Leadership through Public Arts: Eight High School Students, Two CY Corps Members and One Mural

Today’s guest blogger is Emmet Elliott, New York Civic Engagement (NYCE) Service Leader. Emmet serves as a Project Planner on the Civic Engagement team.

Every time I come into school, I can look up and be proud. I get to say ‘I did this!’ -Annika, 9th Grade Student, BASE High School, Brooklyn

Walking around the community looking for schools and community organizations to host a community service day is not the choice task for members of the NYCE team. Most walk-ins are fruitless, and people rarely have time for two paint-covered strangers talking about free benches.

That was the task of the day when my teammate Crosby Newcomer-Falk and I walked into Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment, or BASE, hoping to build them a rooftop garden. As usual however, no one could speak to us, so we left our project menu expecting that to be the end of it.

Luckily for us, I received an email a few days later inviting Crosby and I to meet with the Principal, AP and Student Council. After being thoroughly impressed by the student council’s presence and ideas, and realizing the school would not fit a corporate service day, we began brainstorming alternative methods of getting BASE their mural.  After throwing around a lot of ideas we pitched the idea of a five week after-school program training the students in painting their own mural. The school was on board.

In addition to preparing, designing and painting a mural branding their school, the eight students in the program participated in a variety of trainings and discussions centered on the topic of leadership. Students talked about the functions of a healthy team, took the MBTI test and crafted their own leadership statements.

The completed mural was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews. And, at the end of the program, City Year and TowerBrook Capital Partners came together to provide the students with a day of professional development to top off their achievement. The students, adding the student council to their ranks, were invited to the TowerBrook offices on 55th street and work with upper level professionals on their resumes and interview skills.

[This was a] really wonderful experience. [I] would love to follow up with the group top help them succeed in any way – through mentoring or professional development. -TowerBrook Volunteer

The scene of teamwork, collaboration and mentorship is hard to describe. Words cannot do justice to the spirit of common humanity exhibited by both the students and professionals. Resumes were created and perfects, mock interviews were given, emails were exchanged and laughter was shared by all. It is the only service day I’ve been to where all the volunteers left saying “this was too short, we needed more time.”

Easily my favorite complaint of the year.

To learn more about BASE, please visit: http://www.basehighschool.org 

Creating the Torch to Pass on at P.S. 130 in the South Bronx

Today’s blog post was written by Julie Anne Garretson, Team Leader at P.S. 130 in the South Bronx. Julie Anne’s team was one of the winners of this year’s brand new Capital One Mini-Grants Program, funding made available by Capital One to support corps member-led innovations to enhance City Year’s Whole School Whole Child service . Thank you to Capital One for making the below event possible.

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!

Investing in Education 2013

For the last three years, City Year New York has mobilized a group of rising leaders from prominent Hedge Fund and Private Equity firms in New York, who believe in us and help connect our organization to the broader investment community. Today thirteen of these professions comprise City Year New York’s Investment Community Board (ICB). The ICB held their 3^rd Annual Investment Community Breakfast this morning, that featured a conversation with Jeffery Aronson, Co-Founder of Centerbridge Partners L.P, moderated by Adam Johnson, Co-Anchor of Bloomberg TV’s Street Smart.

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

INFOGRAPHIC: Housing 101

Many City Year New York corps members face one of their most difficult challenges before they ever put on a Red Jacket. Moving to and finding an apartment in New York City can be an overwhelming experience. Luckily, we have nearly 300 experts who have successfully navigated this process and are happy to share their advice with next year’s corps as they begin their housing search.