“I Dedicate this Jacket…”

“…To the giants who wore it before me.”
“…To those serving overseas.”
“…To hoping for a better tomorrow.”

On Friday, September 10th, we the City Year Los Angeles corps, completed our final day of BTA (Basic Training Academy). On this day we received our yellow bomber jackets, in the traditional Jacket Ceremony. There is no better way to mark the end of the beginning. On this last day of training, before our launch into a new service year in the great communities of LA, we the 2010 – 2011 CYLA corps became a mighty force in yellow. We are now full fledged teams. We now wear the uniform that children in schools around the country will recognize as a symbol of love, safety, inspiration, and so much more.

This jacket will help us throughout the year. Sometimes it will feel like a cape, as unfamiliar children will call out to us, smiling, as if we are super heroes they’ve seen in action.  At other times, it will be a symbol and a reminder of our purpose. When we look at our bombers, we will think back on the early days, remembering how excited we were to meet those kids and incorporate all the skills we learned in the past weeks and remember why we chose to give a year and change the world. We will remember who and what we dedicated those bombers to, and why.

“…To my ancestors, who survived slavery, Jim Crow… and here I am now.”
“…To my mom, who dedicated her life to me.”
“…To my beloved community… Los Angeles.”

This year, we will perform over 350,000 hours service by supporting students at 14 LAUSD elementary and middle schools, developing middle and high school students as leaders in their community and beautifying the communities we serve. This is going to be an amazing year. We are going to do amazing things.

I dedicate my bomber to the 1,700 corps members across the nation serving alongside me, giving a year to make an impact, to do something bigger than ourselves. The people and communities we serve this year will never forget us, nor will we ever forget them. Thank you for your commitment. Thank you for proudly wearing that City Year bomber.

By Lorena Fiori, Team Leader at Normandie Avenue Elementary

Remembering 9/11

We spent Saturday, September 11 in service. In honor of the memory of that day’s events, the City Year staff and all 200 corps members helped Mayor Villaraigosa and other community groups clean up the Stanford Avalon Community Garden in South LA. It was a beautiful day to serve our community.  Check out some pictures below!

Pictured from left: Gabby Torres, Mayor Villaraigosa, Christine Castillo, and Willie Smith

Corps members cleaning up debris.

Mayor Villaraigosa and a group of first year corps members.

CYLA Graduation 2010!

It was a big night for yellow and we’re not just talking about the Lakers!

Graduation PT

Last night we celebrated the accomplishments of the 2010 City Year Los Angeles corps during CYLA’s graduation ceremony held at the Aratari Japan/America Theater in Little Tokyo. We were joined by over 400 community partners, sponsors,  friends and family members and were honored to have special guest Jason Bateman deliver the keynote address.  The night also featured a beautiful musical performance by team leaders Sarah Espinosa and Lucia Mota and an inspirational speech by corps member Christine Castillo. This year’s corps performed over 250,000 hours of service and made a difference in the lives of over 2,000 children. Clearly, we had much to celebrate.

Congratulations to the 2010 CYLA corps!

Corps members Tommy Dierkes and Laura Mariscal with Jason Bateman

2010 City Year Los Angeles Corps

A Recap of In School & On Track: A National Leadership Summit

By Audrey Kuo, City Year Los Angeles corps member

“All of our jobs in this room – young people, adults, we educators – we have the responsibility to unlock the potential of every young person that we come into contact with. More than ever, our students need to be engaged with a personalized learning experience.”

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines was addressing a room that included people I wouldn’t normally have considered educators – philanthropists, executive vice presidents from multi-billion dollar corporations, producers from film and television.  But as he spoke, I realized that everyone attending City Year’s National Summit was there for the same reason – to reach out to young people and guide them on a path to lifelong success.

Throughout the summit, I was inspired to see not only the diverse corps members from across the City Year network, but the diversity of the people gathered in the ballroom of the Century Plaza Hotel, all working alongside us to end the high school dropout crisis.  The summit illustrated the importance of communication and collaboration, and of sharing strategies with other organizations and showing our impact to potential champions.  The data that City Year released proves how successful national service can be, providing what City Year President Jim Balfanz called a “second shift of caring adults” to support students.

But just as important as the hard numbers were the moving testimonials that corps members provided about the students they worked with.  In one video, a corps member’s eyes watered as she described the joy of a student receiving a 99 on a math test; at the beginning of the year, he had been unable to add or comprehend word problems.

City Year is growing, and as we continue to scale our impact and our mission to turn dropout factories into diploma factories, it will be important to remember the young people behind the statistics.  In Los Angeles, expanding the corps to 430 would mean giving 430 idealistic young people the chance to have one of those breakthrough moments.  It would mean reaching 33,100 students by putting a caring adult in each and every one of their lives.

The core values of City Year are a dynamic tension between the power of individuals working separately and our power working together as a team.  We are part of a 1,550-person strong oxymoron, a reminder that even the largest movement succeeds only when every single member does his or her part.

Closing Out the Summit Strong

By Patrick Kelly, City Year Los Angeles corps member

Garnished with chicken wraps and iced tea, the summit’s closing luncheon Wednesday afternoon was intended to reinforce the themes of the summit and inspire the audience to service.

It began with a focus on CYLA. Board member Ben Goldhirsh, who was instrumental in founding the Los Angeles site, explained that City Year’s proven tactics for success against the dropout crisis made it an obvious choice in confronting the city’s great educational needs. Donning a City Year bomber jacket and likening it to a superhero’s cape, he said that no other organization matches City Year’s efficiency.

Kerry Sullivan, president of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, praised City Year and spoke of her company’s long sponsorship of Young Heroes, City Year’s weekend service-learning program for middle school students. The Young Hero of the Year award went to 13-year-old B. J. from Seattle. He loved making a difference in his community, and he said Young Heroes is his favorite activity. Playing off City Year’s slogan “Give a year, change the world,” he declared, “Give me a chance, and I will change the world.”

Michael Brown, CEO and co-founder of City Year, gave big appreciations to City Year’s sponsors and partners. The equation “knowledge equals responsibility” has greatly influenced him, he said, and we have a moral obligation to serve. City Year must take its next steps to scale up operations, even against the odds. He couldn’t wait to get back to work to get kids in school and on track.

Other guest speakers included:

• Shirley Sagawa, Visiting Fellow, Center for American Progress; Author, The American Way to Change
• Stephanie Wu, Senior Vice President & Chief Program Design and Evaluation Officer, City Year, Inc.
• Sean Holleran, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, City Year, Inc.