Young Achievers Tour Boston College

Article written by Matthew Tow, Bank of America team, serving at Young Achievers Math & Science Pilot school.

Group of eighth graders and I posing on the BC campus.

On Saturday, May 14th, as a part of the after school program called HASP at Young Achievers, I led a group of eighth grade boys through a tour of Boston College Campus. Having visited BC’s beautiful campus before, I wanted to expose the students to a collegiate atmosphere that they may not yet have been introduced to.  The idea was that this experience would allow them to create a clear image of what their futures could look like.

The day started early at 9:30 at Forrest Hills and we made the long trek to Boston College on the T. It was a beautiful day for the tour.  The BC students were just finishing up finals and the eighth grade students were about to see what college life was really like.

Upon arrival we were able to tour the facilities of upper campus.  Here, we explored the Career Services building, the Admissions office, the library (full of students studying for finals) and even a classroom where students were just leaving from a final.  The eighth graders spoke with a BC student fresh from her final on the American Government and the Presidency. She gave them an overview of the final and then imparted with them the message to read more.  The eighth graders that morning, between witnessing the library full of studying college students, and an impromptu history lesson on the American Presidency got a strong taste of the academic rigor of college life. 



Then came lunch. The eighth graders, in comparison to the delicious school lunches served at Young Achievers, were wowed by the variety and quality of a college dining hall. Even better was when they sat down for lunch they were joined by BC students from The United Front Multicultural Student Organization.  The eighth graders were able to speak and listen to what college life was like with current students, many of whom were from the same neighborhoods they were from.  They were able to speak on almost every aspect of student life.  It was truly a revealing experience from them.  

After lunch came the fun, as a group we trooped out onto Alumni Stadium, the field where Doug Flutie, Mat Ryan and the rest of the BC football team plays.  We played a game of football on the field and students from The United Front Organization joined us, one of them even currently plays for BC Football.  Then our group was graced with a private tour of the football facilities including the locker room, weight room and meeting area led by a current player. They were able see areas where even normal BC student wouldn’t ever get to see.

All in all, it was an unforgettable experience for the eighth grade boys. Attending and graduating college should be one of many major goals in their young lives.  Exposing youth early to a collegiate atmosphere is essential in shaping the successful future for what I hope lies ahead of them.   

Diary of a Read Across America Week Co-Chair

written by Niki Kraska, Bank of America team, Young Achievers Science & Math Pilot School

I had students coming up to me left and right saying, “I read two hours last night!” or “I woke up early this morning to read before school!”

5th grader reading to kindergartener during YA's Read Across America Week.

Breathe.  Get to work early at 7:30am…breathe…and BEGIN! By 9:30am Monday morning: decorations were hung on auditorium doors, reading themed nametags were hung around my teammates necks, informational packets and raffle tickets were sent out to teachers, reading logs and huge sheets of white paper were delivered to classrooms, and my partner Sammy Wolf and I were getting ready to announce to the entire school that RAAW had begun.  RAAW (or Read Across America Week): a week completely dedicated to reading, a week completely new to the YA community, and a week I was putting a ton of hours and effort in to create.

Students browsing for books at our RAAW book store.

As our team’s “Coursework Coordinators,” Sammy and I were given the daunting, yet exciting task of putting on Read Across America Week for our entire K-8 school.  And even though it was pretty stressful to coordinate about 10 different activities taking place within a 4 day span, I am thrilled to say that so many teachers, staff, and students got involved and enjoyed the week.  From our youngest kindergartners to our “too-cool-for-school” 8th graders, we had students decorating classroom doors about their love for reading, classrooms “buddying” up to read together, students enjoying a “Green Eggs and Ham” morning activity, teachers handing out raffle tickets for anything reading related, and students competing to see who could log the most reading time.

corps members Alex & Teddy after taking a couple of pies to the face!

