#makebetterhappen

by Taina Casimir, CM-Franklin D. Roosevelt Elementary

I LOVE READING. Today, my kids did, too! I’m a tutor/mentor in the 6th grade. Things often go awry. Kids get moody, or distracted, or are just disinterested.

BUT…

Today…everything just…worked! I try not to come in with my hopes too high because they rarely focus as much as you’d like, or get as far as you know they can but today…today they astounded me! First, we started reading a book in a girl’s small-group; seven of my 6th grade girls came out of class with me for it. Of course, there was the usual excitement at being out of class and the accompanying chit-chat. In addition to that, some of them were “the” 6th grade girls: the junior plastics (See: “Mean Girls”). However, we wrote expectations for our group before reading. I told them I wanted them to come up with the expectations themselves, that way if they didn’t keep them, they’d have their own selves to blame. Everyone participated in making the list. We wrote out 10 expectations to govern our behavior during small-group time. I said that whenever someone was breaking a rule, I’d just mention the # expectation they were dishonoring to remind them to get in line. They wrote all ten on an index card, and referenced them to keep themselves and each other in line. Not a single cat fight broke out. IT WORKED!

I gave them another index card to use as a bookmark. On it, I told them they should write words they couldn’t pronounce or didn’t know the meaning of. At first, I’d have to make them pause in between paragraphs and prompt them to write words I knew they didn’t know. Pretty soon, however, they were pausing in between their reading to write words down themselves. And when it seemed a lot of them were stumped on the same word, they had small discussions using context clues to figure out the meaning. IT WORKED! We got through the whole first chapter today. Everyone was genuinely interested. Everyone is excited to come back tomorrow! IT WORKED!

When I returned the girls to their English class, the teacher asked if I would mind taking out another group for small-group reading. WHAT?! Of course, I don’t mind! TWO PULL-OUTS BACK TO BACK?! I live for this! So, I end up with a group of four boys and I was a little sad because none of them were the kids I usually try to spend targeted intervention time with (the ones that are off-track academically and need individualized or small group time). Then the teacher decided he would send out one of my girls that I wasn’t able to get into the girls reading group. She has a hard time focusing and its worse when she’s with her girls so it’s probably best she ended up in the group with the boys. The passage ended up being about the origins of baseball and the (lack of) black history in it. I was afraid I might lose them since its nonfiction, vocabulary heavy, and they’re so easily distracted. However, we went over the vocabulary terms first and we discussed. They asked questions throughout the reading and voiced their opinions on what they were reading. Everyone managed to stay involved; with a little redirection and guided reading, we got through the entire passage with time to spare for further discussion! IT WORKED!

Today taught me to have a little faith in my kids and a little faith in me. Today has been a great day

A Ripple of Tradition

by Jeremy Joseph, CM- East Technical High School

On February 27^th, 2013 we hosted City Year Cleveland’s first Championship Spelling Bee at Glenville High School.  The event featured the top six spellers from the three City Year High Schools—Glenville, John Adams, and East Technical High School—as well as Carl and Louis Stokes Central Academy.  After a huge collaborative effort (a stone soup effort, if you will), preparations and planning all culminated into an exciting academic competition.  Each speller had received a list of words to study before the event and they were able to utilize corps members in the schools for any help with the studying.  All of the food and prizes for the event were inkinded from different places around the area, including Chipotle burritos for each contestant, cake and drinks from Dave’s Super Market, and gift cards from Penn Station, Chipotle, Guthrie’s, Applebee’s, and Loganberry Books &Strong Bindery.  Each contestant also received a Spelling Bee t-shirt for their school, baked goods, and school supplies.  Preparing for the championship Spelling Bee had been very smooth because each school had already hosted their own Spelling Bee in December to determine the top spellers.

                Although this was the first City Year Championship Spelling Bee, the first idea to host one at each school was a ripple from last year’s Corps Members.  A ripple is a City Year founding story from Robert F. Kennedy that is the idea that different acts and ideas can create ripples of action that turn into larger concepts and occurrences.  The idea to host a Spelling Bee first came from ’11-’12 Corps Member at East Tech, Noah Sutter.  This year, the East Tech team wanted to host another Spelling Bee and that then branched out to have one at each High School, then a Championship Bee with the top spellers.  Noah has even come to support both events this year and gave suggestions and support to assist with the planning.  The ripple in this case crosses over between corps members and focuses on carrying on the tradition, while making the next year’s event bigger and better.

