Tag Archives: City Year Boston

Wordless Wednesday: In An English State of Mind

Posted on by
1

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

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Whether it be observing our students working diligently on their algebra during a Leadership Development Day, acting as proud parents to see our students off to their first bowling experience with Boston Celtics players, or getting a student to help monitor their peers signing in to our Extended Day space, the Bain and Company Team serving at the English High School depends on their students. Through all of the frustrations and tribulations, we are so fortunate to have some dedicated students with mountains of potential and this photo montage is in honor of all of the students we serve at the English High School.

A Piece of Advice for Corps Year and Beyond, #CYgrad

Posted on by
Reply

By Jessica Mah, City Year AmeriCorps Recruitment Project Leader on the Bain Capital Team.

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” – Peter F. Drucker, American Educator and Writer

Part of being an effective leader is having the ability to be self-aware, reflect on successes and challenges, taking the time to maintain perspective and re-centering of one’s values.

Understanding this concept was crucial to my leadership development. Many times throughout the year, I became so engulfed in my work that I would forget the ‘big picture’ or wonder what skills I was actually learning and at one point I lost sight of one of my most treasured values: empathy. Serving a corps year was tough and serving a senior corps year is even harder, but no matter how overwhelmed I became this year I would make it a priority to reflect on my service.

Whether I reflected in formal settings, with my fellow senior corps members or by myself, it was these reflection periods that helped me re-energize and re-mobilize to continue serving with excellence. I would evaluate my successes, critique my challenges, revisit my personal and professional goals as well as ask for feedback from individuals I led. Through these actions, I not only learned about my leadership style, my strengths and weaknesses but I also regained perspective, which in turn fueled my motivation and enthusiasm for my service. Now of all the lessons I learned this year, I will not only be taking away value of self-reflection but I will remember to utilize it for years to come!

After my realization, I would like to set-up the incoming and outgoing corps for success by offering some advice: make it a priority to reflect throughout the year because this skill is not only beneficial during your service year at City Year but also for your leadership development in your life and career.

Interview: Conversations with our Students

Posted on by
Reply

By Elijah Fanelli, City Year AmeriCorps member serving on the Bank of America Team at Young Achievers Science and Math K-8 Pilot School.

As a City Year corps member, I serve in a 6th grade humanities classroom and help facilitate one of the Young Achievers after-school programs, HASP (Homework After-School Support Program). Through both of these settings, I have been able to watch several of my students grow both personally and academically. A few days ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of these incredible young adults. Below is the conversation we had.

Me: Hello!
S (Student): Hi.

Me: So, first question. What do you think City Year does best?
S: I think the thing that City Year does best is they help people out with their work and also help people with difficult situations.

Me: Ok, can you give me an example of what a difficult situation might be that City Year helped you out with, or that you saw City Year help someone else with?
S: If somebody has a bad day, they’ll talk to them one on one and help them out and figure out strategies to get them through the day.

Me: Is there an area that you think City Year has personally helped you out with over the course of the year?
S: Ummm…Not really…

Me: I think I’ve noticed a few huge things. One is that you’ve been getting down to work really well. Even if you get upset, you’ve been able to get back to work in just a few minutes. Remember how hard that was at the beginning of the year?
S: Yeah, I guess. I have gotten better there. Continue reading →

Wordless Wednesday: A City Year in Boston – The 2011-2012 Corps

Posted on by
1

Created by City Year AmeriCorps members Jordan Frias, Jennifer Javier and Kevin Popovich. Read their full bios here.

Graduation is a week away! We want to honor the 2011-2012 Boston corps with a video and a graphic that shares a snippet of who we are. We couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this corps.


 
Infographic: A little bit more about us…

This is the fourth installment of a monthly collaborative creative project. See last month’s project here - “What does City Year mean to the kids?”

Middle School: Stepping Outside of My Comfort Zone

Posted on by
Reply

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

As my year of service begins to wind down, I am struck by the (unsurprising) notion of how much I have grown to care about my students. Every day brings some sort of success, new joke, or other connection. June is here, and a new City Year team will fill my boots at the Harbor next year, so I am striving to make each and every day with my students count. As I reflect on the year thus far, I realize how far I have come since the Summit Partners team entered the Harbor in September.

Before the start of my City Year, I had mostly worked with very young elementary school children. I thought middle schoolers were moody and angst-ridden and frankly, kind of scary; I admired the kind of patience and resilience it must take to get through to students at such a seemingly volatile age.

During my last semester of college, when a professor of mine learned that I was serving with City Year after graduation, he told me he thought I’d be successful working with middle school students—I thought he was crazy. However, as the start date approached, I thought more about his advice and realized that there was no better time for me to step outside my comfort zone and try to connect with a new age group of students. I realized that serving in a middle school would allow me to Continue reading →

Top Five Friday: After-School Health & Wellness Lesson Plans

Posted on by
3

By Rian Yalamanchili, City Year AmeriCorps member serving on the Johnson and Johnson Team at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School.

