Tag Archives: Bain and Company

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 →

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 →

A Ripple: Profile of Tykent Rogers

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This week, senior corps members will Tell a First Year Corps Member’s Story: Why they serve, how they have fit in with the City Year Boston village or an outstanding experience or contribution they have made in their first weeks of service. Jack Korpob, team leader on the Bain & Company Team serving at English High School, reflects on the role that his team from last year had to play in first year corps member Tykent Roger’s journey to City Year.

One of the reasons that I love City Year and have returned for a senior corps year to serve as a team leader at the English High School is because I love being around such inspiring and idealistic people – people like Tykent Rogers.

Last year, I had the pleasure of serving my corps year at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester. Every Wednesday, students in the Burke’s Freshman Academy had the opportunity to interact with upperclassmen mentors as part of the Ignition Mentoring Program. A lot of the mentors really helped to push the younger students outside of their comfort zones using fun games and activities. It was here that I had the privilege of getting to know Tykent, who was a senior at the Burke and one of the program’s mentors.

Throughout the year, we had the opportunity to share the experience of being a mentor to the same cohort of students. Along the way, I learned a little bit about Tykent’s dedication to school and sports. He played three sports, baseball being his favorite, and he really enjoyed working with students his age and helping them to understand that it’s possible to achieve their goals if they really put their mind to it. I was so proud of him, and he served as a true inspiration to a lot of the students. One of his personal goals was to play baseball in college, and all of his hard work paid off when he earned himself a baseball scholarship at the University of Maine.

Corps member Tykent Rogers

Corps member Tykent Rogers

Little did I know that just a few months later, Tykent would begin a year with City Year Boston. I served tirelessly last year to support my freshmen, but I never thought that Tykent would notice and begin to consider City Year as an option for himself after high school. When I found out that he had applied to City Year, I had to ask about his scholarship and what happened to his plans to attend college this year. He simply stated that the University of Maine took care of it and agreed to defer his admission and scholarship for a year so that he could serve with City Year Boston; he felt it was important to have an experience that would allow him to serve his community before going to college. He’s even already considering serving a second year with City Year.

Now, I am more aware than ever of my actions and how the different ways in which they might impact people. Whether we realize it or not, the red jackets and City Year affect lives outside of the classroom as well. When people see us in our uniforms, tutoring students or doing PT (Physical Training) in Copley Square, we are sending a message that we are ready to serve, to change lives, and to improve communities. Because of his interaction with City Year at the Burke, Tykent now serves with City Year Boston as a corps member on the Johnson & Johnson Team serving at Orchard Gardens K-8 School in Roxbury. His decision to serve at City Year inspires me. Now it is his turn to impact students’ lives and to continue this ripple of positive change in the Boston community.

Advice to a Young Student (From One Who Has Been There)

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Travis Bickford, Program Manager of Bain & Company Team

Travis Bickford, Program Manager of the Bain & Company Team.

It is obvious that my Program Manager Travis Bickford and Joseph, one of my students, have a lot in common. Both come across to others as warm and happy people. Joseph is friendly and mindful of the feelings of others—an unusual trait in most ten-year-olds. Joseph lives in the projects in Boston, while Travis grew up with a single, unemployed mother in one of the poorest regions in the country in Maine. Instead of being envious of others who are more privileged, Joseph wants to help people. Travis is committed to a life of service. Clearly, Travis and Joseph see the world as bigger than themselves.

Neither Travis nor Joseph ever saw themselves as living in a bad situation. During a math small group session, Joseph said “Connor, you have Math problems…get it? Hahaha.” My Program Manager deemed this a good sign for his future. He thought that this showed that Joseph is exceedingly witty for his age. That shrewd and observant way of perceiving and expressing certain things in the kind of wit you need to write a complex academic paper. One day, Joseph exclaimed, “I’m tired, I’m bored, and I’m hungry… haha gosh why do I always say that?” he asked with a big smile. ”…I have a lot of complaints”. Upon reading this quote, Travis realized that he is extremely developmentally advanced for his age. Moreover, it conveys that our young friend was cognizant of the fact that complaining is not a constructive and beneficial thing to do.