And boy did they read!  I had students coming up to me left and right saying, “I read two hours last night!” or “I woke up early this morning to read before school!”  I could not believe how excited the students were about their time spent reading.  The highest readers read over 10 hours in 3-4 days! There was, of course, a pretty sweet prize: the three top students from each grade got to pie a volunteer teacher, staff, or City Year member in the face during an assembly. Surprisingly, we had about 30 brave staff members willing to be pied by 3rd-8th grade students. I, myself, got pied by one of the 8th grade boys.  Not the most enjoyable aftereffects, as I smelled like sour milk for the rest of the day, but definitely a really fun and exciting experience for all of us.

Amazingly, the excitement didn’t end there either!  As students left the assemblies, they were able to walk through the aisles of our used “book store” we had created with donated books, and “buy” books using their raffle tickets collected throughout the week. I was astonished to see a wide range of students trying to get as many books as they possibly could.  Students I would never think would want to participate in a week like this, participated right along with everyone else (you really never should judge a book by its cover, huh?)  The memories of a successful RAAW week, and more importantly, of how excited kindergarten through 8^th grade students got about reading…these are going to stick with me forever.

La Vie a la Cope

My City Year experience would not be nearly as exhilarating without the Cope. I’m really going to miss this place.

Since joining City Year Boston, I have served long hours and managed stressful days at work where, working with kids, every day is unpredictable. To maintain a proper balance during a City Year, I often need to recharge and unwind all of my troubles and successes of work. Fortunately, in the heart of Roxbury, MA, I live in a house filled with eight other corps members. The house has been inhabited by corps members over the past three years and is formally known as the Cope. At the Cope, my roommates and I represent six different CYB teams. We’re at different schools across the city, but it is easy for us to relate to each others’ experiences. The City Year experience is difficult to accurately explain to someone who has never heard of it. Luckily, I always have a roommate to talk to who can truly understand what I am going through. Given, there are those weekdays which every exhausted roomie and I simply shut our doors and go to bed. But whenever we have a chance, we are able to create seemingly endless jovial memories together. Whether it’s a discussion on our dark green deteriorating kitchen couch, a spontaneous dance party, or an issue with our eccentric landlord, the fact that we are going through this unique experience together makes us tighter as a house and closer to the CYB community.

Local Court near the Cope.

In addition to life inside the house, I quickly grew to admire Roxbury due to its strong sense of community and its fundamental down-to-earth character. We have neighbors who know us as City Year and always call us over to see how we’re doing. Now that it is getting warmer, it’s nice to see kids out on the streets playing while parents and other members of the community enjoy each other’s company. Such friendliness in Roxbury is something that I don’t see enough of throughout other towns and suburbs of Boston. The effects of poverty are also prevalent in Roxbury, and it helps me to stay in check of what I need to help to improve especially with my role working in a school of another low-income community.

The Cope has a lot of flaws. In our house, the floor is unleveled and the power goes out whenever we turn on the microwave for over a minute. I still love my life here just the way it is. My City Year experience would not be nearly as exhilarating without the Cope. I’m really going to miss this place.

Keeping Boston Warm at Y.A.

blog post written by Jessica Martin, corps member serving on the Bank of America Team at the Young Achievers School

it was heart-warming to see members of the YA community serving their fellow Bostonians with warmth during these frigid winter months.

On February 10, 2011 the Bank of America Young Achievers team hosted a community service event with extended-day program students and their families. In the Young Achievers cafeteria, students, parents and after-school staff designed and produced felt scarves to donate to several non-profit youth organizations, such as the Home for Little Wanderers. During the scarf-making event, students, staff and corps members also listened to music, danced and enjoyed home-made chocolate chip cookies.  We were even joined by Haley Pilot School City Year corps members!

YA students testing out their stylish scarves.

The week prior to the event, as part of our enrichment in the after-school program called HASP (Homework Academic Support Program), we practiced making scarves while introducing the event to our middle school students.  The goal was to introduce the idea of service and to give our HASP students leadership roles, such as mentoring and guiding younger students to design the scarves.

The event was largely successful thanks to the contributions of all the City Year members and the YA community. Matt Goldenberg created invitations for parents of elementary school children. Middle school students helped decorate the cafeteria thanks to Niki Kraska’s decorating committee.  Sammy Wolf received a donation of bread for sandwiches from a local bakery. The rest of the City Year team brought home-made cookies and other snacks.