At the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School, I have been very fortunate this year to have the opportunity to create my own enrichment lesson plans for 8th grade students in our City Year after-school program called We Are The Change (WATC). The best part of making these lessons is finding out what interests our students and us have in common and then tailoring the lessons to incorporate these shared interests. Consequently, we have created several lesson plans this year based on a Health and Wellness theme that have been received very well by our students. In this edition of Top 5, I would like to share my five favorite moments in teaching our 8th graders about Health and Wellness.

                              Students take turns measuring blood pressure.

5. ‘Health Care Inequalities’ Social Justice Lesson:

At first, we had thought that discussing the issues related to the country’s current healthcare debate would perhaps be too abstract for 8th grade students to comprehend. However, we were wrong. During one social justice lesson where we taught our students about some vocabulary related to the healthcare system, they were already very familiar with how health insurance works. Their attention and focus was surprisingly high after seven hours of classes, and one student even yelled out, “That’s so unfair!” when she learned about some of the inequalities that exist for women in our healthcare system. I feel that the understanding and interest that they showed during this lesson truly attests to the amazing education that they are receiving at Orchard Gardens, even in classes that do not have their own respective MCAS exams, like Social Studies.

[Rewind: Rian discusses gender stereotypes with a student in his social justice lesson]

4. La Alianza Hispana‘s Sex Education Program:

I would like to give a HUGE appreciation to La Alianza Hispana for their excellently executed sex education program that was incorporated into our after-school lessons during February and March. As awkward as it must be for thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds to learn about safe sex practices, it is very reassuring to know that our students will now go off to high school knowing how to keep themselves safe and healthy and how to advocate for themselves in their future romantic relationships.

3. Field Trip to Whittier Street Health Center:

The interest that our students expressed on our field trip to the Whittier Street Health Center‘s new building was certainly a pleasant surprise for all of us. From industriously taking notes during the tour to having the opportunity to Continue reading →

Wordless Wednesdays: Pencils and Dreams (video)

Video

1

By Erin O’Donnell, City Year AmeriCorps member serving on the Comcast team at the Jeremiah E Burke High School.

Everyday I try to remind my students that their choices of today affect their possibilities of tomorrow. Although they may not have a dream today, one day they will. And a solid educational foundation is what will help them make it happen.

[Read Erin's Top 5 most inspirational moments in mentoring]

The “English” Translation: Your Guide to Student Vernacular

Posted on by
1

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

Throughout my lifetime, I have learned that miscommunication is often the root of discrepancies and conflict. I have found that at City Year, and more specifically, English High School, having a firm understanding of student language is essential in being successful in our mission. This lead me to the development of the “The English Translation,” a pseudo-personal dictionary that I created in order to assist myself with the vernacular that my students used daily. Over the past 8 months I have encountered 5 words and phrases that have stood out to me the most:

5)    Ya Forcin’ It (v.) Your actions are quite exuberant for what you are actually trying to achieve

4)    Good Looks (interj.) I appreciate the fact that you took the time to do a favor for me with or without me asking.

3)    I’m hip (adj.) I am quite knowledgeable about the current subject of conversation

2)    Aggy (adj.) of or pertaining to intolerable/undesirable actions or speech

1)    Schemin’(v.) To be involved in clandestine activities which are only carried out to improve one’s own self-interest

[Interview: Kevin, City Year and his student Darwell]

Now, these 5 words and phrases represent an entire vernacular that is used commonly throughout our schools. I know that I often use them without even thinking about it and have tried to incorporate them into grammar lessons with students. Simply asking students to think about what part of speech these words represent is an easy way to combine critical thinking and every day vocabulary. Not only can it work into grammar lessons but it is helpful to teach the idea of “time and place.” Getting students to consider alternative words that are more appropriate for school and other professional setting is always a helpful lesson.

The Power of Service – Insights from the City Year Boston Family

Posted on by
Reply


“I think empathy is tremendously important in the world that I would like to live in,” explains Corinne Ferguson, Chair of the City Year Boston Board. “I really feel that red jacket is almost a coat of armor,” adds Boston Board member Jim Atwood.

[More: A Community of Learners - Teachers Discuss City Year's Impact]

From City Year founding staff member Kristen Atwood, to Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral, to teacher Diane Stafford, a 28-year veteran of Boston Public Schools, individuals from all over the Boston community dig deep and discuss the impact that City Year has on them personally, on the corps members serving, in schools, in the city, and in the world.

What are your thoughts? Leave comments below.

Alumni Spotlight: Rachel Duvivier

Posted on by
Reply

Written by Thomas Story, City Year Boston Project Leader serving on the Comcast Team. City Year Boston Alumni Spotlights featured on the last Friday of the month.

As the year draws to a close, many corps members prepare for Life After City Year (something we here at City Year call LACY). Some enter their first year of college while others continue their higher education in grad school. Some follow the dreams they had since their first day of City Year and others have their dreams fundamentally changed by their experiences in City Year. Rachel Duvivier, 2010-2011 City Year Boston alumna, is one of those corps members that fits into the latter description.