Both were born into lives without much in the way of material goods, but they seem content, optimistic, and joyful. Joseph sees beyond the challenges in his life and, evidently, so did Travis when he was a child. Travis noted that it is “one hundred percent up to you” to achieve your dream when you come from a family without much formal education. Although Travis had mastered the social aspect of high school, he didn’t have the academic “how” part figured out yet because he had no strong mentoring figures to guide him, at home or at school. Travis stated that when he was working in an intense infantry unit, at times working ninety to one hundred hours a week in the U.S. Army, he was working twice as hard for a lesser goal. During his tour in the Army, Travis had an epiphany: he wanted to go to college. He realized that it represented a window of opportunity in his life that could enable him to reach new heights and attain his goals.

During hard times, it is important to remind yourself that gratitude is the key to happiness, Travis says. He advises Joseph, “If you wait for it to happen it won’t. If you make it happen it will.” The words he lives by are: “What are you waiting for? It’s on you! [Do good work] and stay positive!” Travis believes that it is important for young people like Joseph who face adversity to realize that they have to make their own reality. Nobody can just wake up one day with their perception of “success” accomplished, he says. In other words, you have to be aware of your disadvantages and acknowledge them – do not wait for your path of success to reveal itself. Although the challenges you must face are by no means innocuous, you must tackle them head on.

Travis offered Joseph six pieces of advice: 1). Study hard and work hard. 2). Remain curious. 3). Use all the advantages that life has to offer. 4). Set goals and achieve them. 5). Stay positive at all times. 6). When it comes to your peers, any friends that do not encourage you to do better in life are not your friends.

"Joseph" poses with his dragonfly coin as he stands in the foreground of a vast mural painted by the City Year Boston Corps on Opening Day.

Thank You, Bain & Company!

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Bain & Company's Team Leader, Steve O'Connell clowns around with three happy students as clothing is being distributed.

Bain & Company's Team Leader, Stephen O'Connell clowns around with three happy students as clothing is being distributed.

On Monday April 24, Bain & Company launched a clothing drive at the Agassiz Elementary School. Bain’s employees have contributed a large assortment of winter clothing and outerwear to the parents and students of the Agassiz School. This effort has been very positive in many ways. Of course, the firm’s donation will help members of the Agassiz School community to endure New England’s harsh winter weather. Beyond that, the company is strengthening its already tight bond with the City Year Boston team as well as with the Agassiz School.

Those of us serving on the Bain & Company Team at the Agassiz School are delighted and humbled by the company’s continued support. The fact that Bain financially enables us to operate and perform our year-long service  is wonderful in and of itself, but Bain’s generosity goes far beyond their continued annual sponsorship. In addition to the clothing drive, Bain & Company provided each of the City Year members on their team with comprehensive, one-on-one résumé coaching sessions. Bain employees also teamed up with us in November to paint and refurbish a homeless shelter for women and children diagnosed with HIV in Roxbury. It’s difficult to express how much we appreciate Bain & Company’s partnership with the Agassiz School. It is evident to us that the people of Bain truly care about improving the quality of the Greater Boston community.

This recent clothing drive initiative is special because we can actually see the positive results every day. When the project was unveiled and the clothes were rolled out to parents and students at the school, an air of excitement emerged. Already 50% of the clothing has been distributed to parents and students here at the Agassiz School. Understandably, the parents were especially excited. Meanwhile, the students responded with great big smiles as we would often see them proudly sporting their new clothes in and out of the building. One student was so excited about her new North Face gloves, that she has been wearing them all day long.

For your long-standing support, limitless generosity, and your continued acts of altruism around the Greater Boston community and beyond, we City Year corps members on the Bain & Company team appreciate you all!

Another boy joins the group as they sport their winter clothing!

Another boy joins the group as they sport their winter clothing.

Sign-Out Duty: A Blessing in Disguise

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 Article Written by Katie Brush, corps member serving on the Bain & Company team at the Agassiz, and returning 2011-2012 senior corps member.

