This past Saturday, the Bridge Builder zone, serving in Brooklyn, hosted a health and wellness fair for the community of East New York. Held at I.S. 302, Empower New York was an enormous success. Whole families turned out to run healthy food relay races, make bracelets, eat snacks, and hang out with their favorite City Year Corps Members.

To everyone in attendance, the event seemed effortless. However, a lot of preparation went into the day, with multiple teams meeting once a week or more for the last few months. Partnerships had to be formed with different organizations that would either provide resources for East New York families, or run engaging workshops on important topics. From zumba and yoga to a workshop on “Communication at Home,” no leaf was left unturned. Corps members had to work tirelessly to in-kind snacks, and to make personal phone calls to ensure that Empower New York would be well attended.

There were plenty of bumps along the way, and all involved were nervous that such a big event would fall flat. What if we have no food? What if my students don’t bring their families? What if there is no bouncy house? As May 4^th crept closer, many of us felt the pressure and anxiety that all our hard work would be in vain. The entire zone began to arrive at 8:30 in the morning to start the set-up. There were balloons! There was masking tape!

There was heavy lifting galore! Everyone found some way to lend a helping hand. The weather was beautiful, and after  a few hours the small parking lot outside of I.S. 302 had been transformed into a well-organized (and well-decorated) family fair. Yet still, as 12:00 quickly approached, we worried: now that we have built it, will they come?

As it turned out, no one was disappointed. Actually, many were pleasantly surprised. There was a steady stream of families arriving throughout the event. So steady, in fact, that the lines in front of the bouncy house and the face painting station did not disappear until the stations were shut down shortly before 5:00. At that time, everyone made their way over to the make-shift holding dock stage for the closing ceremony.

All of the families crowded around to watch a performance of I.S. 302’s  karate club, and then cheered on a dance crew of students from Sheepshead Bay High School.

This performance was a particular highlight—a group of poised young women, matching in green cargo pants and black shirts, who had been brought together by corps member Cole Carothers.

All of the uniformed City Year members watching were beaming with pride, as we got to show off the kind of amazing opportunities that we get to organize and be a part of with our students.

As the event came to a close, the happily exhausted Bridge Builders gave one final push to clean up the space, and circled up to share joys of the day before heading home. It is safe to say that Empower New York can be accurately summed up in the words of a fourth grader from P.S. 345: “Best. Party. Ever.”

On June 6, we will graduate the 10th City Year New York corps! Please join us to celebrate our 294 corps members and the tremendous service these leaders have provided to students this year!

Thursday, June 6, 2013
3:00 PM

Newtown High School
48-01 90th Street, Elmhurst, NY 11373

Click here for more information! To RSVP, please email Evan Neubauer, Events and Alumni Project Leader.

The sun was out, the skies were clear, and the students could not be more ready to compete in what was about to become the first annual P.S. 130/M.S. 302 After School Olympics! For several weeks prior to the event, they had waited in anticipation as they heard whispers of this exciting event: “An Olympics?” “Will it be anything like the real Olympics?” “Do we at least get to go outside?” When the day finally came, they were ecstatic to find that as promised, they were going to participate in a series of awesome events planned by two fantastic City Year teams!

The event took place on Thursday, April 25^th at P.S. 130 Abrams Stevens Hewitt Elementary School, almost as soon as school was dismissed.  Once everyone arrived at P.S. 130, the students were placed on teams that integrated kids from both schools. Of course, not a single team moved until team names were established, such as the “Thunderbirds” and the “Excellents”. As each student was led by a City Year Corps Member, they ventured from activity to activity, where they competed against other teams in events like a three-legged race, an egg-relay, and even a team wheel-barrow race!  While students had the opportunity to earn points for succeeding in a given activity, they also earned points for participation, positivity, and great sportsmanship.  Now if that already doesn’t sound like a blast, the Corps Members also provided the students with some delicious healthy snacks to make sure they remained hydrated and energized throughout the event!

As soon as the event concluded with a closing ceremony, the questions that came from students no longer concerned the details about the event, or what type of Olympics it was, but rather, “When are we doing this again?” Needless to say, the event was a huge success, allowing our students to demonstrate their teamwork and collaboration skills.  Ideally, this event provided the foundations for what is to become a long-lasting partnership between the P.S. 130 and M.S. 302 City Year teams. Thanks to Capital One for making this event a reality!