Rachel grew up in Los Angeles, California. She attended a small private arts high school called Oakwood Secondary School and later attended University of California, Davis. She studied sociology with an emphasis in social services, which focused largely on social justice. Her studies shed light on the privilege of attending a private school and how different of an educational experience students have in the city of Los Angeles. She was struck by what she believed was the largest social justice issue of this American generation’s time: education.

“I decided that after I graduated, I really wanted to work on the ground to close the achievement gap and help the dropout crisis,” she said.

And so she did. Rachel applied to City Year Boston and, in 2010-2011, she served on the Comcast Team at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School alongside David Jones, Jr. as tutor and mentor in a ninth grade classroom. Before walking through the front doors, Rachel knew the reputation of the Burke. What she found, however, Continue reading →

Interview: High Fives, Homework Help and Spending ‘CY Bux’

Posted on by
1

By Diana Mai, City Year AmeriCorps Member serving at the Holland Elementary on the Harvard Pilgrim/PTC Team.

After almost eight months of service, most of us know all of our “Starfish” after-school students pretty well. However, there is one student in my homework room who I felt I could stand to know a little more about. During my conversation with Peter*, not only did I hear him gush about Minecraft, but I watched as he fell off his chair in total excitement! Read the interview below.

What’s your name and who’s your City Year corps member?

My name’s Peter and Mr. McCabe is my City Year corps member in class.

Peter, what’s one of your favorite things right now? (a book, video game, movie, etc.)

Minecraft! It’s a game where everything in the world is made of blocks and you use the blocks to build sandboxes or anything else you want! Monsters come out at night so you have to build something to protect yourself before that happens.

So what do you like about City Year?

That you guys help us in class every day, and that you give us high-fives every morning before school starts!

[Rewind: Diana Shares a Personal Connection with her Students]

What’s one thing City Year has helped you to accomplish?

I get all my homework done in after-school so I don’t have to worry about it when I get home.

That’s great! What’s your favorite part of the Starfish after-school program? And what makes it special to you? Continue reading →

Five Tips Friday: How to Plan a Career Night at Your School

Posted on by
3

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

“Don’t ever let anything hold you back!” That is what we, as City Year corps members, wanted to convey to all of our students through our Career Night Event at EGLA held in April. “Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams.”

Setting up the auditorium. Balloons and banner time!

With this slogan as the theme of our Career Night at the Elihu Greenwood Leadership Academy, our team worked tirelessly to give the E. Greenwood students and their families the opportunity to be exposed to as many different career paths as possible. We wanted the students to become inspired and excited for their future. We wanted to teach them the value of education by opening their young minds to the world of opportunity around them. So how can you plan your own Career Night at your school?

Setting up all of the food.

1. First, the set up. Everyone on my team took a lot of initiative to make sure that every detail was taken care of in terms of the set up for the event. From tablecloths to banner-hanging, balloons to chairs and food placement to registration set-up, every detail was meticulously managed. We were lucky enough to have Au Bon Pain generously donate much of the food for this event.

Charlie Rose, Restaurant Owner and City Year Dean, mingling with June Fonteyne, Senior Master Sargent Air Force Medic.
2. The guest list. In order to make this a successful night, we called upon many individuals from both the Hyde Park community as well as surrounding Boston area. These individuals generously agreed to contribute their experience and knowledge to our event. It was great to see all walks of life come together to enjoy our event.
Among our amazing volunteers were Continue reading →

City Year Boston Celebrates Starry Starry Night 2012

Posted on by
Reply

Governor Deval PatrickOn May 10, 2012, Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carol Johnson joined more than 500 leaders from education, business and service to celebrate “The Power of Red: City Year’s Real Colors” at City Year Boston’s 17th annual Starry Starry Night gala. The event, hosted at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library this year, recognizes the champions whose support allows City Year Boston to recruit, train, deploy and support corps members in full-time service at Boston schools.

Governor Patrick and Dr. Johnson each noted that to them, “the power of red” is evident in the strong relationships City Year Boston corps members forge with the students they  mentor. Prior to the Governor’s remarks, City Year Boston alumna and Civic Engagement Manager Mollie Puskar spoke about the power of physical service and presented an award to Governor Patrick recognizing his tremendous leadership in starting Project 351, which brings together eighth-grade students from every Massachusetts city and town in an annual day of service-learning.

[Flickr: See the special night captured in this photo-album]

City Year Boston corps member Gabe Solis recalled the personal relationships that brought him to serve with City Year and the gains he has seen his students make at the Irving Middle School. Franklin, a student at the English High School says his City Year corps members are “like a brother and sister” and credits them for motivating him to work harder. Franklin started the year with an F in every course. He has since turned it around and has now earned an A, two Bs and two Cs. Neighborhood House Charter School parent Felicia Wood shared stories about her son and the role City Year has played in his life both in and out of school.

City Year Vice President and Dean Charlie Rose closed the program by thanking attendees for their deep investment in corps members like Gabe to support more parents like Felicia and help more students like Franklin succeed.

Read Gabe’s inspirational Starry Starry Night poem and more of his work here.