Corps member Lauren Vancamp sharing encouraging words to students.
Lauren VanCamp, corps member
One of the most important relationships to navigate as a City Year corps member is the one between you and your partner teacher. However, relationships between you and your students, you and your teammates, you and your Program Manager are more clearly defined. Much like the elusive definition of a “good teacher”, describing exactly what makes a teacher partnership successful is a difficult task considering its unique nature. Everyone can point to a successful relationship, but very few can say in five hundred to seven hundred and fifty words why or how. For the sake of showing my utmost gratitude and admiration for my partner teacher, Ms. Alva, I will try my best.
First and foremost, Ms. Alva is one of the most effective third grade classroom teachers I can imagine. Upon entering the classroom, one can see how she builds an important and meaningful relationship with each student. Every single one of the students in Room 7 knows how special they are to this class. Ms. Alva rarely misses a day in the classroom, but on those rare occasions she leaves notes of encouragement for the students who typically struggle to sit still and pay attention. When Michelle received her teacher’s note (“Thanks for doing a great job today, Michelle!”), she felt the confidence that Ms. Alva places in her on a daily basis. There is also a constant line of communication between Ms. Alva and her students’ families. She goes above and beyond the scheduled parent conferences to ensure that the students feel invested in. When Justyce started missing school a few days a week, Ms. Alva called home to check in and design a plan so that her student wouldn’t fall behind. read more…
City Year Los Angeles’ second annual Spring Break: Destination Education did it bigger and better than the first!
The Hunger Games' Liam Hemsworth stopping for a quick photo with City Year LA corps members! — at Sony Pictures.
This past Saturday at Sony Pictures Studios, City Year Los Angeles hosted what has easily become one of the most exciting events in our 5 year history here in LA. An evening full of food, fun, family and friends helped raise awareness about the drop-out crisis here in LA and around our country. Every 26 seconds a student gives up on school – it was clear on Saturday night that the Los Angeles community is standing up against that daunting statistic. Our sponsors helped us raise $1.2 million to support our work as tutors, mentors and role models to more than 3,000 at-risk students here in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Over the course of the evening Hollywood celebrities, world-class brands and the Los Angeles community turned out in force. Sponsors set up interactive booths for the more than 1,100 guests in attendance. At the Hauptman Family Foundation booth, guests were able to get a taste of the City Year experience by painting murals and trying on red and yellow jackets. Gamers got down with the latest releases for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect while Summer fashion makeovers were under way over at the JCPenney and Sephora booths. At the People Magazine booth, attendees were posing for their close-ups and own magazine cover photos. Consistent lines of folks lined up to test their skills at the NFL Football booth to throw for a chance to win a pair of Superbowl tickets. Kids were able to decorate their own cookies and audition to be the next Food Network Star with Giada De Laurentiis at the Food Network booth.
The fun didn’t stop there, Beats by Dre. with Interscope Records featured three of the label’s hottest recording artists for thrilling live performances: award-winning, multiplatinum R&B artist Robin Thicke, “American Idol” Season Ten finalist Haley Reinhart and debut artist Ashan. The crowd could be seen dancing and singing along as the evening culminated into a full fledged concert experience. All this and more happening while Fisker Automotive invited guests to test drive their luxurious Karma. In all, we had 21 amazing booths from our platinum, presenting, and gold sponsors. read more…
In our Classroom Collaborations series, City Year LA corps members share their experiences partnering with teachers in schools to inspire students and end the dropout crisis. Brendan Patterson, corps member As I near the end of my five minute walk from the Blue Line station to Compton Avenue Elementary School at 7am every morning, my [...]
One of the most highly requested resources from the students we serve are books! Access to books makes all the difference for students while developing key literacy skills and building a lifetime relationship with reading. During the month of May, BookEnds, and the entire Brentwood community, will be engaged in a community wide book drive [...]
By Bryan Brown, corps member – 116th St. ES The California Standards Test is nearly upon us. We know it. The teachers know it. The students definitely know it. Students have been busy prepping in recent weeks by reviewing key concepts that will be on the tests and practicing countless sheets of released questions. All [...]
Sam Erwin, corps member One of the last things I thought about when signing up to do a year of service, a school bulletin board, turned out to be one of the most versatile tools that we had as corps members at Malabar Street Elementary School. When service first started in schools I admit that [...]
On April 21st, National Leadership Sponsor, Comcast, teamed up with City Year and other non-profits around the country in one of the nation’s largest days of corporate volunteerism! Comcast Cares Day has engaged community partners like City Year since its start in 2001 and has been making a huge impact ever since. Check out these [...]
Today, Kathy Sanchez will be one of twelve White House Champions of Change Alumni who will meet with President Obama in celebration of the program’s one year anniversary. The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector has been highlighted and groups [...]
Pernell Quilon, Corps member College and careers were the main focus for the JPMorgan Chase team at Hollenbeck Middle School during the last week of March. Corps members showcased booths of their alma maters to students during nutrition and lunch. Guests representing different occupations, ranging from a local fireman to a Hollywood agent, presented in [...]
Nelson Sofer, Corps Member Dr. Seuss is in the air, and I can hear the soft footsteps of students in their pajamas filling the school auditorium grow louder and louder. Crowded in the back row are fellow corps members who’ve come from all over the city to help quiet students down as they enter to [...]
