Most rewarding In Class Experience

The first day I started in my permanent classrooms, I had an experience that assured me I would be accomplishing great things this year. The last two periods of the day, I am assigned to a 6th grade math class. When I first walked in, I introduced myself to the teacher and took some time to get accustomed to the culture of the class.

Almost immediately I noticed one child being very disruptive. He was calling out, getting out of his seat, and keeping other students from doing their work. The teacher seemed too overwhelmed to discipline the child, so I took it upon myself to try to get him to pay attention. After a few failed attempts, I whispered to him, “I have asked you a few times already. If you do not settle down, I will have to pull you aside and work with you in the back of the class.” He looked at me and immediately called out.

It seemed he only wanted some attention. When I sat down with him, he was able to grasp the concepts with ease. Once he finished his assignment, he ran up to his teacher and said, “Look! I finished!”

At the end of the day, the teacher took my aside. “ I just wanted to thank you, and let you know that was the first assignment he has handed in all year.” Being that it was mid-October, I was stunned. However, the experience was a great start to the year. I continue to work with that student, along with many others. I will always remember that day, as it was one of my most rewarding in-class experiences thus far.

-Caitlin, 23, corps member, Berwind team at Hopkinson School

Leadership Development Days

While the bulk of our trainings happen during BTA and ATA, we are a community of young people that are always striving to learn, and as such, we have monthly Leadership Development Days (LDDs). They are around various topics, including: Diversity, LGBTQI, Health and Safety, and Civic Engagement. These days give us the opportunity to interact with various community resources that are more knowledgeable about the topics which we seek to learn. They also give our corps members the chance to enter discussion with other corps members that they do not see on a day to day basis.

Ragina, 24, ProServe senior corps member

Youth Corps Graduation

A key element of our service at City Year is our Youth Corps: the Young Heroes program for middle school students and the City Heroes program for high school students. These are Saturday service learning programs that teach our students teamwork and that they are not too young to make a difference. Each Hero commits to serving over 100 hours of community service voluntarily.

Last night, the 300+ students in City Year Greater Philadelphia's Young Heroes Center City, Young Heroes Northeast and City Heroes programs graduated. Each received a Presidential Service Award in honor of their commitment to service.

Hundreds of family and friends came out for the evening's event which featured special awards for extra-dedicated Heroes, presentations from our school partners and our corporate sponsors.

Congratulations to our '08-'09 Heroes and thank you for all that you do!

CY 101: Silent Applause

This is a time-saver, and keeps palms from getting bruised in a particularly appreciative audience. Borrowed from American Sign Language, Silent Applause allows an audience to show their appreciation while the speaker continues his or her presentation.

The way to silently applaud is by putting both hands in the air and fluttering them. This power tool can be used pretty much any time you want to show appreciation for something that someone has said.

Old City

As birthplace of the Constitution, among other things, Philadelphia is a city with a long and many-storied history. Walking through Old City, you can truly appreciate all that Philadelphia and Philadelphians have contributed to the nation. You can also see some pretty neat stuff as you stroll.

One of my favorite streets to walk down is Chestnut between 6th and 2nd. You’ve got Independence Hall, a whole bunch of green space, the Bourse, Carpenter’s Hall, the Second Bank, the City Tavern and a whole bunch of other neat little places to pop into. If you’re a history nerd, someone who enjoys people watching, or an urban hiker, this stretch of Old City is a great place to cheaply wile away an afternoon.

Megan, 24, Recruitment Senior Corps Member

Two Minutes

Life in Philadelphia is nothing at all what I pictured it would be. I graduated from college this past May from a small school in Indiana. I thought when I left the college dorms that I would be moving on up to the easy life. Oh how I was wrong.
I live with 5 other City Year Corps Members in a house in West Philadelphia. Every morning we all have to be out of the house by 8:00 a.m. to be at our schools by 8:30 a.m. I have to wake up by 6:43 a.m. to be able to take a hot shower. I used to think that there wasn’t much difference between 6:43 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. But I was dead wrong. Those minutes mean everything to me. Those two minutes mean the difference between a hot and cold shower. Those two minutes means milk with my cereal or no milk with my cereal. Those two minutes means being on time or being late for my day of service
Those two minutes are even more important at school than they are at home. Those two minutes mean a conversation with a student about their plans after high school. Those two minutes mean an extra smile to a teacher who's having a hard day. Those two minutes mean a student finishes his assignment because I stayed with him.
In college if you would have told me that two minutes would have meant so much to me or the people that I run into everyday I would have thought you were wrong. It takes longer than two minutes to change the world. But after my months at City Year I would say that’s all it takes. Two minutes to give a smile to someone to show that they aren’t alone in this world. Two minutes to sit with a student as they finish an assignment that means they pass or don’t pass a class. Two minutes to show a student that you care about their future. Two minutes changes lives.

Susan, 22, corps member, Comcast Team serving at University City High School

CY 101: Ripples (often hand-in-hand with Joys)

To share a “ripple” in City Year is to tell a short, inspirational story about an act of idealism, courage or belief, often with a larger impact and effect than the initial act seemed capable of.

Sharing a ripple puts us in a more inspired, uplifted frame of mind when we do so at the beginning of a meeting, or share a ripple with the entire site at Community Meeting.

Each morning at first circle, City Year corps members are asked to share Joys and Ripples to kick off the day in the right mind set.

The Ripple’s name is taken from the Ripples speech by Robert F. Kennedy in the City Year Founding Stories.