A Word from Principal Cynthia Hanish, Health Careers @ MLK Career Campus

 

PITW #168 *bing* If You Want to Communicate Powerfully Tell a Story.

A major part of our mission is to inspire others to civic action. All great leaders communicated their ideas best by telling a story—think how many Bible stories you can remember.

Just think of the difference between hearing a 30 minute speech on the subject of how we can all make a difference versus hearing a simple story of a little girl on a beach who said “I made a difference to that one!” when she was challenged as to why she was attempting to save dying starfish on the beach when she could not possibly save them all.The best stories are personal, full of vivid details, and answer the question: “This is how I know that I am making a difference.”

I can’t say enough positive things about city year and their involvement with Martin Luther King Jr. Career Campus.  Every morning City Year greets the students and faculty as they enter the building – music, smiles, positive energy and high-fives (they have even inspired a security guard or two to show off their moves).

The tardy room is run by two members of the City Year team who have kept close track of which students have shown signs of chronic absence problems.  Every time a student comes in late, City Year makes sure to call home to ensure the parents/guardians know as well as sending home letters.  They have furthered our efforts for getting the kids to school in the morning by helping them sign up for early morning celebrity wake-up calls through http://www.getschooled.com which have helped some of our students not only wake-up but get to school on time.

Throughout the day, corps members can be expected to be in all core curriculum classes providing classroom support as well as individualized tutoring for each of their focus students.  Although they help out where ever they are needed, City Year has made extra effort to provide focused English language and math interventions.  For example, during November City Year hosted a Literacy Open Mic Night where the students, parents, and community members were invited to attend to listen to students recite some of the spoken word poems, raps, and songs.  They were also able to get 150 books donated from Half Priced Books for the students and their families to take home and increase their literacy.

Crusader Crew is City Year’s answer to rewarding those students who have done an outstanding job in their attendance, behavior, and coursework.  At the end of each quarter, City Year asks the teachers to nominate those students who have done an exemplary job in these areas.  As part of the reward, City Year was able to feed the students chicken, fries, and pop which was all donated by the family owned, neighborhood restaurant Hot Sauce Williams.

To help with the students’ behavior, City Year has taken it upon themselves to start the 50 Acts of Leadership program in which they challenge their Freshman to stand up as leaders in the communities.  Students keep logs of all of their leadership acts and discuss the process of their growth both internally as well as how it manifests itself through their actions.

Speaking on behalf of the administration, City Year has gone above their call of duty in order to make themselves part of the family here at MLK.  Their smiling faces and positive attitudes keep everyone in a optimistic state of mind even in the darkest times.

Principal Cynthia Hanish

“At Martin Luther King Jr, Career Campus, WE ARE TIED TO GREATNESS!”

Challenge Day(s) at Thomas Jefferson 9th Grade Academy

By Sharae Smith, CM– Thomas Jefferson 9th Grade Academy

Imagine a place that makes you feel safe. A place where you feel secure and protected. There are no risks that you take; you keep everything around you at a distance. This place is called our comfort zone. Are comfort zone is our work, living, and social environments that we have grown accustom too. It determines the type of friends we make or people we associate with. It determines a life style we could either accept or reject. This place is limited, and if we stay there too long we are not allowing ourselves to learn and grow.

That is just one of the many things that I have learned at Challenge Day. If you really knew me you would know Challenge Day has been one of the most beneficial and enjoyable experiences in my life. On Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Challenge Day came to Thomas Jefferson 9^th Grade Academy. The day started off with fun games. The games kept students, volunteers and faculty engaged. We rocked it out. After the games the two facilitators of Challenge Day told their life story.

The phrase, “If you really knew me you would know this about me,” is how the facilitators each began telling their story.  The stories were emotional and heart breaking. Each and every one of us in the room could relate to them in some way. I looked around me; I reached out to a student and wrapped my arms around her. We both cried together. For the first time in my life I cried in front of everyone. I did not feel embarrassed, I felt safe. Finally I was not afraid to be myself. I stepped out of my comfort zone, I had finally broken free.

We then broke off into our groups. For the first time I felt safe to be honest about my past. I began my sentence with, “If you really knew me you would know this about me.” Each person in the group was given two minutes to speak. To hear the students problems and their suffering ripped me apart. We held hands, we hugged, and we all cried together.

Challenge Day unites all cultures, allowing us to come together as one. Despite our hardships and life experiences, we realize that we are not alone. We no longer have to carry a heavy burden by ourselves and we have each other. Challenge Day helped everyone begin to understand one another more. The stories that I heard told about the problems our students face are much deeper then what I thought. Challenge Day was a day for all of us to unite, and to recognize that we are not alone. All that day we had fun, everyone felt safe, loved, and celebrated. We showed loved by holding up the love sign in the air with our hand.