If you visit the Louis Agassiz Elementary School in Jamaica Plain around 5:30 PM, I’ll be the one in red presiding over the cafeteria entrance. Most afternoons Monday through Thursday, I tackle our Starfish Extended Day Program’s sign-out process armed with nothing but a clipboard full of attendance rosters and a watchful pair of eyes. It’s a job that might seem dull to some people; while other corps members lead Starfish in enrichment activities that include everything from relay races and kickball games to arts and crafts and double dutch, I’m tied to my post at the cafeteria door. But as crazy as it may seem, sign-out is a responsibility for which I very willingly volunteer, for several reasons.

Here, I am flanked by two happy Starfish as we share our last goodbyes before I send them on their way home.

Running sign-out is a great opportunity for me to watch students interact with their parents. I get to watch students beg their parents to stay a little late with them to complete a service project, to join them in making pillows for sick children in hospitals. I get to see them hop up and down and plead to stay at school for a HASI (Harvard After School Initiative) Math Night, and most importantly, I get to witness many parents put off whatever other plans they had to sit down at a cafeteria table and spend time with their children. We often hear about the difficulties that our students face outside of school in their homes and communities, but it’s during sign-out that I am reminded every day that our Starfish come from families that love and care for them.

I particularly enjoy watching one Starfish during this time, a boy from my 3rd grade class named Ryan*. Ryan often seems like a teenager inside of an eight-year-old’s body – he struts through the hallways in his baggy pants, answers no when he knows you’re looking for a yes, and suffers from chronic eye rolling – and sign-out is one of the few times throughout the day when I’m reminded that he really is only eight. As soon as his stepfather arrives, Ryan’s face lights up and he charges towards him to tackle him with a hug and a cry of greeting.

Sign-out is also the time of day that I’m able to witness the important relationships that my fellow corps members have built with their student’s families. During sign-out, we often check-in with parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles about everything from their child’s rough day at school to what a great job they did on their multiplication quiz in class to how they might need a little more sleep or a pair of glasses to see the board. There are parents that routinely check in with us every day: “How did he do today?” or “I’m worried about her last math test – is there anything you can do to help during homework hour?” I get to watch their faces glow with pride when they hear about their child’s accomplishments, and even when the news isn’t always good, I am privilege to overhearing the following: “Thank you,” a grandmother recently said to one of my teammates, “I know you’re telling me because you care.”

Most importantly, I believe Starfish sign-out can be one of the most significant moments in a child’s day. Most afternoons, I am the last face our Starfish see on their way out of school. In spite of what went on during the day and what will happen when they leave the building, I’m always there to wish them good luck on tomorrow’s test, remind them to bring in that permission slip for next week’s fieldtrip, and to let them know that we’ll see them again tomorrow – same time, same place.

*Name adjusted to protect privacy

Learning Reciprocated: a “Ripple”

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By Connor Bair-Cucchiaro, corps member serving on the Bain & Company team at the Agassiz Elementary School.

Throughout our service, unexpected “ripples” often arise.  A “ripple” is a scenario that occurs when the positive effect of an action one takes escalates in an astoundingly powerful manner to enhance another’s life or viewpoint.  These moments give us a true feeling of fulfillment as well as an uncanny shift in perspective.  They make us realize how much every action we take, no matter how small, has the potential to have a greater effect on our students than we can imagine.

I have grown especially close to a boy that I will call Joseph.  He is one of the students in the Special Education L.A.B. (“Learning Adaptive Behavior”) Cluster at the Agassiz Elementary School.  Since I teach and mentor the students in this class daily from Monday to Thursday, I have gotten to know him very well.  In the face of serious adversity and disarray, some of these students manage to have an incredibly positive attitude.  Although he endures a myriad of challenging stressors throughout his days, Joseph is no exception; he is a studious, happy, and playful kid.