After discussing topics that included the stagnant recovery in Europe, a day in the life at Centerbridge and some of their business operations, the conversation moved to philanthropy. When our moderator asked how he finds value in philanthropic enterprises, Jeff responded, “Philanthropy for us is an investment – it’s not just giving money, it’s not just giving time. It’s investing our time, it’s investing our capital for a return.”

Later Jeffery described what attracted the Centerbridge Foundation and his personal philanthropy to City Year. “What we like about City Year is it leverages its capital, so there are multiple impacts. There are impacts on the corps members who are actually teaching, leading, and really getting work experience. It’s impactful upon the students and the schools who are receiving the benefit and we love that.”

Before the conversation started we heard from our Executive Director, Erica Hamilton, corps member, Sabine Shaughnessy and one of the students she works with every day, Brenda. “I currently serve at P.S. 112 in Long Island City, Queens, helping struggling students in Mrs. Tursi’s 5^th grade class through one-on-one tutoring and mentoring,” shared Sabine. “However, what motivates me to put forth my best effort every day is seeing my students become confident leaders both in and outside of school.”

This confidence was demonstrated as Brenda took the stage to offer a firsthand account of how City Year’s in-class support and afterschool programs have helped her prepare for the state math test. “In a few months I am going to graduate and I am proud to be on track in math, going to middle school ready for success!”

As we ended this year’s breakfast, City Year Inc. trustee, Jonathan Lavine, shared his long-standing commitment to the organization he came to know 22 years ago (he joked that he has been involved with City Year since before Sabine was born) and challenged the room to raise more than $310,000, the amount raised at a similar breakfast at City Year Boston. Thanks to a generous, anonymous match we have already raised $237,000 and are on our way to meeting that goal.

They [City Year] have a laser focus, they hit the right issues, they do it well, and there has never been a day in the last 22 year that I did not think City Year was good stewards of our money and good stewards of the time and the students they work with. –Jonathan Lavine, City Year Inc. Board of Trustees  

We would like to thank Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Todd Lang for hosting this event.

And a final thank you to our Investment Community Board (listed below) and to all of our attendees for their forward-minded investment in City Year.

REED CARROLL
DREW CHIN
DAVID de LAUREAL
BEN FARKAS
JUSTIN FRANKEL
SHREYAS GUPTA
WILDER HARVARD
BRAD HATHAWAY
TYLER HENRITZE
DAVID HOBBS
NICK RENWICK
DOUG ROSS
EDWARD SOBOL

More than 150 young professionals joined the Associate Board for their annual fundraiser.

A special thanks to Associate Board members Matt Cunha, Shriya Kapoor, Meredith Levy, Justin McEvily, Brian Snyder, and Anne Wellde who imagined and executed the event flawlessly. Congratulations to all of our raffle and auction winners who won a wide range of exciting prizes; among them is Michael Blank, who won two tickets to the 2014 NFL Superbowl!

On the left is Michael Blank, the winner of our Super Bowl tickets raffle.

It was also our privilege to host corps member Jill Leahy who shared her story about serving students for a second year at PS 345 in East New York, Brooklyn. Thanks for your incredible service, Jill, and thanks to the 293 other corps members in New York City who are giving a year of their lives to make an impact where it’s needed most.

To view more photos of the event, check out our Flickr page. For more information about how you can get involved in City Year New York’s Associate Board, contact Alice Pak at apak@cityyear.org for more information.

Earth Day is recognized nationally as a day to get your hands dirty, and work to help make our environment healthier. This year over a billion people internationally were estimated to participate in activities on the day. On Monday, April 22nd, the City Year New York Civic Engagement Team joined forces with Mann Investments, Global Infrastructure Partners, and P.S. 59 in Brooklyn to celebrate the day.

“I believe this service day is very important. It shows our students that there are people from outside their neighborhood, from other parts of New York City, that care about them.”

- Dawn Best, Principal, P.S. 59 

P.S. 59, located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, has been struggling with budget cuts, and low staff moral in recent months.  The service day was meant to draw attention to Earth Day as well as adding a spark of energy to the school going into the last two months of school. City Year, together with the volunteers, re-invigorated the school yard and garden. Volunteers completed the construction of ten flower boxes  four garden beds, three benches and a picnic table. Along with the construction projects, the City Year team and volunteers added two murals to the back play yard along with hop scotch, four square and other playground games.