                The Spelling Bee itself featured strong competition and highlighted the time students put in to memorize the words.  In the end, Glenville had the top speller and second and third places went to students from East Tech.  The audience was comprised of City Year, students, parents, and staff from each school cheering on their spellers.  Despite minor setbacks and changes, the event was a success and showcased the students’ hard work and impressive abilities.  Hopefully City Year will be able to host events like this in the future and keep the tradition going.

An Alumna in the Mirror

By Annette Iwamoto, City Year Cleveland Alumni Advisory Board Chair

My journey to Cleveland and to City Year, started when I googled “one year service programs.”  City Year was the first result and the more I read about it, the more I liked.  At the time, I was close to graduating from college with little idea of what I wanted to do in my career besides that I wanted to help others.  Within a week I completed my application and chose to apply to where I was most needed because I liked the idea of leaving it up to fate to help me figure out where to go.  Almost five years later, I am still in Cleveland helping to build a stronger community. 

As a first year corps member, I was placed on the Civic Engagement Team where I did much of the “behind the scenes” type work.  I helped plan service, managed a business-school partnership, and coordinated some of our external engagement activities.  I flourished.  I absolutely loved it and found that my strength was being able to convey the importance of City Year’s work in the schools and with youth to stakeholders and serving as point person on logistics.  Halfway through my corps year, I still believed I could help grow City Year and become a better leader if I devoted another year to City Year Cleveland.  When it came time to work on my LACY (Leadership After City Year), I decided I wanted to go back to school to study macro level social work (community organizing and nonprofit management type of work) and although I visited a few schools, I couldn’t bring myself to leave Cleveland.  I graduated with my Masters last May from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

But even when I graduated from City Year I could not separate myself from the organization.  I joined the movement to grow alumni engagement with our site and became a part of the City Year Cleveland Alumni Advisory Board.  Each year, around MLK weekend, we organize activities to help connect alumni to each other, corps members, and to City Year.  We kicked off this past weekend with a social at the Bier Market.  It was great to hear alumni compare service years and look at old pictures.  Then on Saturday, we held our annual Corps Member-Alumni Basketball Game.  After a 2 year losing streak, the alumni finally won again!  Of course we ended the week off right with service for MLK Day.  Some of our alumni were able to revisit the schools they served at while performing service projects with corps members and others served together with other community volunteers at the Downtown Cleveland YMCA.  I was lucky enough to be able to host corps members, community volunteers, and even some City Year Cleveland Board members and their families where I work- at Providence House, which provides emergency shelter for children ages newborn to ten to prevent abuse or neglect while supporting family preservation through innovative programming. Altogether, City Year alumni joined over 700 volunteers throughout Cleveland making MLK Day a day on and not a day off.

Beyond connecting with City Year alumni, MLK Weekend is a time for reflection.  I am able to remember the time that I shoveled mulch all day to build a playground for kids on E. 55^th (I was so sore the next day I could barely move), or the time I worked 13 hour days for a week so that I could participate in physical service during 100 Hours of Power  while still helping to plan the Annual Gala, or the time I helped a third grader struggle through writing his name and first realized the human impact of the Dropout Crisis.

City Year often uses PITWs (Putting Idealism to Work) to inspire and offer advice. 

PITW #159 This is hard.  Be strong. 

Without a doubt my two years of service for City Year were some of the most difficult times for me.  It is hard to wake up early and go home late every day, while giving 110% to help get our kids in school and on track, and to do it while only earning a living stipend.  But those years have defined who I am as a person today and how I strive to continue to make our community a better place.  For me, MLK weekend is a chance to connect to City Year alumni, to remember those who made it possible for us to have the rights we have today, to commit to improving our community, and a chance to be grateful for the impact City Year has had on my life.

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In a Year

By Selina Rios, Program Manager

In 2012 we saw plenty of ups and downs as a site, an organization, a city and even as a nation. We saw the worst in people, but we also got to see the good.

Hurricane Sandy took us out of school for a couple of days and devastated the East Coast. We had looters and scam artists taking advantage of the happenings.  But we were also able to witness people risking their lives and putting themselves in harm’s way to help their fellow neighbor.

The Costa Concordia wrecked and 11 people died. But the outrage of the public at the event means that hopefully nothing like this will happen in 2013.

Whitney Houston died, but we got to remember a legend for who she had been and what she was able accomplish. She has inspired generations of singers and her legacy will live on.

Tragically, we saw Lebron get a ring, defeating the young Oklahoma Thunder. For us in Cleveland, #enoughsaid.

Michael Phelps became a swimming legend. #stacks on stacks… of medals that is.