On our class trip to the Museum of Science, we made a special visit to the Butterfly Garden.  Joseph was mesmerized by the countless butterflies, fluttering freely in a greenhouse in the urban museum.  It was clear that he had never experienced such an amazing natural encounter before.  We stayed there for quite some time while the other students transitioned to the next activity with our classroom teacher.  On a whim, I bought a copper coin with a dragonfly on it from a nearby penny-pressing machine and handed it to Joseph, grateful to have had such a fun time with him. It was a small gesture. I didn’t think any more about it.

An undaunted and fearless Joseph brandishes his dragonfly coin celebrating his own resilience.

An undaunted and fearless Joseph brandishes his dragonfly coin celebrating his own resilience.

During class a few weeks later, Joseph looked exhausted and rather faint.  He told me, “Sometimes when it gets dark out I feel lonesome or sad.  I look at my dragonfly coin whenever I can’t sleep.  Last night, I fell asleep right after I looked at it ‘cause I remembered how happy I was when we went to the Museum of Science”.  Deeply touched and elated by our growing bond, I gave him a high-five, and then drew his attention back to the fraction word problem worksheet we were working on.  Later on, right before he took his E.L.A. (English Language Arts) MCAS test, he won permission from his proctor to have his dragonfly coin out during the test for good luck.

Despite his challenges, he has shown his resilience through his words and actions.  I am enamored by his ability to resist succumbing to channeling his frustrations in counterproductive ways.  He epitomizes uncanny optimism in the face of such adversity as he has found a way to focus on the joys in life.  He is a ten-year-old who is mature beyond his years.

He possesses strength, gratitude, and understanding beyond his years. To me, that bodes well for his future.

Serving as a City Year corps member means more than boosting our students’ academic performances.   It means more than working to rectify their core individual and the collective difficulties.  Yes, we invest our energy primarily to help set our students on a path to achieve long-term success.  However, in modest ways, we often succeed in improving their short-term day-to-day lives as well. This personal connection with our students is an integral part of what makes serving as a corps member such a powerful and enlightening experience.  We certainly learn a great deal from our students. It has been truly inspiring to spend my year of service with kids like Joseph.

The Boston Children’s Museum, City Year Boston, and the Agassiz School

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Boston Children's Museum representatives, myself, fellow Bain & Company Team corps members, and a few Agassiz Starfish joyfully exalt in the success of the event.

On Monday, January 24 and Wednesday, January 26, an established partnership between the Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) and City Year Boston was reinvigorated.  The BCM came to the Agassiz during our daily after-school Starfish program in an effort to encourage our students to visit the BCM with their friends and families, but also to provide creative-thinking activities for a special Starfish day.  BCM deployed a group of diverse and lively young adult representatives to the Agassiz, where they successfully cultivated a comfortable learning environment for our Starfish.

Our City Year team collaborated with the BCM representatives in a joint effort to engage students in interactive activities.  Corps members even got a chance to participate in these games!  The warm-up activity was a fast-paced name game.  The final activity was a discussion which required our students to use their imaginations in order to determine what it would be like to live in our world and be as tiny as an insect.  Envisioning this fantastical reality, the Starfish brainstormed how they would utilize everyday objects differently as minuscule people.

We used our strong relationships with students to manage their behavior during an exciting visit, and our City Year enthusiasm to help maintain their interest and focus.

Both days went very well as we saw these fun learning activities ignite positive interactions between our students and stimulate their imaginations in new ways as they were pushed to “think outside the box.”   We were also proud to see that the Starfish students sustained cooperative and respectful behavior while the BCM representatives were leading them.

With the BCM and City Year working together, we bolstered the children’s interest in the BCM, and informed them about the significant benefits it provides that would enable nearly all the families to visit the museum if they choose. More importantly, the BCM’s mission statement declares,

“[the BCM] wants children to [become] learners who respect others…and [the BCM encourages] imagination, curiosity, investigation, innovation, and play. “[The museum] exists to help children and families enjoy, understand and become active citizens of the world in which they live”.

These goals align very well with City Year’s Starfish program, and on those days in late January, the Starfish corps certainly was full of imagination, play and activity!

Valentine’s Day at the Agassiz School!

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This image epitomizes just one of the many joyous moments that we have shared with our Starfish thus far!

