When Google closed its offices due to COVID-19 a week before NYC public schools did, our Google Citizen Teachers didn’t hesitate to think of ways to continue apprenticeships virtually. “It wasn’t an option to not make this work. This is a commitment we made to students and we don’t want to let them down,” says Jackie Zopf, Music Operations Program manager, YouTube. “We’re connecting globally every day—this is normal for Google and we’re fortunate to be well-resourced.”
Read MoreThe day after NYC public schools closed their doors, Principal Kourtney Boyd asked if the Citizen Schools New York (CSNY) team at P.S. 157 could help by calling parents and putting together a list of students’ tech needs at home. Campus Director Jay Torres was ready to deliver—at that very moment. She and her team of AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows had collected this information from the beginning of the school year, having prioritized parent involvement as an important driver of student engagement—“this is the core” says Teaching Fellow Brenda Amaya.
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