The world discovered that William and Kate are going to have a baby (although it was a little awkward the way we found out).

Kim Kardashian married Kris Humphries, then divorced Kris Humphries

Kim Kardashian hooked up with Kanye West and is now pregnant with his baby.

Yet we all know that as famous as this baby will be, he/she will never have as much swag as Blue Ivy. #Truth

Obama was re-elected.

Sandy Hook. Words can’t describe the emotions and feelings that I had in response to this tragedy. Children murdered and the masses outraged. Michael Brown called for a moment of silence.  Following that moment my co-workers discussed their feelings and passions about the mental health sector and gun control. As I listened I tried to imagine what it would be like if this happened at one of my schools. I thought of how heroic those teachers had been and how frightened those students were; how would I have reacted?

The most amazing thing?—students and teachers returned to Sandy Hook.

We will stand, we are strong, we will survive. 

Every 26 seconds a student drops out of high school.

I know that in most cases being idealistic comes off as naïve or immature, but in City Year it is our way of life. I truly believe that I put a face on statistics and that it is an honor to serve in the city of Cleveland. No longer is it about A STUDENT, it is about MY STUDENTS who have said to me “I don’t wanna die Ms. Selina.” What I realize now for myself is the very thing I tell them– the only way to make change is through education.  I am not done growing or learning and I never will be.

2012 was a life changing year for me. I woke up one day as if it were any other day. I put on my uniform like I had the day before and the day before that. But it wasn’t just another day; it was the day that my life changed. You don’t forget days like that. The sharp noise in my ear knocked me down and the entire world started to spin.  I thought I was going to die; I almost did die. I may not be able to give birth to children and for the rest of my life a headache will not just be a headache, it could be a sign–a sign of something bigger. I suffered 4 strokes but I survived. I am healed and my life has moved on.  I am alive and more than that I am living.  I will not live in fear.

Every year, all across the world, resolutions are made. My resolution is to be better than the year before, to take risks and to keep moving forward. At summer academy Juana Bordas shared the legend of Sankofa, a bird that is looking towards the past for guidance but always moving forward. Like the Sankofa I must use my experiences to make me stronger and keep pushing forward.

One day I am going to do something that changes the world and you’ll come back to this moment, reading this post, you’ll remember seeing my name and know that my idealism was purely my tool for transformation. I am not invincible, nor am I unbreakable. I am undefined and destined. I am irregular and unforgettable. I may complain, push back and over-work myself, but only because I am not satisfied and I have a job that will never be done. I fight for education and the right to it, for every student. I am a challenge. I am a challenge to those who see the system as broken and hopeless. I am.

From the beginning of the school year until November 16, we as a site had served our focus list students with 1130 hours of interventions. We have so many more hours to go, but it is a start, because to everything there is not only an end, but a start as well.

It’s always a good time to start.

Happy New Year from City Year Cleveland!

Two Words

By Brian Schultz, corps member at Fullerton Elementary School

To almost everyone that knows me I was not the “typical” year of service person so I encounter the question of why all the time.  Why a year of service?  Why do you do what you do?  Well City Year preps us for this question by having us develop a short why I serve statement.  However, mine seems to be ever changing and evolving.  The why is hard for me to explain at times.  When I first started this year of service I honestly had no idea why.

But now I can easily say a two word response… my kids.  I consider not only the 28 third graders I serve as my kids but also all of the kids from K-3 whom I interact with on a daily basis.  I serve so that I can play rock, paper, scissors with a kindergartner named AJ every morning.  I serve so that I can ask a second grader who use to never do his homework if he did it every morning and I now get a high five and “of course Mr. Brian!”  I serve so my third graders can have sharpened pencils.  I serve to provide a sometimes silly but productive learning environment.  I serve because one of my third graders who never believed in himself recently told me he was going to be somebody when he grew up.  I now serve for a million little reasons.  But they all add up to one resounding reason.  I serve because of those kids.  Because they deserve the world and they deserve to have someone believe that they can conquer it.

At the start of City Year I never would have never believed it if someone told me I would become so emotionally invested in what I was doing.  It’s hard not to be invested when you have twenty-eight kids who look at you as a friend, mentor, comedian, motivator, and even sometimes a meanie.  These kids have given me an indescribable gift.  They inspire me, they make me laugh, they give me hope.  These kids are the future and all my kids want is a chance.  A chance to be somebody.  A chance to see that someone cares about them.

