Young Heroes Graduation

by Alex Gebhart, corps member serving at Spingarn High School

Recently, the Young Heroes Program culminated in its final program – the Heroes Graduation. At Emery Education Campus, in a packed auditorium, the Young Heroes, who served at least one hundred hours together over the past six months, celebrated their successes and the triumphs of the last 10 years of service performed by middle school students in the DC area. Young heroes were celebrated for their Courage, Commitment, Compassion, and Cooperation.  Afterwards, the heroes, their parents, and the program volunteers participated in a cookout together as a final celebration, closing a great six months of service and fun.

As a Team Leader for Young Heroes, I was so proud of my team and the other over one hundred Young Heroes for completing their service this year. I know that my team has accomplished, learned, and developed as leaders, and I am excited to know that they will be leading the next generation of young people to greatness. As the past six months have gone on, I know that young people not only can make a difference, but have made a difference, and I am proud to say that I have helped foster the desire for service in others.

Idealism Revisited

by Isabel Huston, corps member on the CSX Team serving at Turner Elementary School

From my post on the 2nd floor I can see five little bodies fidgeting on stage. There is a lump in my throat as each one of our students passes the microphone down the line and introduces themselves to the crowd of dapper professionals on the floor in front of them. I cannot adequately express how proud I am of the five students who are representing Turner Elementary School at City Year Washington, DC’s Idealism in Action Gala by leading the city’s glitterati in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Despite being in elementary school the students are perfectly poised as they recite their lines. Seeing the students I have come to know and love succeed in this way makes my heart swell. Lately, that feeling has overcome me time and time again. I felt it last week while I watched from backstage as our after school students nailed their lines in the school play, and the week before when two of my most troublesome students stood up and won the opportunity to represent Ms. Lofland’s class in the school-wide spelling bee. To me these moments are the embodiment of my own personal idealism: the proof that the students I have spent the past ten months working with will defy the limits set upon them by their community and go on to change the world in their own ways.

As my service year comes to an end I am holding fiercely to these moments. I want to remember every cheeky smile, every smart comment, every bear hug, and every new word and math problem conquered; to stock up on these little memories in hopes that they will carry me through whatever comes next. With just two weeks left before graduation I look apprehensively down my path to the future and wonder what I am going to do without the wellspring of inspiration that is my smart, precocious, beautiful students and my goofy, fun, hardworking teammates. But at the same time I know that City Year—a year that has at times felt like the longest, hardest year of my life—has changed me. It made me stronger, fiercer, and more dedicated to taking action on the issues that matter to me. And that, to me, is Idealism in Action.

Kimball Elementary Behavior Bash

by Brendan Ori, corps member serving at Kimball Elementary School

One of the clearest memories from grade school, for better or worse, was your first dance. Whether you mustered up the courage and cut rugs on the dance floor or you watched from a distance as a wallflower, the first dance is altogether awkward, strange, liberating, and a ridiculous amount of fun. As a reward for good behavior and getting through the multiple days of standardized testing, The City Year team at Kimball Elementary gave our kids the chance to experience those things.

As our kids approached from the North Wing towards the auditorium, they were greeted by The City Year team and several staff members to raucous cheering and chants. “OMG its Xavier ahhh!!!!!” “Amara! Amara! Over Here!” As they strutted down the hallway over a beautiful red carpet, the kids got the feeling they were the stars of the show.

 When they got to the gym…I mean…when the kids got to “Hollywood” they were surprised at the extent of the decorations. Silver and black balloons, dozens of movie posters, and a fantastic backdrop of the Hollywood sign all gave the students they were attending a movie premiere. You could feel the excitement as they students ran around the gym pointing out different posters and posing in front of the backdrop. After two weeks of testing, it was good to see some life out of the students once again.

Then, of course, was the actual dance. The DJ was turning out dance hit after dance hit and emcee Mr. Williams got the kids super excited with an original rap and dance performance. Even the City Year corps members got excited. Ms. Paiyal Patel doing “the worm” on stage is something that I never want to forget!

Wordless Wednesday

City Year corps member and community volunteers working on a DC skyline mural
 at Global Youth Service Day

Never Lose the Human Aspect

by Jon Ragsdale, corps member serving at Winston Education Campus

At City Year we have a saying that reminds us "To never lose the human aspect of what we are doing."

As our June 10th graduation moves ever closer, this saying weighs heavily on my mind.

My year began with a training full of statistics on the Achievement Gap and it's impact on the American economy and society.

It is certainly true that City Year is making a gigantic difference in closing this achievement gap:

at my school, 100% of the students we work with

have seen their classroom performance improve.

However, on a daily basis, the numbers and the data do not matter. The smiles and cheers of excitements from the students when they see a City Year Red Jacket  provide all the proof in the world that City Year Corps Members are changing the world.

And I have no doubt that 20 years from now, what I will remember most about my year of service are those wonderful, joyous smiles.

Simon Says: City Year gets Fresh and Fancy

Thanks again to our friends at The Case Foundation for highlighting the Fresh and Fancy night at Simon Elementary School on their blog.

Check out the full article HERE

A BIG QUESTION from the Idealist’s Journey

by Maureen Dizon, corps member serving at Winston Education Campus

Special thanks to my Idealist’s Journey group, Sojourners of Truth, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet for inspiring my answer to this BIG QUESTION!



Q. A “City Year” is a two-sided coin of both service & personal development. Which side is your focus?

A. Service or personal development—that is the question:

Whether 'tis necessary truly to select

the side of the coin seemingly selfless

or take arms to uplift one’s self-change

and by not choosing, losing. To serve, to grow—

we will—and by service to say we give

of ourselves, and the thousand moments

which we are able. ‘Tis an objective

devoutly to be sought. To serve, to grow—

to grow—perchance to gain: ay there’s the rub,

for in that growth what gains are made

when giving without condition,

from our service stem wholly. There’s the respect

that makes honor of the two-sided coin.

For who could serve and evade the spurt

of individual growth, the progress in self-reflection,

the fruition of one’s founding?

No corps member emerges unaltered, without having

but once abetted his community brethren.

Thus choosing falsely portrays us all,

and thus the native hue of resolution

is both.

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I count myself lucky and honored to be able to serve and grow along with some of the most remarkable people I have ever known. As we near the end of our service year (one month left; make it count!) I have come to the realization that the Idealist’s Journey is without a clear final destination. Rather, today and all days to follow, we must continue to live our lives in the service of others. In doing so, we will not only positively affect the world around us, but we will find our own lives transformed as well.



For me, City Year has been a two-sided coin and I would not have spent it any other way.