After Challenge Day we were inspired to be the change. It’s from a quote that I know so well by Ghandi:  “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Challenge Day took place three days in a row in order to make sure that every single student in the school could participate – and the Thomas Jefferson 9^th Grade Academy City Year team assisted all three days. If you really knew me you would know I cannot express my gratitude enough. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to participate in Challenge Day. I proudly wear my Aramark pants, my boots, nametag, and jacket every day and look forward to serve another day.

  

Value & Respect of PT and DB

Todd Marsh, Team Leader– Thomas Jefferson Ninth Grade Academy

PITW #11  Nail the Details!  Every Single One.

Excellence is all in the details.  EVERYTHING COUNTS, ALL THE TIME!

What’s a burger without a bun?  What’s the macaroni without the cheese?  What’s a printer without ink?  What’s the 9th Floor without the bathroom key?

City Year foot soldiers, I want to call our attention to Unity Rally.  Sometimes we need to regain perspective of the importance of different aspects of our City Year Culture.  Unity Rally is the constant unifying force between the Cleveland community, that has no idea what we do and our mission of making a lasting IMPRESSION on people we do not work directly with.  A place for warm greetings and hugs of corps mates we haven’t seen since last Friday.

We cannot ignore the value of Unity Rally.  We are aware it’s the end of the week.  We know the temperature has begun to drop and it’s only going to get colder.  We know that you had a challenging week!  WE ALSO KNOW THAT 50 PEOPLE DECKED OUT IN BUTTERS AND RED JACKETS STAMPED WITH CITY YEAR ON THE BACK DOING PT IN UNISON is inspirational to the community.

Short Story.  Tuesday, December 6.  Kayla and I are at Dave’s Market picking up supplies for our Leadership Ceremony.  Man walks up, “City Year,  I was homeless a few years back and used to hang around the Public Square area.  I remember you guys doing jumping jacks.”  He then proceeded to tell us how he has his own place now and is doing well for himself before directing us to the bread aisle.  10 minutes later, another man, “a bunch of City Year people used to stay up in this building around the way a few years ago” then asked what we were doing now.  I know you guys hear comments like this all the time.

My message is this;  these people know us from Unity Rally.  They don’t know what we do in the school but they know we look good at Public Square.  They recognize our presence.  A presence that City Year members in the past and future will carry on.  What type of visual presence do you want to leave?  From the PT crew, team lines,  DB leaders and audience listeners;  we have to be engaged and respectful.

It is more important than yourself.

50 Acts of Leadership

By Marquisha Henderson, CM-Thomas Jefferson 9th Grade Academy

Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”  Are leaders born or made?  A question that plagues the mind of most that’s in search of true leadership.  On December 6^th, thirty students at Thomas Jefferson 9^th grade Academy dedicated their 50 Acts of Leadership to someone or something during the dedication ceremony.  These students have seized the opportunity to become leaders in the 9^th grade. 

The 50 Acts of Leadership Program is designed to provide intervention to targeted students that need extra behavioral support.  It is also a student enrichment behavior coaching program and is a part of City Year’s Whole School, Whole Child model. Through the program, they begin to understand that their actions have consequences that affect others and themselves. Participating students keep a Leadership Log, in which they document how they helped others in four categories: a) Parent/Guardian/Family b) Teachers c) Peers/Friends d) community members. Their goal is to do and document at least 50 distinct Acts of Leadership for people in these groups by the end of the year and for the 50 Acts of Leadership in May 2012.

The 50 Acts of Leadership dedication ceremony held at Thomas Jefferson 9^th grade Academy was a great success – over 40 students, family and friends attended to support the students and City Year Initiative.  Our guest speaker, Victor Ruiz, Executive Director of Esperanza spoke to them about true leadership.  He told them that a true leader leads a group or organization without fearing to be a follower at times.  Leaders take action and motivate others to take action.  Leaders put visions and passions into action.  Leaders set goals and have a clearly defined purpose.  Most importantly, leaders take responsibility for their actions.  Many of students could relate to Victor Ruiz because he had also attended and graduated from a CMSD school and because of his Hispanic ethnicity – I believe this meant more than anything to them.  As the time came for the student dedications, all attendees were upright waiting to hear the students speak.  Many students dedicated their leadership acts to one or more of the following:  family for raising them and being a positive role model, a girlfriend or boyfriend for pushing them to be better, life for its un-expecting challenges, and City Year for being there every time they were needed. The most memorable dedication was from Joshua, a 9^th grade student.  Joshua had his lines completely written out, but when he approached the podium he decided to say,” I used to be bad (at this moment he pauses and began to cry), but City Year changed me to become good.” At this very moment we realized why the 50 Acts of Leadership Program was important. .  The progam has given the students ownership of leadership, responsibility of their actions, and reflection with satisfaction.   At the end, the students recited a Leadership Pledge, written by corps member Yoellie Perez:

I pledge to walk through life as a leader;

to take each step with purpose.

