A proud City Year Boston Alumni, I served on the Chittick Elementary in team in the 16’-17’ corps year and returned 17’-18’ to serve on the illustrious Boston Civic Engagement Team. At the Chittick, I supported a 4th grade classroom with 25 amazing students. I discovered that if you want to learn a thing or two, talk to a 10 year-old. My 8 wonderful City Year teammates all supported me more than they’ll ever know. As a Service Leader on BCE, I spent every day with an amazing group of dedicated, resilient, hard-working people. We adventured across countless schools, community centers, and parks in Boston. We worked with amazing humans throughout Boston and were able to use our skills to improve learning environments! I will always be grateful to my BCE Team and VI Staff. That year was one of my favorite years to be alive.

I now have the honor of calling myself the Volunteer Impact Manager of the Boston Civic Engagement Team! I had way too much fun on BCE and I’m very grateful they let me come back! My Service Leaders serving on BCE 20’ are dedicated, lovely and truly amazing. I am at my core, a people person, something that becomes more and more evident as people ask me to talk about my life. Through City Year, I’ve been able to meet many people, from my 25 amazing 4th grade students to our lovely VICF staff team! They all make me very grateful that I get to exist in this world.

Please consider donating to City Year Boston so that we can have many more teams to come! 

In March, Boston Public Schools (BPS) announced the closure of all 125 schools citywide. These school closures left 50,000 Boston students without access to in-person schooling.  City Year Boston is working closely with BPS to provide innovative distance learning opportunities to students, adapting our Whole School Whole Child program model to suit virtual spaces.

While teachers continue to provide whole-class instruction using platforms like Google Classroom or Zoom, City Year’s AmeriCorps members are providing academic supports in English language arts/literacy and math by facilitating breakout groups, answering questions, and leading enrichment activities.  Our corps members are assisting teachers in planning lessons and reviewing students’ assignments and holding office hours to provide one-on-one and small-group tutoring.  Importantly, our AmeriCorps members are also supporting students’ social-emotional health and placing phone calls home to students and their families as a way to build connectedness, troubleshoot, and communicate updates. 

City Year Boston is one of the only partners to support Boston Public School students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

City Year’s support of virtual classrooms is a pivotal step in preventing learning loss and generating opportunities for new learning, as well as ensuring greater equity of experience among families who may not otherwise have the ability to facilitate in-home instruction.  Beyond this school year, City Year will continue to engage in the virtual space to support BPS students and will be in schools next year to support students when they will need more than ever.