Clad in red jackets, khaki pants, and workboots, 265 City Year volunteers greet 10,000 students each morning at nearly two dozen Boston schools with cheers and clapping — a grand gesture to show they are welcome. Then the volunteers hit the phones and call those who didn’t show up.
Read MoreFor the past year and a half I've seen the challenges and rewards in my work with middle-school girls in the Brookline-based non-profit MEDIAGIRLS, teaching a ten-week after school program to help them combat sexist media messaging.
Read MoreMentoring inspires youth to discover their areas of passion and encourages them to pursue their interests in education. Citizen Schools shares how the concept of Growth Mindset is making a difference for the AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows who serve their students directly and the young scholars themselves.
Read Moreesident Trump revealed his first budget proposal to Congress yesterday, and it comes with a 13 percent cut to the Department of Education’s budget. One program the Administration proposes to eliminate completely is the $1.1 billion 21st Century Community Learning Centers program (21st CCLC), which provides grants to communities for out-of-school-time programs serving students in high-poverty and low-performing schools.
Read MoreAfter graduating from The College of New Jersey and earning a graduate degree at the University of Connecticut, Otto Katt knew he wanted to make a difference. Inspired by the Citizen Schools mission, he moved to Boston and began working with middle school students as a Teaching Fellow leading academic enrichment and interventions. After his two-year commitment, Otto decided the classroom was the place to continue his impact. He joined the 2012 Teach For America Charlotte corps and began leading his own middle school social studies class. His passion for education only grew, and he is now a Teach For America Capitol Hill Fellow, bringing his classroom experience to Washington, D.C.
Read MoreWe think our AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows and our VISTAs are the best! We celebrated our AmeriCorps members and the work they do all week long... Click to see more photos and videos from AmeriCorps Week!
Read MoreDonald Trump’s revised travel ban takes effect Thursday — it blocks citizens of six (down from seven) predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States — but the revisions haven’t placated his opponents.
Read MoreI chose to serve with Americorps as a Teaching Fellow because I believe that each child deserves to be believed in. I wanted to impact my students the same way that I was impacted by my greatest teachers, with love, patience, and understanding.
Read MoreHaving attended NYC public schools throughout elementary, middle, and high school, I was able to experience a wide variety of schools across different communities within the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. My middle school years were some of my toughest years. At the time, there were many changes going on within my personal life that negatively affected my behavior toward my grades and schoolwork. In part, I owe my decision to become an AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow to my middle school guidance counselor who continuously pushed me to grow.
Read MoreI decided to become an AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow in order to gain teaching experience and also be exposed to underprivileged education in order to be a catalyst for change in the community. After graduating college, I knew that I wanted to do teaching for a while. Being raised by my mom, who has been a teacher for 33 years, taught me the value of education. I wanted to be able to help students gain knowledge in places where they struggle to get it. I knew taking up a job as a Teaching Fellow for AmeriCorps, in partnership with Citizen Schools, would expose me to an environment that would help me learn about education, students, and myself.
Read MoreWGBH News' Adam Reilly (@reillyadam) reports on an innovative program which gets involved with middle schoolers early in order to ensure they're ready for the challenges of high school.
Read MoreLeaders of several hundred education nonprofits, charter school networks, and other education groups have signed onto an open letter expressing “unequivocal disagreement” with the travel ban President Trump instituted last month.
Read MoreThrough another AmeriCorps program, Citizen Schools, 41 corps members act as teaching fellows in high-needs middle schools in Harlem and Brooklyn, where they also help mobilize community partners to volunteer, said Wendy Lee, executive director of Citizen Schools NY.
“Our entire operating model is based on having AmeriCorps service members in schools,” Lee said. If funding were cut, she said, “We’d either have to rethink staffing or rethink the way our model is delivered.”
Read MoreOn February 14, 2017, Bank of America was awarded the Corporate Service Award by Voices for National Service at the 14th Annual Friends of National Service Awards in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes their investment in the civic health of our nation through support of national service. We were proud to celebrate alongside Kerry Sullivan, President of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, and her team - and honored to call them a partner.
Read MoreWinter marks a set of important anniversaries for Citizen Schools: the anniversary of our incorporation on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1995; the anniversary of Black History Month, which offers the country an important reminder of the perseverance and resilience necessary to forge a more just and equitable society; and, now, my first year anniversary as our CEO. I am proud to stand on the shoulders of giants in fulfilling our mission to close opportunity gaps to restore economic mobility in this country - and every student’s shot at the American Dream.
Read MoreToday Citizen Schools, a national leader in providing project-based apprenticeship learning for middle school students in high-need, public school districts, announced, with support from Dell, its plan to expand its focus on applied science apprenticeships for students across the country. Dell joins AmeriCorps, Biogen Foundation, Cisco and Fidelity as a National Leadership Partner, Citizen Schools’ lead corporate investors.
Read MoreCitizen Schools and Motorola Mobility, a Lenovo company, earned the 2016 Impact Award, a top award given by the Chicago Charity Challenge. Known fondly as “the Cha Cha,” this unique corporate giving competition is designed to motivate corporate employees to volunteer and donate.“We were thrilled to partner with Citizen Schools for the Chicago Charity Challenge and benchmark our impact metrics against other strong philanthropic partnerships around the city,” said Monica Hauser, Head of the Motorola Mobility Foundation. “Winning the Impact Award honors the dedication of our employee volunteers and the impact of Citizen Schools’ mentorship model, one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences we offer employees.”
Read MoreOn December 9, 2016 at Google New York, over 100 excited students showcased what they learned over the course of their Google apprenticeships this fall at the Google Mega WOW! Googlers came to connect with students, play video games and see robotics demonstrations.
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