Eric Schwarz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Citizen Schools A lot of people in education talk about achievement.  And a lot talk about opportunity.  But too few put the two together. Please read on and consider applying by  April 27th to become an AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow at Citizen Schools, where you can help build a movement to increase opportunity and student achievement.

At Citizen Schools our mission is to close the opportunity and the achievement gap by providing children with dramatically more time for learning, including more time for academics and more time for a well-rounded education.  Participating middle school students get more time to practice their academics; and they also get to work with lawyers and architects and engineers to make cool things and to understand the link between school and careers.

It all adds up to opportunity, and it is proven to drive achievement.  In fact, an external evaluation indicated that Citizen Schools erased the achievement gap in graduation rates and on state test scores – all while making learning more engaging and fun.  Last year Citizen Schools’ Expanded Learning Time schools in Boston and New York lifted student achievement as much or more than the most successful charter schools, such as KIPP.

Citizen Schools’ National Teaching Fellowship is your opportunity to serve as an educator, to grow as a professional, and to connect children with the abundant resources in their community.  If you have the passion,  dedication, and commitment to educational excellence to accept the challenge to serve as an AmeriCorps member with Citizen Schools,  you could be  changing the lives of middle school students next year.  The time to act is now.