elections will be.

*Students names have been changed to protect identity.

Election 2012 Inspires Teaching Opportunities

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By Ryan Carroccino
Ryan Carroccino is a 2012-2013 corps member serving at the Mildred Avenue K-8 School in Mattapan.

With November 6 fast approaching, the presidential election is an almost impossible topic to avoid. As future voters of America, it is imperative that students of all ages understand the importance of the election and the power voters hold in its outcome. Here are some ideas from the Mildred Avenue School on how to educate curious students about the election and our democratic government.

Afua Boampong, a corps member working with sixth-grade students, said: “It’s extremely easy to find myself getting caught up watching debates, campaign ads and rally after political rally. However, when talking to students about electoral issues it is of the utmost importance to leave all biases at the door and impart only the facts.”

“Similarly, in retelling the facts, it’s just as important to use language that is easily understood by the students you are working with. When teaching about the election, I believe it is crucial to give students a base knowledge set so that they may form their own opinions.”

Jameson Lisak, a corps member working with seventh graders, added: “There are also a multitude of great resources for running games based around political [themes]. Have the students pick an issue and then have student “candidates” debate the issue, leading to a mock election! Or, if the students are ready for a bit more complex activities, there are some really great and well developed political games; those Michael Laver provides in his book Playing Politics immediately come to mind.”

“If we let students know that they not only decide which politicians are elected, but that someday they can be the politicians, then that would be the most favorable outcome of this election.”

The fifth-grade class in which corps member Lyndsay Whitehurst is serving is learning about the election. Whitehurst provided insight on this process: “The teacher stressed […] that in our class we will be learning about both of the presidential candidates by gathering hard facts about their lives and trying to form educated opinions regarding their character. She mentioned specifically that she does not want any of them to vote for anyone based on anyone’s opinions or based on having the same skin color.”

“She said this [rule] does not go just for our mock election, but for any decision that must be made in the class. She does not want friends voting like their friends, but rather each of them voting as individuals because their opinions matter.”

To read how more Boston Public School students are engaging in the 2012 election, click here.