Meet Lucy Vasserman, Citizen Schools Career Mentor and Board of Champions Member

Lucy Vasserman is an Engineering Manager at Google, where she has worked for more than 10 years. Based in New York City, Lucy has worked in Citizen Schools classrooms since 2014 as a Career Mentor in both in-person and virtual capacities. Most recently, she worked in the Catalyst Program, funded in part by All Points North Foundation. The Catalyst Program provides middle school teachers with training and resources to create authentic learning environments in their classrooms where students collaborate with peers and mentors to develop key social-emotional skills and solve real-world problems.

Here, we learn about Lucy’s passion for giving back through volunteerism, being a female software engineer and what it means to be a part of the Citizen Schools community. 

What inspired you to become a Classroom Mentor with Citizen Schools?

When I was in middle school, I had the opportunity to take my first computer science class, which I know is not that typical. A lot of elementary and middle schools don’t offer classes on computer science. In retrospect, that was a huge factor for me. I knew at an early age that I truly enjoyed it. I may not have known at age 11 that this was what I wanted to do for my career, but it did spark my excitement for the computer science classes that I then took in high school and college. As I took the path of becoming a software engineer, I wanted to pay it forward by bringing my experience and exposure to computer science at an early age to other young students that don’t receive computer science classes by default. That’s how I found Citizen Schools, where I began volunteering by teaching computer coding in their apprenticeships program through Expanded Learning Time (ELT).  

Most recently, I’ve become a Catalyst Classroom Mentor and chair of the Citizen Schools Board of Champions (NY), where I recruit other volunteers to help out. Volunteering with Catalyst has continued to build my excitement around giving students the opportunity to learn something they may have not been given the opportunity to do so before. I’m truly excited to see how the Citizen Schools’ model is shifting and how it continues to be a leader in hands-on learning and career mentorship.

What was your favorite activity with the students and teacher?

There were two! The class that I was working in at City Heights Preparatory Charter School with Ms. Davey was doing a project around Climate Science. The students were tasked with identifying a local community that was struggling with the effects of climate change and had to work in groups to develop ways to mitigate the effects. I was able to be a part of their small group sessions. After they did their research and were ready to propose their solutions and interventions, I was able to sit in with the groups, hear their project ideas and ask probing questions to make sure they were really thinking things through, why they chose the project they did and more. I loved this opportunity because it really helped me know more about the students personally and see how they really saw Climate Change in their own environments and how it was affecting their communities.

I’m based in NYC, and the classroom was in San Diego, so we worked together virtually over the course of the term. And because of the difference in locations, I could really see what they were going through; mainly the large amount of smoke from wildfires and flooding, things that I wouldn’t notice looking outside my window in New York. The personal touch was so cool to me.

My other favorite part was teaching a lesson in computer science. I was able to show them a platform they could go in and play around with. It was really cool to see many of the students click with it and run away with the tools they learned.

What moment generated the biggest reaction or most engagement with the students?

This moment happened in the first meeting I had with this class. Ms. Davey asked me to do a short presentation about myself and talk about my experiences growing up and my career history, which was really fun. She also prepared a quiz on all of the things I shared, and the students voted on what they remembered the most from my presentation. The coolest part was that they got every answer correct—it was really wonderful to see how much they really paid attention. 

What was the most significant outcome that you saw for yourself as a volunteer from the Catalyst program?

I was really impressed by how the teacher organized the virtual engagement with her class. She did it so well that I was able to take some of that guidance and use it in my own virtual work with my colleagues. The amount of required planning ahead and the interactivity involved really opened my eyes to how much these teachers work to keep their students engaged and not have it fall flat. It was so exciting to feel like I was involved in every step of the term’s progress, and I can now take those relationships and virtual experiences into my day-to-day life.

ABOUT ALL POINTS NORTH FOUNDATION

As one of the few foundations focused on public middle school education (grades 6-8), All Points North Foundation recognizes the vital importance of the middle-school years in shaping the future of our nation’s youth. The foundation funds projects in underserved communities (both rural and urban) that prepare and retain middle-school teachers in an ever-changing education climate, and help students grow both academically and socially/emotionally. Learn more at  www.allpointsnorthfoundation.org

ABOUT CITIZEN SCHOOLS

For over 25 years, Citizen Schools has been a pioneer in educational equity. They have provided hands-on learning experiences that ignite curiosity, build confidence, and expand horizons for over 50,000 middle school students in underrepresented communities. Together with their partners, including 25,000 career mentors, they have exposed students to new ideas and connections. Centered on Teacher Professional Development, our Catalyst program model combines core elements to support teachers and diverse career mentors in the delivery of high-quality experiential learning to middle school students.