City Year believes in the potential of all students, especially those from low-income communities that attend under-resourced schools.
In an effort to bring out the best in those students, City Year Los Angeles was founded in 2007 as part of an education-focused national organization whose roots date back to 1988 in Boston.
“For the last 11 years in L.A., we have been partnering with local schools to keep kids on track to graduate from high school,” said Jonathan Lopez, the nonprofit’s managing director of impact.
Specifically, City Year L.A. partners with elementary, middle and high schools that serve children from impoverished neighborhoods who are more likely to experience trauma and are less likely to finish high school.
“In our program, we leverage AmeriCorps members to work in schools with students to help with their academic, social and emotional character strength, and we provide mentorship,” Lopez said.
The AmeriCorps is a federal civil society program that engages adult volunteers in public service work all over the United States.
With more than 250 AmeriCorps volunteers in classrooms in 31 schools across the Los Angeles Unified School District, the organization is making efforts to close the education gap with its Whole School Whole Child service model.
Through this model, AmeriCorps members between 17 and 25 years of age are placed in schools where they serve as additional resources for teachers and principals to improve all-around outcomes on campus.
“By deploying young people who are idealistic, who want do service for communities and are close in age to students, they can really help leverage positive growth,” Lopez said.
Many of the volunteers are at their assigned school sites all day, greeting students as they walk through the gates every morning, running after-school programs, helping them with their homework and providing free tutoring.
That added instructional time at the end of school is one of numerous ways the nonprofit seeks to address the needs on campus, Lopez said, which many schools can’t meet because of under resourcing.
And during school hours, these young volunteers run activities during lunch and recess “to encourage team building.”
But while the academic successes of City Year L.A. are apparent in its results, including a 2015 finding that showed an improvement in math and English assessment scores from schools partnering with the nonprofit, it recognizes that it is more than just about better test scores.
“It’s about social and emotional strength as well,” Lopez said. “[City Year L.A.] does work with students who struggle with attendance. When necessary, we refer students to school administrators to help students with those challenges.”
Besides providing behavior coaching, the organization also “runs a curriculum that helps with character strength like perseverance and optimism,” which supports students’ academic careers.
Though City Year’s influence is vast, reaching more than 320 schools across the country and serving close to a quarter of a million students, there is still a local need for more support in under resourced and underserved schools.
While the nonprofit hopes to expand its programs with more funding, it is also seeking to increase the diversity of its AmeriCorps volunteers. Because boys of color experience unique challenges in school and often live in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, the organization is actively recruiting more men of color to serve as role models to them.
In this way, Lopez said, City Year L.A. hopes to serve “the communities we’re in more deeply around L.A.”
INFORMATION BOX
Local Executive Director: Mary Jane Stevenson
Years in operation: 11
Annual budget: $13.5 million
Number of employees: 63 full-time, 270 AmeriCorps members
Location: 606 S. Olive St., 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, 90014
Title II, the $2 billion grant program for teacher development, will likely remain intact for fiscal year 2018, despite President Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate the program entirely.
Congressional leaders unveiled a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill last night, and the House has already passed the package. The Senate must act by midnight on Friday to avoid a government shutdown. Trump is expected to sign the bill.
Title II money is used for teacher professional development and class-size reduction. Trump’s budget proposal eliminated the grant program, saying that the money is “spread too thinly to have a meaningful impact on student outcomes. In addition, there is limited evidence that teacher professional development … has led to increases in student achievement.” This is not a new argument—the Obama administration also questioned the effectiveness of the program and decreased its budget from nearly $3 billion to about $2.3 billion.
But the proposal to eliminate Title II sparked backlash among the education community. Title II advocates said state and district leaders are working to improve professional development, in large part due to the Every Student Student Succeeds Act, which calls for PD programs to be evidence-based….
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MADISON — The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction received a one-year federal AmeriCorps Farm to School grant that will place 28 AmeriCorps members in 16 host sites to build capacity for farm to school programs in local communities, provide nutrition education, and increase access to local foods.
“When kids have a chance to grow their own food in a school garden or learn about nutrition by making their own snacks, amazing things happen not just in the classroom but at home and across the community,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers. “We’re really excited to bring the AmeriCorps Farm to School program to DPI and continue this great economic development effort that touches so many.”
Farm to school programs bring local or regionally produced foods into school cafeterias and classrooms, offer hands-on learning activities such as school gardening, farm visits, and culinary classes; and integrate food-related education into the classroom curriculum. For example, a fourth-grade lesson has students identify the parts of plants that people eat: roots, such as carrots, potatoes, and beets; flowers, such as broccoli and cauliflower; stems, such as celery, asparagus, and leeks; seeds, such as corn, peas, and lima beans; leaves, such as kale, lettuce, and turnip greens; and fruits, such as peppers, cucumbers, and pumpkins. Another lesson, “Dirt Made My Lunch,” traces foods that children eat back to the soil through American Sign Language, song, and other activities.
By using food to build connections between schools and local farmers and food producers, farm to school programs have boosted economies by creating new jobs and providing crucial support to farm incomes. By some estimates, each dollar invested in farm to school programming stimulates an additional 60 cents to $2.16 in economic activity. Additionally, farm to school programs increase student meal participation and decrease school meal program costs. The $402,694 grant requires an in-kind match from participating communities and provides a stipend to AmeriCorps members, who serve in nutrition education and community outreach roles.
AmeriCorps nutrition educators will help teachers and school nutritionists by developing and implementing nutrition programs that will educate children about the benefits of making healthy eating choices. AmeriCorps members will assist with creating and implementing healthy food curricula, including school or community garden development, taste-testing programs, cooking classes, and farm field trips.
The community outreach members will serve as the main liaison between the schools and the community. They will educate food service directors about sourcing local, healthy foods for the school districts they serve and will create an action plan, laying out the steps necessary to procure local food for their programs. They will also be responsible for recruiting and mobilizing volunteers to enhance and increase the capacity of the AmeriCorps Farm to School program. This will include organizing a Farm to School Task Force within the school or community to promote program sustainability.
The AmeriCorps Farm to School program was previously administered by the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. The program is in its 10th year of operation.
Wisconsin AmeriCorps Farm to School Sites
Ashland School District
Bayfield School District
Beloit School District
Crawford County UW-Extension, Prairie du Chien
Fort HealthCare, Fort Atkinson
Milwaukee – 16th Street Community Health Center
Oregon School District
REAP Food Group, Madison
Spooner Area School District
Stevens Point YMCA
Tri- County Health Departments – Adams, Marquette, Juneau Counties
Title II, the $2 billion grant program for teacher development, will likely remain intact for fiscal year 2018, despite President Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate the program entirely.