All the projects were met with a wonderfully positive response from teachers and students. The day ended with students from the school coming outside to see all of the projects, talk to the volunteer and offer their appraisal of the work. A first grade boy had especially strong praise for the volunteers, saying “This stuff is really, really cool! I’d give it 20 thumbs up if I had that many arms!”

Participating in the day’s event was Mayor Bloomberg, who issued a Proclamation that was read at our dinner, later that night. Text from the Proclamation included:

As we celebrate the impact of giving back, it is fitting that City Yew New York’s Ripples of Hope gala is this evening as well.  Over the past decade, City Year New York’s Corps Members have donned their distinctive red jackets and helped boost gradation rates at city public schools to all-time highs.  Together, they present a terrific example of how a single group of civic-minded and fired-up pioneers can engage the next generation of leaders in service and volunteerism.

We invite you to come see and read the Proclamation which is now hanging in our office. Thank you Mayor Bloomberg for this recognition. We would also like to thank First Deputy Mayor, Patty Harris for joining us at our Ripples of Hope dinner to share this proclamation.

True to any City Year event, the highlight of the night was when our Corps Member keynote speaker, Bettina Hahn-Lawson, shared her experience working with off-track students. Eileen Rutherford, the teacher she collaborates with every day, shared, “Bettina jumped right in [on the first day], identifying the most difficult students and making personal connections with them,” as she welcomed Bettina to the stage.

One of the students Ms. Rutherford was referring to was Jordan*, who was notorious at P.S. 130 for his behavior and academic challenges. After weeks of one way conversation, Bettina finally had a break through with him, when they realized that they faced similar struggles with their fathers in their lives.

“The wall he built around himself is slowing coming down and I believe I helped take down that first brick that morning we worked on multiplication and talked about our fathers. He knows he can come to me with anything and everything—and having that assurance has done wonders for his academic performance. More important than his grades, is the way he now walks into class believing that he can achieve remarkable things.”

Bettina is one of 295 corps members, whose impact was repeated throughout the night, from students who shared their personal experience working with City Year. “My City Year, Mr. Michael, makes me feel that I can be a leader in my community,” said Mya Huger, 4^th grade student from PS 149. “He makes me feel like I have a future, and that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.” Wilven Laguar, a student who joined the Newtown High School Breakdance Club, a City Year attendance initiative, found that “breakdancing has not only taught me about the history of hip-hop but also the importance of hard work, discipline, and finishing what I set out to do. These are lessons I use in the classroom and will be with me for the rest of my life.”

For many in the room, last night was the first opportunity to meet and hear from our Executive Director, Erica Hamilton. Erica joined City Year last summer to help fight our city’s dropout crisis, a crisis that is too familiar to her, having attended a Bronx public school that today would be considered a ‘dropout factory.’ “I faced a future where the odds were not stacked in my favor,” she said. “I know that the woman standing before you today wouldn’t exist if not for individuals and role models outside of my family, who invested in me and my potential when I needed it most. That’s exactly what each and every one of the young people wearing red jackets tonight represents.”

The night would not be complete without celebrating the champions who helped build City Year New York and we were grateful to have Chelsea Clinton, the Ripples of Hope Honorary Chair, help us set the stage for their presentation. Chelsea’s remarks transported the audience to the dinner table of one of America’s most iconic families. She shared memories from a night more than 20 years earlier, when then Governor Bill Clinton first visited City Year in Boston, and was inspired by what he saw. Since that first meeting, Chelsea and the Clinton family have done everything they could to support the work of City Year because of the passion and energy that our corps members bring to students and schools. Chelsea also captured a special feature of City Year’s culture that sometimes goes unnoticed— the organization is both serious and data-driven, while also being fun for those who share in its traditions. .

Before we brought our honorees to the stage we shared the video below that celebrates them and the first Ten Years of City Year New York.

In addition to celebrating the success of our first ten years, we looked ahead to what is next for City Year New York. Last year, City Year launched an ambitious Long-Term Impact strategy that will deepen our focus in the neighborhoods we currently serve, and will ask us to more than double the size of our corps, so we can reach nearly 15,000 off-track students each year. As Erica closed her remarks she announced, “this is our challenge as we enter our second decade in New York City, and we hope we can continue to count on you to help us in that charge.”

