CY 101: Round Tables (aka service outside the classroom)

Roundtables are a part of your outreach engagement service and are at the heart of people understanding the service that we do. Back in 1991, Bill Clinton participated in a roundtable at City Year Boston and was so inspired by their stories that it created a ripple known as AmeriCorps. Locally, roundtables have led corporations to become team sponsors as well as partnerships for recruitment to make filling our boots easier. This past year has seen several articles published after the writer was engaged in a roundtable, including first year corps member Zein Tawil (FirsTrust team at Shaw Middle School)being featured in a Philadelphia Inquirer article.



In a roundtable, corps members are seated around a table (hence the title) and share their story with the visitor(s). The story consists of who you are, why you joined City Year, what you do in City Year, an impact story, and your plans for after City Year. The roundtables highlight the diversity of the larger corps and usually have 3 or 4 corps members. Also, every corps member will get a chance to participate in a roundtable – it can be anyone from a US Senator to a community organization. Every visitor is important, even if their title may not appear to be - our current Co-Executive Director Loree Jones came in for a roundtable with a friend of hers while the ED of Manayunk Development Corporation. So, remember the power of RIPPLES!

McKendry, 26,Visitor's Program senior corps member

Photo taken by Rex Carney