Corps member, David Chang, taking a dance break with a student.

Meanwhile, in the midst of planning the scarf event, City Year members held a hat and glove drive. After a month of collecting donations, we collected over 50 hats, gloves and coats each from both the Young Achievers and City Year community.  At the event, 150 scarves were created by everyone who participated. During the event, as well as throughout the hat, glove and coat drive it was heart-warming to see members of the YA community serving their fellow Bostonians with warmth during these frigid winter months.

Morning Enrichments at the Young Achievers

by Matt Goldenberg, corps member serving on the Bank of America team, serving at Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot school

…the morning program became something bigger and better than any of us could have created by ourselves.

As a City Year corps member, I’ve found that a vital skill to have is learning to work within the existing structures in the school.  I don’t get to choose what my kids are learning, what my role is in the classroom, or what the behavior management system is within the classroom.   I often yearn for a time in the day when I can choose what the kids do, what my schedule is, and how the time is structured. Luckily, for one hour every day, I have that chance with the Young Achievers Before-School Program.

corps member, Becky Gould helping students test out their constructed bridge.

As the morning program coordinator, I knew that there were things the other corps members and I wanted to do with the kids, the trouble was figuring out how to structure the program to meet these goals. As a team, we met and had a detailed discussion about where we wanted the program to go.  We decided on a “character-education” based curriculum, in which we choose what character traits the specific grade levels need to focus on, then created fun month-long enrichments that work to develop those traits in our scholars.

Whether it was an egg drop to develop teamwork, a game of “Mattapan trivia” to improve community engagement, or a drawing of what it meant to have good sportsmanship, the creativity and imagination of the corps members came out in the enrichments we ran.  The morning program started to shift from a sometimes difficult part of my morning to a meaningful and exciting part of my day.

As the corps members and the kids started to get more engaged in the enrichments, each corps member began to add something unique to the program.  One corps member thought that we could utilize our oldest students as leaders, and create a leadership role they could function in. Another suggested that we could bring the whole morning program together by having a “color awards” program, which splits the morning program into four inter-grade teams and has them compete on who best can demonstrate excellence in the traits their enrichments are focusing on. Yet another corps member focused on creating a morning program bulletin board, to show the whole school what the morning program was achieving.  The morning program became something bigger and better than any of us could have created by ourselves.

A group of YA students and I holding a quick discussion at the Morning Program.

Now, when I perceive a need in my students, I know that I have a time to address that need. I know there is one hour in the day when I can have complete control over how things are run, and I go in every day excited to work with the kids.  At the end of every month, I can look back on how the kids have progressed and see the difference the morning program has made.  City Year has created a program that will change the school for years to come, and I can only imagine how the program will be by the end of the year.

Another Year, Another Opportunity

By Jenna Hadley, Bank of America Team, serving at Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School

Last year I served in a seventh grade classroom and also as a Young Heroes team leader. With the Heroes program I led a team of middle school students in social justice learning and service on Saturdays. This experience was one of the most inspiring aspects of my corps year. The only thing that could have made it better was if some the students from my seventh grade class were able to participate. Since many of my seventh graders were coming from Mattapan, it was very difficult for them to make it to our service site on early Saturday mornings so none of them were able to be a part of the program. However, after seeing the positive impact this program had on my Heroes, I knew that service learning was something I had to bring to my students (now eighth graders) this year. Today, as a Team Leader at Young Achievers, I am determined to get my students more involved.

My students and I posing during our service at Christmas in the City.

On Saturday, December 18^th, the Bank of America Team serving at the Young Achievers Pilot School brought nine middle school students to volunteer at Christmas in the City, a holiday celebration put on for homeless children in Boston. Our students made cards and put together gift bags for the children to receive at the event. During our final circle, they reflected on their experience; the students said that they had a lot of fun and that they wanted to do it again. Most importantly, they said that they enjoyed being able to help others and that they felt like they had made a difference that day.  I left the day inspired by their hard work and passion and excited at the prospect of serving with them in the future. Once again, I was shown that although many people stereotype middle school youth as lazy and unproductive, this is not the case. When someone believes in them and gives them the tools they need, they are truly capable of making a difference and changing the world.