This image epitomizes just one of the many joyous moments that we have shared with our Starfish thus far!

Returning to the Agassiz School after winter vacation, I was greeted by lots of smiling faces and a few determined fifth graders requesting a Starfish Valentine’s Party.  On Monday, after a few weeks of conferences with these fifth graders during various lunch buddies sessions, our event planning was gaining traction.  These meetings resulted in the creation of a long list of music requests and 5 engaging activities — thus, Valentine’s Day was finally here and our team was ready!

The party started with the usual Starfish snack, but quickly moved into a very special afternoon.  The first activity was a game involving the entire group of 60 third through fifth graders where each student was given half of a heart and then challenged to find their pair: the matching puzzle piece.  The students shuffled around trying to match their half with another student’s and seemed to really enjoy this challenge.

Following this activity we moved into the “stations” portion of the party.  The Starfish moved from one station to the next decorating cupcakes, limbo-ing, creating Valentine’s cards, and putting their accuracy to the test in the beanbag toss competition.

The Starfish enjoyed the activities and had the opportunity to return to their favorites once they had finished all of the stations.

At the cupcake-decorating table, students covered their cupcakes with heaping towers of bright pink frosting.  When a corps member would look away, students would try to sneak frosting into their mouths. However, this covert action was hard to maintain given their equally bright pink tongues.  One girl made and delivered a cupcake to the custodian who was working hard upstairs.

At the limbo station the students cheered every time the pole was lowered, and added a special move to the limbo skills, doing the “dougie” as they slipped underneath the pole.

At the arts and crafts station, students made cards for their parents.  With a special opportunity to use glitter, Grace Boal was on glitter patrol (a term we use in our third grade classroom), and taught students that more glitter is not always better.  The students left with beautiful, heartfelt cards.  Finally, at the heart-shaped beanbag toss, students wound up to make their big throws, aiming to get as many points as possible.

Although the day was comprised of simple activities, the Starfish left happy and thankful for the party.

An Enduring Relationship

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By Jackie Levine, Service Leader on the Bain & Company team serving at the Agassiz School

I never forgot Alan and he, obviously, didn’t forget the City Year team that served at his school five years ago.  Our work is powerful and long-lasting.

During my year as a City Year corps member five years ago, I served at Orchard Gardens Elementary School in Roxbury, MA.  One of my favorite times during the school day was recess.  It was a chance for me to connect with the students in a fun, laid-back way.

I quickly bonded with a student named Alan* over games of kickball and numerous rides down the slide.  I remember Alan as an enthusiastic, vivacious little boy.  I looked forward to our daily meetings on the playground.

My relationship with Alan quickly changed.  We began having lunch together daily.  We met during reading time to talk about our favorite books.  Alan became my Starfish – I watched him grow as a student and a young boy.

When my service year ended in June, I was especially sad to leave Alan  I wasn’t sure if I would ever reconnect with him.  Over the years, I thought of him often and wondered how he was doing.

Fast forward five years to my senior corps year at the Agassiz School in Jamaica Plain.  I was eager to meet the students and learn their names.  All of the new faces at the Agassiz made me so excited to begin forming new relationships.

While helping with bus duty during my first week, I thought I saw a student I recognized.  Imagine my surprise when I realized it was Alan! I was so excited to see him.  Knowing that I knew even one student at the Agassiz made me feel more comfortable about beginning my year there.

Alan had attended multiple schools before coming to the Agassiz last year. He explained to me that at every school he attended, he “was looking for the red jackets everywhere.”

Now that we have reunited, Alan and I eat lunch together, share memories of Orchard Gardens and he beats me in board games.  I feel like I have connected with an old friend.

Reconnecting with Alan has proven to me that our work has an enduring impression on everyone involved; I never forgot Alan and he, obviously, didn’t forget the City Year team that served at his school five years ago.  Our work is powerful and long-lasting.  Students all over the city of Boston look for our red jackets everywhere.

*Names have been changed to protect the students with whom we work.

