Back in the Classroom: A Day in the Life of Teaching Fellow Tomás Arias
“Each day before we began programming in person this fall, I had a student tugging at my shirt… ‘Mr. Arias, when does Citizen Schools start, when?!’ ...that’s when I knew these kids really wanted to be here. They are my inspiration.”
Citizen School’s Expanded Learning Time (ELT) model works directly with AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows (TFs) over 10-week apprenticeships. During the school day, TFs offer targeted academic support to students. After school, TFs coordinate and implement our signature apprenticeships with volunteer career mentors to support the development of students’ social-emotional skills and their interest in future college & career pathways. TFs communicate regularly with students’ families and school partner staff to collaboratively support student learning & well-being. Here you will hear about our current TF at East Somerville Community School (ESCS) in Somerville, MA, Tomás Arias, and how he’s really enjoyed his time in and out of the classroom.
Tomás, who hails from Fishkill, NY, and earned his undergraduate degree at Binghamton University (NY), has been a TF at ESCS for over a year now. Also a resident in the UMass Boston Teach Next Year (TNY) program, he loves the rhythm of his days, “I sit in with two classes a day in the morning with my classroom mentor—social studies teacher Mrs. Gouverneur, through TNY. After that and some lunch, the other TFs and Teaching Assistants (TAs) have a pow wow where we plan our lessons and cement what we’re going to do for programming that day.”
After the school day is over, Tomás spends time working with a small group of students on their homework.
Come 2:30, when school ends for the day, Tomás and his colleagues go pick up their students. After snack and some casual pick up basketball on the playground, the group heads into their Advisory Session, “We typically focus on homework help, social emotional learning (SEL) and goal setting. Wednesdays we have something called ‘World Changer Wednesday’, which I really like. There we highlight a specific theme each month...for October it was focused on Hispanic Heritage Month...where we highlighted very influential Hispanic Americans like Caesar Chavez and Marc Anthony.”
Clubs come next. “We offer a huge variety of clubs like Eco Art, Dungeons & Dragons and Sports Clubs. We allow the students to choose their club, which is really important to us. We really try our hardest to ensure these kids are in the club they want to be in.” Clubs run until 5:00pm, which is pickup time for the students. The ELT team then does a quick debrief on how things went, and that concludes their day.
When asked about his favorite parts of both the ELT Program and his TNY experience, Tomás spoke to the relationships he’s made, and the community surrounding him, not just with his ELT cohort, but the students and teachers in the school. “I really enjoy the camaraderie I’ve built with Mrs. Gouverneur, not only are we doing lesson planning and prep together, she empowers me to do lesson planning on my own. I’m really excited about the mini lesson we have coming up about the city of Somerville elections...where we’re empowering the kids to make their own arguments about who they would vote for. The classroom experience has really instilled skills in me that I didn’t have before, that I can now in turn instill into the other TFs I’m working with, who may not have had that experience yet. There’s a real sense that we can always lean on each other.”
Tomás and his students play a game of soccer during Sports Club.
Tomás also spoke to the relationships he’s made with the students. “I love that I can help shape and grow their understanding of social studies—not just dates and people but the connection to it. I always think, ‘How can we change this so it’s interesting to them?’ ‘What are the ways social studies can connect with this very diverse population of kids?’” His efforts have really made an impact. Before ELT programming started, Tomás stated that kids were tugging on his shirt on a daily basis, asking when it would begin. “These kids want to be here. They are my inspiration.”
Tomás has clear career aspirations of becoming a high school social studies teacher, and thanks this experience for lighting that fire. “As an undergrad, I always thought I wanted to be a doctor. This has changed that outlook in so many ways. I’m so glad I decided to take this path.”
Outside of the classroom, you’ll find him playing with his band the “Theory of Solids,” watching movies, or playing video games, which he thanks his father’s computer engineer background for. Whatever activity he’s doing, or class he’s co-teaching, he knows that he can thank the community he’s made through his ELT and TNY experience for sending him down a path for success.
To make an impact on your community, we invite you to learn more about our ELT programs and current openings for TF/TA opportunities, available on our website.