This holiday season I am extremely grateful for my kids.  Yes, sometimes they give me a headache but they also inspire me to be and do better.  In many ways I believe these kids have given me more than I could ever give them.  I would like to end this post with a lyric from a song that has been on my mind lately.  “Where you invest your love you invest your life.” -Mumford & Sons.  I am not ashamed to admit I love my kids and that is why I serve.

Men of Strength

Written by corps member Nico Boyd, John Adams High School

A group of fifteen freshman rush up and down the school basketball court with excitement as they enjoy their first City Year sponsored open gym.  Tonight is our kick-off social event for the Men of Strength club at John Adams High School, and these young men have no idea what’s in store for them. 

Owing to a partnership with the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, our Men of Strength club at John Adams High School is a program that works to cultivate leadership amongst the young men of the community, promoting nonviolence, justice, healthy relationships, and gender equity.  By challenging the conception of masculinity that these young men hold and exploring where that conception comes from, our students will begin to see a whole new world where the choices they make with regard to the expression of their manhood are paramount to the growth of their community.  And it’s already beginning to happen, almost completely unbeknownst to them. 

Open gym is over now and we’ve moved into a computer lab to get into the content of tonight’s session.  My fellow corps members and I observe with keen awareness as our students watch the clips we’ve selected from “Casino Royale” and “Iron Man,” two movies that feature a powerful male lead displaying stereotypical male qualities. At first they seem to be mesmerized by the violence, action and romance as James Bond and Tony Stark embark on epic chases and seduce attractive women, but within minutes they clearly begin to look deeper at what’s really happening.  They begin to become aware of the fact that these movies are informing their definitions of manhood and that these Hollywood-inspired definitions don’t necessarily mirror the realities of the world they live in. 

 It’s time to start our discussion of the movie clips now and enthusiastic hands shoot up faster than I can put my marker to the whiteboard to write down responses.  The topic of discussion is, “Who’s the real man?” and the responses my teammates and I are hearing are incredibly positive. Our students believe that James Bond and Tony Stark are strong men not because they dominate women or have expensive possessions but because they show confidence, intelligence, and the ability to be innovative.  They admire the way the two characters are able to carry themselves with poise and dignity. 

We couldn’t have hoped for a better turnout.  The level of excitement and engagement with the content that we saw was truly inspiring for me as a corps member and I have no doubt that our future meetings will be just as successful.  I serve because I believe every child deserves to have a role model to help support them and the young men at John Adams High School have re-confirmed my commitment to this service year.   I know that their continuing education and growth as strong men will empower them to go on and do big things.

Looking Back

By Isabel “Izzy” Abrams, Alum ’11-’12, CM- MLK Jr. High School

I have heard the expression ‘the past will come back to haunt you’ countless times. It has become some sort of mantra that I have had repeated to me all through my childhood and early adult life. It is seen in literature, films, and of course, parents’ mouths. Yes, I know if I put those pictures on Facebook, I may not get employed. Yes, I know that Lord Voldemort will meet his demise because he is a bad person and that’s Karma for you. However, no one has used this expression in a positive way, which is a huge part of anyone’s past that is overlooked because we’re humans and tend to remember all of the suffering we endured rather than the beautiful things. We like to complain, in other words.

Anyway, I was walking down a New Jersey street on a nice, cool night, slurping my frozen yogurt when my phone buzzed. I saw that it was from one of my previous students (which by the way NEVER happened when I was working at City Year because I only handed out my number AFTER I left, so don’t fire me. Wait, you can’t fire me…don’t condemn me). Here’s what the message said, spelling errors and all.

Hey Izzy I love you soooo much and like I said to dontasia and Elizabeth I havebno idea what my freshman year would have been Like with out you. Your beautiful and talented in every way and you cool to talk to just know thar I love you.

Once I got over the initial flattery and embarrassment of being called talented and beautiful in the same sentence and wiped the stray tears from my eyes, I was really able to see the beauty of this message. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the importance of the work we do. I know this, because I had trouble seeing it from time to time. Sometimes, all of the crap that comes from the day to day in an inner city school gets in the way of our true goals. We are there for the kids, that much is obvious. But how many times do you forget that throughout the year? I’ll tell you, almost every day for three months. This message was a slap in the face (in a good way), a sweet reminder of how much we can mean to someone. Of how much just listening to a student tell you about their weekend can mean to them. You have the ability to not only support a student academically, but also be someone that they remember for the rest of their lives.

So yes, the past always does come back to haunt us, and not always in the way we think. I am 463.56 physical miles away (courtesy of mapquest.com) from my City Year right now. I am beginning my LACY in New York, bedless and jobless though I may be. Despite the physical distance, I still feel close because you can never truly forget where you came from.