My Long Journey to City Year

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By Angel Roque, corps member serving on the Bain and Company Team at the Agassiz School


I was accepted to City Year in May 2010 and currently serve at the Agassiz School in Jamaica Plain in Boston. Before final graduation from college and coming to City Year, I still needed to complete a few requirements, so I chose to study abroad in Morocco because I wanted to be completely out of my element, learn about Islamic culture and attempt to figure out what to do with my life after graduation.  My entire family came to Boston to see me receive my diploma and have dinner with me, and of course we enjoyed each other’s company very much.  A couple of days later, I waited for the six-hour flight down halfway across the world to embark on a new chapter in my life.

Upon arrival in Marrakesh, I was in awe of the city’s elegant structures and I wondered about the stories that each building possessed.  I was immediately blown away by Morocco’s humble people and thought about the rich history of the city as I was driving across the highways from the airport en route to my home stay family.  During the two-week stay in Marrakesh, I lived with my adopted family and learned about their ways of life by eating with them, sharing, and talking with them. Granted, I didn’t know many words in French or Arabic, but I did my best to ensure that I respected their livelihoods by trying to speak their languages.  My entire experience was amazing, but I don’t think that I would be where I am today at City Year if it weren’t for Malik.

Out of all the conversations I had throughout my stay, none were as fruitful as hers.  She was a little 5-year-old-girl with an amazing spirit and incredible positivity. She taught me French while I taught her English and despite not having a common language, I made a connection with her that I never thought would be possible. At that point, I realized that I needed to be doing work where I can build relationships with youth and have a positive impact. I keep a picture of her in my wallet as a constant reminder of why I’m here and why I serve every day.

Doing Service and Giving Thanks with City Year Boston: Updated with More Pictures!

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On Friday, November 19th, City Year Boston was honored to be able to lead another annual Thanksgiving Day service project, where we had the opportunity to engage corporate sponsors and get out into the city of Boston to perform service at multiple sites. We would like to take this space to sincerely thank some of our service partners that came to City Year headquarters to give a day of service, including: Harvard Gives, Westfield Capital Management, Bain Capital, Bain & Company, National Grid, Johnson & Johnson and Harvard Pilgrim!

Please, enjoy some pictures from the day of service in the Levine Civic Forum, and click here for a wonderful recap of the day, written by our very own Katie Venetsky!

City Year Boston Starfish at the Agassiz

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Written by Connor Bair-Cucchiaro, Bain & Company Team, Serving at the Agassiz Elementary School

Elijah was proud and beaming while Team Agassiz looked on, awestruck.  Moments like these are rather commonplace during our extraordinary after-school program.

Starfish is a dynamic, curriculum-based program which aims to insure homework completion, as well as foster students’ holistic growth and well-being.  During the first hour of the program, we offer homework help, while in the second hour we lead enrichment activities that may cover a life lesson, a new idea or a different view of the world. We work to develop academic, social and behavioral skills through persistent, personal mentoring.  Students also have the opportunity to release energy through fun activities and active games.  We love this aspect of our enrichment hour because the kids not only need more physical activity to lead healthy lives, but they need to burn some of the energy that they store all day in class!

It’s not always only the kids that get involved with Starfish either!

There is a little boy named Elijah who gleefully joins our final moments of Starfish almost every day. His grandmother, who everyone calls Nana and who is over 60 years old, shocked us all by revealing her amazing jump-roping prowess.  While fellow corps members Jessica and Nikketta swung two ropes at once in the challenging ‘double-dutch’ style, Nana nonchalantly jumped in during mid-swing and executed a stylish skipping pattern!  The Bain & Company Team could not help but chant, “Nana! Nana! Nana!” as Nana continued to jump.  Elijah, one of our most energetic starfish, patiently sat on the bench while Nana performed a jump-roping maneuver unprecedented at the Agassiz School.  It was incredible – who knew that the soft-spoken Nana was capable of such a feat?  Elijah was proud and beaming while Team Agassiz looked on, awestruck.  Moments like these are rather commonplace during our extraordinary after-school program.

 

A spry Nana preforms her signature 'double-dutch'