Teacher Appreciation: A Tasty Twist

By Anja Filan, corps member serving on the Bank of America team

Whether it be teaching their classes, conferencing with parents, planning lessons, or meeting with students during lunch and recess, teachers are constantly on the move. Because we all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, what better way to thank teachers than by providing them with a well-balanced, healthy start the day?

Overnight Oats are easy to make and filled with fiber, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and, most importantly, are absolutely delicious! Below is the recipe for this healthy, hearty, and delicious breakfast treat—a perfect entrée for a teacher appreciation breakfast!

Chocolate Cake Batter Overnight Oats
(Adapted from Rabbit Food for my Bunny Teeth)

Photo by thebittenword.com (source: flickr)

2 cups whole rolled oats
2 cups almond milk (or milk of your choice)
4 ripe bananas
4 tbsp chia seeds
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tbsp maple syrup, honey, or agave
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix all of the ingredients until blended; then, leave in the fridge overnight. When you take them out in the morning they’ll be a bit more dense and solidified, and should resemble oatmeal. You can either warm them on the stove for 10 minutes on medium-low heat, or eat them cold.

Don’t have chia seeds? Not to worry! You can add flax seeds, hemp hearts, or leave out the seeds all together. Sometimes, I add toasted sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans or almonds for a little extra protein.

If your school is a nut-free environment, you could substitute dates, figs, or apples! The great thing about Overnight Oats is that variation possibilities are endless. Adding fruits, seeds, nuts, berries, or sweeteners of all sorts will not change the consistency and will allow you to put your own special touch on your breakfast creation!

A strong breakfast packed with protein, carbs, fiber, and Omega-3’s will give your teachers a powerful start to the morning. What better way to express gratitude than providing your teachers with the tools to kick-start their day with some power foods!

About the author:
Anja Filan is a 2013-2014 corps member serving on the Bank of America team at Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot K-8 School in Mattapan. 

Mr. McDonald: A Dedicated Educator

By Lucas Holmes, corps member serving on the PTC team 

Corps member helping a student sound out a work. Photo by Elliot Haney | 2013

“You have two minutes to focus,” Mr. McDonald tells his students in the hallway before entering the classroom. Consistent and clear expectations are one of the keys to Mr. McDonald’s success as an English as a second language (ESL) teacher at Dearborn School.

With a large percentage of ESL students attending Dearborn School, Mr. McDonald fills a significant and much needed role for the school. McDonald recognizes this, working tirelessly to improve the English of these English language learners.

Having the privilege to serve alongside Mr. McDonald this school year, I am fortunate to get to know him and his students. Patience, positivity, and warmth emanate from Mr. McDonald in the classroom, and students respond with an equal amount of respect and focused energy. Although Mr. McDonald’s students face a unique challenge compared to their native English-speaking peers, Mr. McDonald sees their potential to learn as equal, if not greater.

Mr. McDonald’s faith in his students was evident at the beginning of the year when Mr. McDonald worked with them to set an achievable goal of growth for their reading. Instead of setting a goal based on experience from teaching previous years, Mr. McDonald asked the students how much they wanted to grow by the end of the year and let the students decide on the number of words per minute (WPM) by which they wanted to improve.

The students eagerly set their own ambitious goals. With some guidance, Mr. McDonald and the students agreed on the goal of growing 100 WPM by the end of the year; a goal that Mr. McDonald knew would be a challenge to achieve, but certainly possible if the class worked extremely hard. With the students’ goal in mind, Mr. McDonald crafted expectations and lessons to help students meet their goal, requiring 20 minutes of reading per night.

To keep students accountable, Mr. McDonald visually displays the WPM of each student for each beginning and end of month to track the progress of his students. The growth of the class is apparent, but the display also shows that growth does not come easily.

Even though the rate of growth may not be on pace for the end goal of 100 WPM, this should not be a reason for discouragement. Students are encouraged by the fact that they set high expectations for themselves; it means they were willing to risk failure for the sake of pushing themselves to grow as much as they can. Regardless of whether or not the students reach their goal at the end of year, surely Mr. McDonald and I will be proud of the progress that they make.

About the author:
Lucas Holmes is a 2013-2014 corps member serving on the PTC team at Dearborn School in Roxbury. 

Teacher Appreciation Week

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

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

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

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

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Wordless Wednesday: “We Are All A Team”

By Curtis Bloomfield
Curtis Bloomfield is a 2012-2013 corps member serving on the Bain and Company team at the Hennigan Elementary School in Jamaica Plain. 

Recently, we held a Faculty Appreciation Breakfast for all of the staff. Both the staff and the City Year Boston team exchanged words of thanks and appreciation toward one another. One fifth-grade math teacher expressed her appreciation to the corps members by saying, “We all are very grateful for the service that City Year does here at the Hennigan.” The corps members were all very grateful for the hard work the faculty at the Hennigan puts in and continues to put in every day and night. After providing donuts coffee, pastries and breakfast pizza the corps members then proceeded to go and greet the Hennigan community using our loud and proud morning greetings. Before leaving, the principal extended an invite to the corps members with these words, “We want to invite City Year to our Hennigan team breakfast tomorrow because we are all a team together!”