Young Achievers gang on our way back from a powerful morning of service.

Supporter and Enforcer: A Fine Balance

After finishing City Year’s Basic Training Academy I jumped into my service with a prominent idea for my role in my fifth grade classroom; a mentor otherwise known as a ‘near-peer.’  As a corps member, I am dedicated to making connections with and setting a positive example for my students.  Developing strong relationships with my mentees has been rewarding, though one of the biggest challenges as a mentor or ‘near-peer’ has been accepting the role as a disciplinarian.

The card chart in my classroom where staying on green means maintaining your power.

In my class we use a color card system [right] to observe behavior. It is a chart displayed in front of the classroom with each student’s name and a green, yellow, and red card stacked behind each one. Students begin each day on green and remain there as they demonstrate good behavior. A student is placed on yellow after a redirection or warning. A student gets put on red if he or she repeats inappropriate behavior and is then taken away certain privileges. Students can then move themselves back up to green if they actively behave appropriately.

As convenient as I found the card system to be during my first weeks in school, reprimanding students was the last thing I wanted to do. I knew I had to build relationships so I was hesitant to act as an enforcer in fear of hindering trust and respect among the students.

Now, four months in to my service I am less reluctant to enforce the rules. Setting expectations and observing them with consistency is vital in a school and I find it a lot more comfortable and understandable now that I am well acquainted with my fifth graders.  Yet, from time to time, I still find myself hesitating to change a card for those students who tend to react defiantly to discipline. There seems to be a fine balance between being a buddy that can provide guidance while not being afraid to observe the rules and enforce the repercussions of misbehavior. Becky Gould, a fellow corps member at Young Achievers has expressed her own opinions with the dual role as mentor and disciplinarian:

“There’s an important tension inherent in our dual role as both mentors and teachers. Sometimes, acting as a disciplinarian in the classroom may give me authority as someone who provides academic support to my students but also may diminish my approachability as a mentor. Similarly, if I am reluctant to discipline my students, they may be more eager to approach me as a mentor but less likely to heed my redirections in class.”

The reaction I dread seeing after switching a student's card to yellow or red.

I suppose perfecting the balance of supporter versus enforcer will be quite relevant for the future, as a manager of colleagues or a parent. It is a role that I must have expected as a part of my corps experience but it is not necessarily something that I can say I was prepared for especially when dealing with more the abrasive students. One thing I can take away from my role so far is that children are often reluctant to hold grudges. As long as you maintain a positive attitude around them day-by-day they will respond with the same attitude.

Visiting the New World with the Young Achievers

by Matt Goldenberg, Bank of America Team, serving at Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School

4^th graders at Young Achievers had an exciting week before Thanksgiving break. Not only did they have Thanksgiving to look forward to, they also had three field trips that week as well. In addition to their trips to Carson Beach and Chez Vous skating rink, the favorite trip by far was to Plimouth Plantation.

Climoth Briggs, one of the many "colonists" students had a chance to interview.

The day started with the students learning about the voyage to the new world by visiting the Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower that brought the settlers overseas. Students were given a tour by actors playing the part of the settlers, who gave them valuable lessons on the trials and tribulations of sailing to the new world.  Young Achiever scholars were able to see what a typical cabin would have looked like on the original Mayflower, and an idea of what their roles would have been aboard the ship.  We then traveled to the main Plantation to learn what their life would be like when they finally arrived in the new world.

Last year, 3^rd grade classes visited the Wampanoag side of the plantation. This year, they got to visit the Pilgrim side and see the plantation through an entirely different perspective.  Students were treated to a movie detailing the basics of the settlers lives, then were allowed to travel around in small groups with their chaperones, meeting the different “colonists” and experience what life would have been like first hand.

