Tag Archives: After-School Starfish Program

Smell the Flower, Blow Out the Candle

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Inspiration is a catalyst that moves individuals to stand up for something they believe in, to make a difference, or to simply keep going. At City Year, the most inspirational moments are often those that reveal the sometimes unexpected ways in which we have impacted the students and the communities we serve. Below, senior corps member Lilah Rossi, team leader at the Harbor School, shares a particularly Inspiring Moment from her corps year in Miami, Florida.

Last year, I had the unique experience of being a Boston native who chose to serve my corps year at City Year Miami. There, I spent 10 months in a community called Liberty City at Lenora B. Smith Elementary School. One of the most exciting initiatives that my team implemented at the school was our extended day program, Starfish Corps.

During one particular Starfish Corps unit, we talked a lot about different stress relievers and anger management. One method that we taught the students to employ to when they felt angry and wanted to fight consisted of a breathing technique. The technique we practiced with them involved making their right hand into a fist that holds an imaginary flower and inhaling as they pretended to sniff it. In their left hand, they would hold an imaginary candle that they would then pretend to blow out with an exhale.

Senior corps member Lilah Rossi and Darryl

Senior corps member Lilah Rossi and Darryl

One afternoon, after the program had ended for the day, I was outside with Darryl*, a child who had difficulty managing his anger and who fought constantly with other students. He was playing around with one of the other students when he started to get mad because the other student, intending to be playful, had hit him. He wanted to attack back, but I told him not to. He was angry and clenched his fists and I asked him to not do that. He unclenched them, but when I turned to look at him again, I saw that his fists were re-clenched. I looked at him sternly and asked him why he was still clenching his fists, and his response was: “Ms. Lilah, I’m not!” He followed up by demonstrating the inhaling of the “flower” and exhaling of the “candle,” the technique we had taught him just the other day.

As you can imagine, I was so impressed that this normally frustrated young boy was using one of our techniques. It is something that I hope he continues to use, especially to help keep him from getting into fights. It was one of the most inspiring moments of the year for me; it was then that I realized that our students had really been listening to us and were trying to work to change their behavior.

*Names have been changed to protect student privacy.

The City Year and Agassiz Hearts

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Inspiration is a catalyst that moves individuals to stand up for something they believe in, to make a difference, or to simply keep going. At City Year, the most inspirational moments are often those that reveal the sometimes unexpected ways in which we have impacted the students and the communities we serve. Below, Emily Bekenstein, team leader at Orchard Gardens K-8 School, describes how she experienced a particularly Inspiring Moment as her first year of service came to a close.

Last year I served at the Agassiz Elementary School and I loved every second that I was there. However, as the end of the year approached, it was sad to think that with the closing of the Agassiz, it would be especially challenging to visit the students and teachers I had grown close to during the year. I knew that my team had made a great impact on the students and I wished that I could return to the school to see how they were doing the following year, but sadly that wouldn’t be a possibility.

On the last day of our Starfish extended day program, our team hosted a huge graduation ceremony and celebration with the 60 students that attended the program, their parents, and their siblings. The event was the culmination of our entire team’s effort to finish out the year strong and give the students the best graduation ceremony that we possibly could. It was a complete success! Parents and siblings flowed into the cafeteria in waves and within no time the room was completely full. The students were called up individually by their peer MCs to receive diplomas and have their pictures taken, and as the final names were called, the room filled with graduation caps as the students joyfully threw them into the air.  It was a great moment and I was so proud of all of them.

Students celebrate their graduation from the Starfish program with senior corps member Jackie Levine ('10-'11)

Students celebrate their graduation from the Starfish program with senior corps member Jackie Levine ('10-'11)

Following the ceremony, students and families were invited to eat a potluck meal and enjoy their time together. As they celebrated, parents paused to appreciate our support and share with us how much their child loved Starfish. One mother came up to me teary eyed and thanked me for working with her daughter all year. She noted the improvement and growth that her child had made and asked if we could take a picture together.  Seeing all of the students and parents so full of joy that day was truly inspiring.  After all of our hard work, endless hours of planning, and complete dedication to the students, it was wonderful to be able to see the impact that we’d had during our time at the Agassiz.

Shortly after the graduation ceremony, I received a note from Jane*, a student who had attended Starfish and was also in my third grade classroom. Next year she will be attending the Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot K-8 School. The note read as follows:

Dear Mrs. Emily,

I will miss you and Mrs. Grace.  I am going to bring the Agassiz heart and the City Year heart to the Y.A. school. 

Sincerely,

Jane

As I read this, I was struck by how much love Jane felt from both City Year and the Agassiz school. I realized that as she makes the difficult transition to a new school, she will bring with her everything that she’s learned from City Year and her teachers at the Agassiz. Knowing this, I’m confident that Jane will excel at her new school this fall, and I find comfort in the fact that there will be a City Year team at Young Achievers too.

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of students.

Our Starfish Have Talent!!

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This past Monday,  the corps members serving at the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School held our monthly community meeting. We wanted the children to be able to showcase the talents they have that don’t always come up in the day-to-day routine of the school. The show had been postponed several times due to numerous snow days, but finally the show was ready to go on.

The students had practiced their acts for weeks and were ready to show off. The auditorium was set up and the parents were pouring in. Popcorn was handed out and the lights were dimmed. It was time to start!!

