City Year

City Year is an education-focused, non-profit organization whose goal is to lower the dropout rate in the United States public schools. It takes dedicated young adults from all backgrounds and teams them together, creating a unified group. They go into the inner-city schools of 23 different locations around the country and volunteer there for a year. They are trying to help the 'at risk' students improve and succeed in school.

"Students at risk of dropping out can be identified as early as elementary school by three early warning indicators known as the ABC’s: poor Attendance, disruptive Behavior and Course failure in math and English. City Year partners with public schools. We provide the extra people power to help schools implement intervention research shows to be effective, for the right students at the right times. By focusing our work in 3rd-9th grade, we provide a continuum of care, and saturate feeder patterns so students who need help receive multiple, consecutive years of interventions and supports. Our Long-Term Impact strategy will ensure students have an opportunity to improve their performance that couldn’t be achieved by focusing on a single grade or single intervention alone."

(City Year's Strategy) 

These young adults, called Corps Members, go to Basic Training academy and then start their service in their assigned school.



myFAQ

1. Wait-so what are you doing next year? / Where are you going to college next year? / what are your plans? / what's Sitting Year/City University/CTR/sea-whatchamacallit?

See above. Or just go to the official website and explore a little.

2. Why?

I'm going to be honest, it had a lot to do with not wanting to go to college right out of high school (and other college) AT FIRST. Then my reasons morphed into the more responsible/dignified/noble ones they are today.
So, here they are:
It is a chance to make a difference. A real, noticable difference in someone's life. 
It is good for me to be totally focused outward for a long amount of time. I will be motivated not by money, or social praise/standing, but the desire to see kids learn, especially the kids that people have already given up on. I will not give up on them.
I want to see if this line of work is right for me. If I do this and think I'll get burned out by the demands working with at-risk/'problem'/struggling kids, then I'll change my major. Something less stressful. Pottery, maybe. (Not to be derogative to pottery majors. But I can see myself unstressing by making some sort of bowl shaped object, so if it's stress I'm avoiding, pottery it is.)

3. Where are you living?

I'm renting a room from a family, living in Rosemont. I'm literally surrounded by Mormons, as there are 4 or 5 LDS families on my street.

4. Are you paying for this yourself?

While I do have some money saved up, City Year supplies its corps members with a living stipend, as well as monthly bus passes. So with some budgeting and frugal living, I should be fine.

5. Are you sure you're able to handle this?

Thanks so much for your confidence in me*. But I guess I understand why you would ask the question. I did once demand that my friend pull over because she and someone else were arguing in the car and the tension was too much for my tender mind to handle. I ended up running half way home before sheepishly apologizing and getting back in so they could drive me the rest of the way to my house. (Hopefully I'm a little more mature than I was back then.)

By myself? With no training or support system? No. I could not handle this.
But I will be able to do it because I have my family, my friends, my fellow corps members, and my faith.




*sarcasm

Also, photo credit here.