In addition to the valuable history lessons they learned, students got to practice their math skills by measuring the perimeter of the pilgrim’s cabins.  Students also got to practice their investigation and social skills by interviewing settlers of their choice.  They were given specific questions to ask, as well as a chance to ask questions that interested them. These interviews will be used throughout the trimester to help the students with their writing skills, creating a character sketch of a pilgrim of their choice.

At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted.  Despite this, the students couldn’t stop talking about what they had learned on the way back to school.  The bus ride was filled with talk about who had met Lucresha, what people thought of Climoth’s hat, and how comfortable the bed on the Mayflower II was.  The trip can best be summed up by a question one of the students asked as they were exiting the bus: “Can we go back next week?”

Building a Community at Young Achievers

“1, 2, 3 Clap WOOSH!”

In January of 2010, during City Year Boston’s first year at the Young Achievers Science and Mathematics Pilot School,  the Homework Afterschool Support Program (HASP) for grades six through eight was launched. Last year, HASP students helped to design a ceremony congratulating themselves in a series of academic criteria. It grew to become the Data Board Ceremony, which is now held bi-weekly at HASP. The Data Board demonstrates key student achievements covering class grades, homework proficiency, attendance and preparedness to the afterschool program.

Data Board displaying individual student scores as well as Homework Team scores.

HASP’s first Data Board Ceremony of the school year was held Thursday, November 11^th.  Individual students and Homework Teams were presented awards for their accomplishments so far this year. In lieu of an applause, upon receiving their award, students were given a “1, 2, 3 clap WOOSH!” an applause adopted from the Young Achievers community. Prizes for ceremony winners include “pick your own choice time activity,” “special snack,” and the almighty “pizza party.”

Student proudly studying his Homework Award.

Early on in the school year, our students already have vast achievements to celebrate. Many students were urged to attend HASP from teachers and parents and at first, a few of them were not demonstrating much enthusiasm for the program. With events like the Data Board Ceremony, City Year corps members can see a strong community growing larger every day, building enthusiasm around academic growth. Last year, the Data Board motivated students to compete with diligence not only for the prize incentive but through positive peer pressure to hold the best grades within the program.  Later on in the year, HASP will hold an event similar to City Year’s Red Jacket Ceremony where students will dedicate their individual magnets on the Data Board to someone or something they wish to succeed for.

Corps member, David Chang presenting the Individual Leader award to Maia, the student with the highest school GPA in the program.

Y.A. All Day!

By Jenna Hadley, Bank of America Team Leader, serving at the Young Achievers Pilot Science and Math K-8 School

City Year corps members serve their students and their schools starting before the first bell rings and stay until the last student leaves the after-school program. This statement is especially true for the Bank of America Team serving at the Young Achievers School. The team of 11 corps members is split between the elementary and the middle school classrooms and also between the before- and after-school programs. This split ensures that Young Achievers students are provided constant support by City Year Boston throughout the entire day.

Five of the corps members who focus on serving the younger students serve in the before-school program. They arrive at 7:45 a.m. every day to greet the first students who arrive at school and run various enrichments, engaging the students in activities that they do not traditionally get to do during the average school day. This month, corps members are leading students in a drama enrichment as well as in team building challenges. It is a great opportunity for corps members to take ownership over their enrichments and tailor the activities to their own areas of expertise.

The other half of the team remains at school until 6:30 p.m. to serve middle school students in an after-school program called HASP (Homework Academic Support Program). Students are referred to this program because they are struggling academically, due to a lack of homework completion. The corps members provide support during a homework hour as well as engaging the students in “choice time” activities that can range from teambuilding to social justice programming. In the near future the team will lead the students in service, showing them that they can make a difference and empowering them to make change in themselves, their school and their world.

Through these before- and after-school programs, the Bank of America Team hopes to improve students’ coursework, open their minds to new activities and experiences and teach them that they play a valuable role in our community and in our world. It is not only a great experience for the students but for the corps members as well.

Jenna with some friends at Young Achievers

Why I Returned to City Year Boston

This is a new post from Nikki White, our spectacular new Events Project Leader for the 2010-2011 corps year. Last year she served on the 2009-2010 Bank of America Young Heroes team during her corps year.