The show started with the corps members doing their rendition of “City Year State of Mind.” It was then student’s turn to show off their skills. They performed in acts such as “The Pretty Girl Rock“, “Teach me how to Dougie“and “Sweet Dreams” among many others. Parents were thrilled and many students expressed a desire to hold an encore performance later in the year. When all was said and done, it was one of the best events we’ve had at the Boston Renaissance School this year.

City Year members strut their stuff at the Starfish Talent show!!

Stepping It Up at City Year Boston

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Liz Simpson helps two fifth graders with their homework in City Year's after-school program.

Liz Simpson applied to City Year Boston for several reasons she shares with other corps members; she wanted to give back to a community, work with children, and take time off between her undergraduate studies at Boston University and pursuing graduate work in education. Now at the midway point of her corps year, Liz realizes that her multifarious roles have allowed her to develop an invaluable lifelong skill: leadership.

As a teacher’s assistant in a fifth grade English classroom at the Hennigan Elementary, a mentor during lunch, and an after-school coordinator, Liz is a role model to her students. She reads over students’ essays, provides homework help, creates lesson plans, runs a cooking club in City Year’s after-school program, as well as gives students advice.

Besides positively impacting youth, she recently has taken a greater leadership role on her team. When aspects of Hennigan’s after-school program need to be tweaked, more experienced staff members at City Year mentored Liz. She has since led brainstorming sessions, made final decisions about unit lessons, and offered more support and feedback to her teammates.

“Through City Year, I have become more confident leading others, so I am more excited than ever about the prospects of the rest of the year for myself and my team,” Liz says.

Ohrenberger Starfish Take the Pledge

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Led by The Ohrenberger School’s Principal, Eileen Nash, the Starfish Corps students were all smiles as they wowed parents in the audience with their poise and commitment to excellence as they took the “Starfish Pledge”, stating their commitment to the afterschool program and their promise of excellence.

The Starfish Program is City Year’s afterschool program based on the Whole School, Whole Child Model. The mission of Starfish is to impart City Year values of service and community to elementary students as well as provide academic support in a safe, fun learning environment. Our current Starfish Corps of about 40 children in grades 3-5 just completed their first month in the program, and parents were invited to come and watch them recite the Starfish Pledge, perform physical training, or “PT”, and hear a message from the principal.

The Starfish members proceeded onstage to perform “PT.” Students were filled with positive energy as they demonstrated the three exercises that they had been practicing.

Remaining engaged, the students listened intently to the words of their principal, Eileen Nash. She highlighted the fact that “Starfish members have this opportunity to be the role models and should spread the values of service, teamwork, and community back to their classrooms and neighborhoods. The students are now eager to live up to the expectations that Principal Nash laid out. Principal Nash inspired and challenged the Starfish to use the valuable lessons and ideals that they will take away from the program.

Starfish fingers grasped onto Corps Members shoulders and smaller arms weaseled into the center of the clump for a “spirit break.” A City Year “spirit break” is an opportunity for a group of people to come together to set the tone for a certain event. This spirit break officially commenced the beginning of the Starfish Corps afterschool Program at The Ohrenberger School.

Introducing…6th Grade Afterschool Math Tutoring!

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Adam hands in his multiplication tables written from 0-10, only to walk away with most of his 8s times tables marked incorrect. Deflated, Adam sits at his desk with a stack of equations in his hand. He flips through the cards, looking at the back of each flashcard to drill the answers into his memory.

The next morning, Adam walked into class feeling confident; the night before, he had studied his flashcards. Most math classes in Ms. Wachman’s 6th grade class begin with a multiplication quiz. Coincidentally, this math class began with a multiplication quiz on the 8s time’s tables. Adam looked up, smiled, and got right to work.

This afterschool program is a new initiative at The Ohrenberger School led by corps member, Hanna Atwood. Students with low confidence and low scores in mathematics were asked to join this small group tutoring session. These 6 bright students benefit from small group work and 1 on 1 attention. Each Monday and Wednesday, the group meets from 2:30-4:30 and focuses on the fundamentals of math, on the concepts they are currently studying in the classroom, and on their math homework for that evening.

Students have already shown progress. Each tutoring session the students are timed when they write their multiplication tables out. The minutes have continued to be cut down from the previous session and their confidence has steadily begun to rise. This confidence trickles into their schoolwork during the next day during math class. The after-school kids set a tone for the other students emulating hard work, and a commitment to success.

From Ecuador to the Hennigan

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Sarah Harrington helps a student in the Starfish Corps paint a pumpkin during the Hennigan Elementary School's Starfish Opening Day on November 10, 2009.

Meet Sarah Harrington, a City Year Boston corps member serving on the CSX Hennigan team in Jamaica Plain, MA. She might be assisting in a fourth grade classroom and preparing lessons for the City Year After-School Starfish program now, but she spent last year teaching English as a Foreign Language to students between ages twelve and forty in Rio Bamba, Ecuador.

After teaching abroad for a year, Sarah decided to do City Year Boston because she wants to earn a graduate degree in urban education and she figured being a corps member would be a good way “to get her feet wet.”

Since the first month of school, Sarah has determined that City Year is easier than teaching in Ecuador in some ways, but more difficult in others. Although she misses having her own class, she enjoys planning after-school and mentoring lessons in addition to assisting with academic lessons in the classroom.

Sarah’s highlight from the first day of school at the Hennigan was when her teacher exclaimed how excited she was to have another City Year in the classroom and how her teacher immediately gave her an involved role.