Wednesday, August 31, 2011

We've Moved to WordPress

We would like to thank all of our followers and



The 2011-2012 corps year has begun and there is a new social media team ready to bring you the latest CYDC news!


 
Meet City Year Washington, DC's social media leadership team and all of the corps members who love to blog at http://cityyeardc.wordpress.com/.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Changing Headlines

by Tom Bartlett, City Year Washington, DC Associate Board Member
Strategic Workforce Planning - Global Corporate Citizenship, The Boeing Company

As a person who works in the education space from a corporate citizenship role, I'm constantly bombarded with news about the dismal situation of our country's education system. Headlines highlight the latest studies: scores are down, students are dropping out, teachers and administrators are at odds with one another, more cuts are on the way and our competitiveness as a nation hovers on the brink. Perhaps most egregious of all, the achievement gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen...it's pretty gloomy stuff, really.

It's time to change our perspective. It's time to create a new headline...but how?

Amidst all the negative statistical noise, City Year is one of those few organizations out there creating real positive outcomes for our children and young adults at a systemic level. If you're looking for the proof of those outcomes, just check out the June 21 post. The fact is that City Year DC is making a difference here in our local community, just as it is in the other 21 major urban locations around the country. But how do we engage our community to better understand that message and who can tell it?

In step the City Year DC Associate Board. This newly created board is here to help take the great work of the City Year corps members and staff and deliver it to a whole new audience. Comprised of energetic young and mid-career professionals from all sectors and backgrounds, we are responsible for attracting our peers to this amazing organization. In essence, we're here to spread a new message (a new headline) and connect other young professionals with us in service. We intend to mobilize this vast resource in our community by organizing awareness, fundraising and community service events that will inspire people to action. We're also here to bring even more support to the corps members. We serve as mentors and coaches to the young adults who will move on after their year of service to become change-agents elsewhere.

And for me, this is at the heart of why I serve on the Associate Board. Three years ago, when I attended my first City Year fundraising event, I was overwhelmed by the energy and spirit the corps members brought to the until-then dry meeting. I knew instantly that these young adults were the key to bringing change to our cities' classrooms. I immediately wanted to become an advocate for these amazing people and the organization that represented them. I recognized these near-peer corps members were able to not only help students improve their proficiency in math and literacy, they're able provide a new vision of success for students who never believed success in life was possible. My deep-rooted passion for helping others create positive change in their communities is met with an equally fierce passion coming from the corps members. In turn, these young leaders have become my friends, my counterparts and my role models as well.

And I'm just one voice on our Associate Board. Collectively, I believe we have the power to engage a vast majority of the young professional community in DC. So look for big things to come out of our board and CYDC this next school year. With a development year behind us and even more amazing candidates joining our ranks, we're poised to create several positive headlines in our community.

We're changing our perspective - will you join us?

For more information about City Year Washington, DC's Associate Board please contact Individual Giving Manager Shannon Young at syoung@cityyear.org or (202) 742-7397.

Monday, July 18, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As of July 1st, 2011 City Year Washington, DC has offically entered into Fiscal Year 2012. With the beginning of the new year we are getting ready to welcome a whole new set of young idealists into our City Year family. 170 young idealists to be exact. We had a chance to meet some of them a few weeks ago and chat about somethings they were looking forward to during their 10 months of service. We are so happy they are excited and can't wait to meet all of them! Here are just a few things they are excited about:

“Working with Children again and Making a Difference”


- Trey from Birmingham, AL

“Community Service and working with Students”

- Sheri from Glenmore, PA


“ Working with the Kids”

-Stephanie from Washington, DC


“Getting Involved in the City”

-Samson from Arlington, VA



“Creating Programs and Meeting Students”

-Brittany from Bowie, MD

“Meeting New People”

-Anthony from Herndon, VA



“Making an impact on others lives”

-Shameka from Hattsville, MD



“Getting to know the students and getting them excited about School”

-Albert from Antipolo, Philippines





“ Meeting new people and seeing tangible improvements within the community”

-Brittany from Los Angeles, CA


“Meeting a diverse group of peers”

-Andrea from Washington, DC



Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A Look Back at the 2010-2011 Service Year

As we are putting the finishing touches on the 2010-2011 service year and gear up for the 2011-2012 year, it is important to take a moment and listen to what our partners have had to say about our service. The results have just come in and here is what everyone had to say:

86% of principals agree or strongly agree that the after school program engaged students in service to the school or community.