The things I think, say, and do affect myself and those around me.

I will build positive, strong relationships.

The actions of others will not keep me from reaching my goals.

Through adversity, I will stand strong.

I will do what is right, not what is easy.

I will make positive contributions to the world around me, by being a leader in my family, community and nation.

There’s nothing better than encouraging students to become active leaders and self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses. One can only imagine the excitement experienced by those students as they walked across stage with a sense of accomplishment.

All the World’s a Stage

By Becca Frick– CM, Thomas Jefferson 9th Grade Academy

Thomas Jefferson’s Drama Club gets the opportunity to experience the Near West Theater.

On Wednesday November 16^th, 2011 the City Year drama Club attended a final dress rehearsal of the musical “Oliver” presented by Near West Theatre. The show has a cast of 55 community members ranging in age from 7 to 80. Near West is a community theater located in the same Ohio City neighborhood as Thomas Jefferson.

My fellow CM Yoellie and I head up the Drama Club at TJ. I had performed in and with this same theater in high school, so securing this partnership and being able to give back in this way was a really neat experience for me. Prior to our visit to the theater Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, Artistic Director of Near West Theatre, came to the school and ran a workshop for our drama club students. It was amazing for them to hear about an arts organization that they can get involved with and her workshop also got the students excited to see the show the following day.

Seven corps members, one teacher, one parent and 8 drama club members from TJ and Lincoln West High School met at 7pm, Wednesday night, at the theater. The students were able to experience so many aspects of acting, including a cast warm-up and sound check. It was a unique opportunity to for the students to see behind the scenes of what goes into preparing for a production.  Then it was time for the performance, and it really was just a treat for everyone. The energy on stage was contagious and it was the first time many of our student were experiencing live theater. The huge set pieces in the production were professionally designed and were quite a sight to see.

The lead, a 9 year-old boy, who played Oliver Twist stole all our hearts. We left the theater quite late, yet the kids were all wound up from the thrill of the show. It was such a fulfilling experience and I am pleased to have shared it with our students. The kids are now all eager to get involved with Near West in the future!

Big City BOO!!

By Bre-Anna Carruthers, CM- East Technical High School

Big City Boo is an annual Halloween event hosted by the City of Cleveland, Mayor Frank Jackson and the Lonnie Burten Recreation Center, located in the East Tech neighborhood. Our City Year team does a lot of service with and for Lonnie Burten (where our students go every day!), so when I was first approached about this in early September I was not surprised.

Mario and Luigi

As our team’s Civic Engagement Coordinator and this being my first event, I was kind of overwhelmed with the idea of having to “run the show”, however, I figured I would have time to prepare myself for the event. However, as the weeks went on, September turned into October and before I knew it was the 31^st!!

From the time school ended at 2:30 the East Tech team and members from Thomas Jefferson headed over to the center to set up. We practiced our face painting, grilled hot dogs, stuffed candy bags, painted and printed signs, set up games and events; we even fried the French fries— all in preparation for the evening. Before I knew it, it was 5:30, time for the doors to open.  Members from JFK and MLK had joined us and I was more than ready for the event to start. It was time to have a wonderful evening with my fellow Corps Members and the community.

The whole evening was a rush! I got the opportunity to make sure everything was running well and the event itself gave the community a place to bring their kids and be safe. Over 200 kids came through that evening for trick-or-treating, games, prizes, face painting and relays! I was happy to see all of the smiling faces and community members. Overall, it was a successful event. Many thanks to all who came!

Fun and games!

Always excited about serving!!

Boots and Candy!

Grilling up the food!

Candy Girls!

Excited to serve...hot dogs!

Who doesn't love a mustache?

Working hard?

Everyone hanging out with Officer Wayne!Grilling up the food!

Thomas Jefferson Goes Green!!

Today TJ got a recycling dumpster dropped off from the City of Cleveland Waste Division!  It was first asked for by last year corps member Melissa Clark (who attended last night’s alumni event!).  A big thanks to Todd Marsh, Team Leader for making this dream finally come true. All of the hard work and never giving up with contacting Councilman Cummings and the Waste Division means not only a greener school, but the TJ team will no longer have to haul all of the recycling off site!!

Red Jacket Ceremony

On September 10, 2010, City Year Corps Members publically received their “Bombers”(red jackets) at the annual City Year Red Jacket Ceremony. This year the ceremony was held at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. For the event, the Corps Members were asked to dedicate their year of service to someone or something important to them. Our guest speaker was Mr. Eric Wobser, a 2002 City Year Alumnus and the current Executive Director of the Ohio City Near West Corporation. City Year Cleveland’s Board Co Chair, Mayor Bruce Akers of Pepper Pike also gave a few remarks to the Corps. It was a very inspirational day for everyone involved.