Last year working with the Young Heroes, I was able to have a unique experience within City Year. Unlike 80 percent of the Corps, I worked outside of the school with middle school youth developing a Saturday community service and social justice program.

Two weeks ago I started my new position as a Senior Corps Member in the External Affairs Department as an Events Project Leader. This was a role I sought out because of the planning, communication and logistics skills I could gain in event planning. Working mostly in the office, I will plan large-scale signature City Year events such as Opening Day and Graduation as well as smaller-scale ones, such as alumni events. I am particularly excited about partnering with the Alumni Board to create events that will engage Alumni, old and new alike.

I definitely had reservations about signing up for another year of service. I asked myself if I was making the right decision for me, or if it was just the easiest since I was already established here. In the first week of my new position, I still had a lot of question marks; however, the environment that City Year creates makes me feel at home. I have a new desk, a new role and even a new focus as to why I am here. I had worried that coming back would bring unwanted changes, but the Beloved Community we created last year feels as close and powerful as ever. New faces are everywhere, but there is a bond between my fellow corps members and I that can only be felt after working tirelessly together for ten months on ending the dropout crisis.

This past week at Summer Academy, corps members and staff from the entire City Year network gathered to take part in trainings and learn from influential speakers. If there was any doubt as to why I came back for a second year, it was erased after my week at Summer Academy. City Year’s mission to prepare students for high school and college graduation is clearer than ever, and the people working here are more driven than ever to accomplish it. DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee addressed City Year during Academy and stated that children “want to learn, and they recognize when they are not being treated fairly by the school system.” City year recognizes this as well and believes it can change. That is why I chose to serve another year.

Why did you?

Serve-a-thon Alongside City Year Boston Young Heroes

By Cody Urban

This past Saturday was City Year Boston‘s annual service event, Serve-a-Thon.  Though this was an event that engaged external volunteers as well as corporate partners, for a few of us on the Young Heroes team it seemed almost like an average Saturday with our youth.  We were lucky to have a number of our middle school aged Heroes with us to perform service as they had done almost every Saturday between Opening Day and their Graduation.  What was really special about this day was that they were by no means required to do service with City Year, they all volunteered themselves for this epic day of service!

While it was different for us on the Young Heroes team to be working with adults in our service, it gave us a warm and familiar feeling to be leading our youth in service as well.  What was most amazing to us was that in most cases our Heroes were taking the initiative to motivate our volunteers and would even help lead volunteers themselves by recommending projects for them to do.  At the end of the day, our Heroes started a trend of spray painting some of the stencil designs we had onto the backs of their Serve-a-Thon shirts to commemorate this powerful day of service.  As they began to do this, many of the other volunteers joined in and followed the Heroes’ example.  By the end of this amazing service day, one thing was definitely realized: Young Heroes will always remain the agents of change they have developed into through their time in the program.  Even after their time with the Heroes program is over, they will forever be Heroes for life!

Leading Community Change at City Year Boston

On May 1^st the Young Heroes explored “leading community change” through multiple service projects and a conversation about the broken window theory. The Broken Window Theory is, in short, that over time, a broken window that is never fixed will become a bigger problem. Meaning that not only will the window still be broken, but it could let in outside critters, or it could let out the hot air among other things. In this light, the Heroes spent the day promoting positive changes in the community.

One of the service projects was to spend the afternoon at the clean up of Nira Rock in Jamaica Plain. The Friends of Nira Rock maintain the area and helped lead 30 Young Heroes in preparing it for the summer. The Heroes had the opportunity to talk to the leaders from the community around Nira Rock who talked about why it was so important to them to keep the area looking beautiful.

The Heroes raked, weeded, chopped and picked up the entire area throughout the day alongside local volunteers and help from REI, who partners with Friends of Nira Rock.

After almost a dozen Saturdays the Young Heroes have a distinct picture of how they can change their communities and where they can serve. But more importantly they have gained an understanding of why they play such a crucial role in keeping the community a positive place.

Young Heroes raked the trail that goes around Nira Rock

The Heroes graduate this coming Saturday, May 15 after completing 2300 hours of service.