Weeks 16 & 17: Celebrating

Some teammates while on a tour of graduate schools in Chicago

Proud students

Our first VIP lounge to honor students who have made improvements in behavior

Mingling at the school staff holiday party

Sorting through boxes of donations from Borders!

Our team at the City Year holiday party

This week was full of:  events!  Our Word Warriors literacy celebration was a hit, as was the first VIP lounge.  Also: long nights at the office, motivating discussions with our Assistant Principal and Jewan (our Program Director), the school staff holiday party at a nearby restaurant, writing about 70 holiday cards and notes to students and staff, giving and receiving constructive criticism from my teammates during our 360 exercise, distributing Candy Cane-grams to students in their classes as part of a fundraiser, visiting graduate programs, and the City Year holiday party.

Quotes of the weeks:  "Ms. Lewis, why will you teach elementary school?  You should teach high school so you can stay at our school."  - A Junior (who was particularly challenging at first)    

"From now until June, you all need to do more.  This is not about you - this is about what you're doing.  If you want to be more impactful, you can be.  No one is stopping you.  I look at you in a certain way because I believe you can do greatness at all times." - Jewan, our Program Director, during our roundtable discussion

"(The principals) and the rest of the school leadership were all raving about the City Year event. We are definitely changing the culture and atmosphere of the school." - Alonzo, our program manager, via email

"Ms. Lewis, would you make me one promise?  If I graduate, will you be in the stands watching with my family?"  - A sophomore <3

Excerpts from writing by my wonderful freshmen:
- "I, Angelique, am beautiful - not because of the curve of my hips of the shape of my body, or the curl of my eyelashes or the fullness of my lips; I am beautiful because God made me.  I am beautiful because I want to be... I am beautiful because I have confidence.  I am beautiful because I have goals and plan to reach them."
- "Every day a different victim to a heinous black crime, every second bullets fly so we lose the track of time.  It's really too late to call it quits, and I have to see my friends in categories they don't fit."
- "I don't understand why people can't like me for me.  They see my outside and assume what type of person I am on the inside...  I don't understand why boys wanna be so-called thugs selling drugs to fit in... I don't understand why we are hurting each other.  Hey brother, that's your brother.  Hey brother, that's your sister, so why are we continually hurting one another?  I don't understand why, but what I do know is that the things I don't understand, my God knows why."
- "2010 wasn't my friend in the beginning, it isn't my friend now.  He's a monster that I'm scared of because I don't know what he'll do next... No money, no food.  But I never stop going to school.  I try and learn what I can because I  never want to experience this again.  I learn in life that sometimes you have to sacrifice, for the good and for the bad, and sometimes it will make you mad.  But I learn to keep moving on, cause in the end this will all be gone."
- "Why can't we walk down the street without getting killed, why can't we go to school without being threatened, why can't we go to the store without being robbed, why can't we go to school to get an education, why can't we look in the mirror and see something good for a change, why can't we have a drug free community, why can't we have a gang free community, why can't we be successful in life not just by playing sports, why can't we have peace in a black community..."

Ls:  Give others opportunities to take on tasks and decisions and leadership.  Don't hesitate to ask for help! Also, students thrive when given creative freedom. 

Joys:  Seeing students in the audience cheer and go crazy in support when one freshman reading his original poem said "whether I'm gay or straight, I'm me;" feeling the love and support of the Robeson City Year team and Andre when they came to help with our literacy night; seeing proud students invited to our VIP lunch; trying to soak up all the wisdom about life and working with others during our discussion with Jewan; seeing students smile when delivering candy cane-grams their friends purchased for them; being nominated and receiving a Fab Five award. :-)

Week 15: Super In-kinding

Hannah proudly opening our first items donated to start a new Art Club!

$9,000 worth of books donated by Borders

Team stockings!  Mine's the one with boots.

This week was full of:  More planning for our literacy night, visits at our school by two City Year executives, making the latest Service Briefing newsletter, selling Candy Cane-grams at school to raise money for a new Art Club, one sick day, and great conversation with Paula Hunt on a day off to job shadow her at Purdue Calumet college.


Quotes of the week:  "The most important things are to follow through with everything you say, and to really get to know your kids." - Paula Hunt, a professor of Special Education and one of my mentors

"I want to start treating people with respect and how I want them to treat me... and work on my anger management."  - A freshmen, during a spontaneous and wonderful conversation about life
 (Proudly, two days later: "I almost got in a fight yesterday, but I didn't!") 

 "You know, people talk so much about the projects, but I'll tell you, I have some goooood stories from living there.  Wooeee!"  - Random man and woman on the bus near my school

(Hannah and I discussing frustrations while walking back from dinner)
Stranger:  "You're teachers, right?"
Us: "Yeah, how did you know?"
Stranger:  "I'm a psychiatrist.... teachers are by far my largest client group because their job is so stressful.  Good luck."

Joys:  Discussing books with a sometimes-challenging student one day after school then finding out he actually went to the public library later and checked out the books I recommended, followed by an awesome conversation in which he set new goals for his behavior; writing a rap for a student who usually shuts down and having a better and more responsive relationship with him afterward; and in-kinding like crazyyyy (we got our first items in the mail for the new Art Club, Phil secured 300 candy canes, and we got $9,000 worth of books donated by Borders!).

Week 14: Rolling

Team and some students spirit-breaking after homework help

Ms. Serrano after we volunteered to help with an event to celebrate teen girls

The week was full of:  sooooo much planning for our upcoming literacy night.  I'm getting excited, though.  Also, starting to meet with a new student during lunch, feeling refreshed after a training day with the whole corps, getting frustrated with one student in particular who has taken steps backwards in the areas of "motivation and respect," creating hype about the literacy event, and offering to help at an event for teen girls that a security guard organized. 

 Quotes of the Week:  "City Year keeps me out of trouble!" - A rambunctious ninth-grader, bounding into our room for after-school help

"What's your slogan?  It's not 'give a year, keep the world the same'!" - Maggie Evans, an amazing teacher who leads our literacy trainings

"(When recently at the White House, President Obama and the First Lady) told me to please pass along to everyone at City Year a very big thank you for your work, and to let everyone know how much they appreciate City Year’s work across the country."     - Michael Brown, one of our founders, via email 

Joys:  One of my students was excited when I told her she'll be joining my lunches; a good day with the cheerleaders when they listened more than usual and argued less than usual (I think bringing granola bars helped); having our team rock on getting free stuff donated for our literacy night, VIP lounge, and candy cane fundraiser.