94% of teachers with City Year corps members serving in their classrooms reported that corps members fostered a positive environment for learning.

87% of teachers agree or strongly agree that their corps member(s) helped increase their students’ enjoyment of school.

90% of teachers agree or strongly agree that their corps members provided essential academic supports their students wouldn’t otherwise receive.

87% of teachers agree of strongly agree that their corps member(s) helped improve student active engagement in learning.

89% of teachers are satisfied or very satisfied with the overall impact of City Year on their students.




“The partnership and relationships that our school has established with City Year has been remarkable! It has been a pleasure working with City Year this year and I look forward to continuing our work together as we move into the 2011/2012 school year.”



“Our City Year Team works incredibly hard and is an integral part of our school team. We literally could not do the work that we have done without their support, enthusiasm, hands, minds, and spirit. They have raised staff and student morale and been great mentors and role models for our students.”



“The City Year team has been a pleasure to work with this year overall. They have a great rapport with the students and staff.”



“They have become integrated into our school family. They provided positive programs and intervention to students.”



“It was a pleasure to have City Year members in the building They were an asset to our staff this year.”



 

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Graduation Recap

On Friday, June 10th, City Year Washington, DC Staff, Alumni, and members of the DC community gathered at Francis Stevens Education Campus to celebrate the graduation of our 140 corps members and the completion of their service year.

 There was an air of excitement and sadness as corps members burst forth into the graduation ceremony and performed PT for the audience one last time. Throughout the ceremony corps member speakers spoke of both the struggles and triumphs of the past year in an effort to accurately summarize the corps experience - an experience only completely understood by those who have gone through it themselves.

In an inspirational end to the program, corps members were addressed by Veronica Nyhan-Jones, a founding City Year corps member in 1988. She challenged the corps to keep service as a driving force in their lives because the skills and opportunities they have gained this year are invaluably transferable to today’s work force.
As the corps members gathered for their final spirit break, there was an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment as corps members reflected on all the accomplishments of the past year. These 140 corps members are now City Year Alumni ready to take on the world. Below is just a sampling of where some of them are headed:



  • Levon Alston from the CSX Team serving at Turner Elementary School will continue to make a positive impact on society while working at the Fund for the Public Interest
  • Peter Christophersen from The Case Foundation Team Serving at Simon Elementary School will continue with City Year as a senior corps member in Boston with Care Force (http://www.cityyear.org/careforceevents.aspx).
  • John Elwell from the Walmart Team serving at Hart Middle School will serve with Communities in Schools at Hart Middle School through the Public Allies AmeriCorps program.

  • Sarah Fuller from the Kimball Elementary School Team will be an Environmental Education Center Intern at the Conservancy for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
  • Hannah Furgang from the Ferebee-Hope Elementary School Team will be attending Tufts University.
  • Seth Green from the Serve DC Team serving at Malcolm X Elementary School will be teaching English in Thailand through the program Princeton in Asia.
  • Ampson Hagan from the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield HOPE Team will be attending Brown University for his Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Global Health.
  • Whitney Soble from the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield HOPE Team will be attending The Duke University School of Medicine.

  • Thomas Spangler from the CSX Team serving at Turner Elementary School will be serving his country as an officer in the U.S. Air Force.
  • Kendra Smith from the Comcast Team serving at Browne Education Campus will be teaching with DC Teaching Fellows.
  • Patrick Tebisacci from the Stanton Elementary School Team will return to American University to complete his undergraduate degree in physics.
  • Brian Witthuhn from The Acacia Group Team serving at Francis-Stevens Education Campus will be attending Columbia University's Law program.

Monday, June 13, 2011

City Year in the News

Check out this awesome spot from NBC Washington highlighting City Year's work at Winston Education Campus:

http://www.nbcwashington.com/on-air/community/City_Year_Helps_D_C__Schools_Washington_DC-123649219.html

Friday, June 10, 2011

On This Graduation Day

Today marks the end of the 2010-2011 corps year. Just 10 short months ago, 140 young idealists walked into the City Year Washington, DC headquarters ready to change the world. They did just that. This year our corps members have served nearly 238,000 hours, providing tutoring, mentoring, and lifesaving information to more than 4,000 DC children and youth.


Simple words cannot express the indelible marks that our corps members have made on their students, teammates, and city. Their impact will last a lifetime, and because of them, the world HAS been changed for good.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
2010-2011
CITY YEAR WASHINGTON, DC
CORPS