2013 Honorees:
Max and Dale Berger | Seven Generations Honorees
The Bloomberg Administration | Up the River Honoree
David Caplan | Be the Change Honoree
Itai Dinour | Never Doubt Honoree
Ken Grouf | Love and Joy Honoree
Jed Herrmann | It’s In Your Hands Honoree
Jill Iscol | Moccasins Honoree
Nancy & Fred Poses | Bridge Builder Honorees
Mithra Ramaley | Long Walk Honoree

Dinner Sponsors:
Presenting Sponsor: Garden City Group
Testimonial Sponsor: TowerBrook  
Shoulders of Giants Sponsor: Alcoa
Family and Students Sponsor: ING

To see more photos please click here.

Photo Credit: David Andrako

*some of our students names have been changed

Incoming CYNY corps member Xaundrae Tingling

What does it mean to you to be able to serve with City Year in your hometown of New York City?

[XT] “It means everything to me to return for service in my hometown as a participant in the City Year program. Growing up,  I participated in a number of different after-school programs such as the Boys Club Of New York and the Liberty Partnership Prize Program. I was a very shy adolescent.  In these programs I was encouraged to be more independent; to speak up; to find my own voice and to speak up with my opinions. I have come full circle. To give back to kids from my hometown now is a great privilege.”

What is something you’ll take away from your relationship with Dean Wright that you’ll bring to the students you’ll be working with in New York City?

[XT] “The most important thing I will take away from Dean Wright is the nudge to find my own passion. Too many people go through life without finding that “thing” which brings them to life. Dean Wright always reminds me that finding one’s passion is one of the most important things an individual can do. Discovering one’s passion gives a person a sense of purpose and dedication in life.  If I can help some of the kids to find their passion early on, perhaps that will give them the drive to succeed and rise above the situations they face.”

How has a Morehouse education prepared you for a year with City Year?

[XT] “Morehouse College places importance on producing graduates with social conscience. We are expected to seek positive change not only for ourselves but for the community as well.  Morehouse boasts a legacy of distinctive alumni who have championed social change. Men like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Calvin Butts, and Michael Lomax just to name a few. This strong legacy has inspired me to now take my place in the community and in the lives of young people in my own way.”

When did you first learn about the importance of service?

[XT] “I was first introduced the importance of service when I joined the Boys Club of New York. It was then that I recognized that many of the kids who came as participants at clubhouses did not have a strong support system to help encourage them or give them direction. I witnessed first-hand how the men and women at the Boys Club functioned not only as role models for the kids, but also as a buffer between them and negative societal  influences.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Dean Wright and Xaundrae Tingling

How did you hear about City Year?

[HWJ] As a lifelong advocate for youth and alum 82’, I am proud to serve as Associate Dean for Student Services here at Morehouse College.   In this capacity, it is my privilege to work not only with very gifted students, but alongside many skilled professions in the area of Student Affairs, including the Director of Career Planning and Placement.  Over the years, working with students one on one to clarify their goals, then to chart the course toward those goals, I was introduced to the City Year program as one of several vital opportunities available through the AmeriCorps organization.  While a number of our students have taken advantage of other AmeriCorps programs such as the Peace Corps and Teach for America, for example, I have not seen near the same buzz about the City Year program within the AUC (Atlanta University Center).  Xaundrae will be somewhat of a trailblazer in taking on the challenge.  I believe he is the right man for the job!

Why are students from Morehouse a great fit for City Year and other AmeriCorps programs?

[HWJ] Historically, Morehouse men have been groomed to be socially conscious, global citizens; men who are not only concerned with their own uplift and well-being but, that of the larger community, society and world around them.  For students looking to take a break between college and graduate school or that permanent vocation, I recognize many shared values & common goals in the philosophy of AmeriCorps programs.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in serving with City Year?

[HWJ] I would advise any student interested in serving with City Year or any other related program to do your homework on program options.  They come in different shapes and sizes.  Read the fine print to be certain you identify the best fit for you!  Be ready to serve.  This is not the space to enjoy a year of leisure and pampering!  Be honest with yourself regarding expectations and what you are looking for.

What’s are you hoping Xaundrae will get out of the program?

[HWJ] My hope for Xaundrae is that he will not only enjoy a year of service, giving back to his home community but, that he will also use the year as a time of discernment to gain clarity about his future vocation.  Narrowing one’s goal, whatever it may be, is the first step toward setting the course ahead – graduate school, work, etc. etc.  For Xaundrae and many new graduates, the world represents many question marks!  The City Year experience can be an opportunity to not only give back but, to also get focused upon your own future agenda.  Indeed, may it be so!