The participants of Howard University’s Blue and Gold Week journeyed to the Transition Academy at Shadd Elementary School, a special education school, to assist City Year in a day of service.
An AmeriCorps program, City Year was founded in 1988 on the belief that young people can change the world. This youth service corps program unites 1,500 young people ages 17-24 for a year of full-time community service, leadership development and civic engagement.
Throughout the course of the six-hour event this past weekend, the volunteers and City Year members painted more than 20 murals of well-known social figures including Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks and President Barack Obama. The paintings were accompanied by famous quotations.
Although City Year representatives have come to Howard on numerous occasions to promote knowledge of their efforts, students still do not have a widespread understanding of the organization.
“I’ve heard of City Year, but honestly I wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from Jump Start,” said Tony Johnson, a sophomore political science major.
Those who participate in City Year offer school-based service by serving as tutors, role models and mentors all the while participating in youth leadership and community transformation.
Each member is equipped with a T-Mobile cell phone, a uniform including Timberland boots, a metro card and a weekly stipend, but the City Year members goals go far beyond obtaining payment for their services.
Consistent with City Year’s philosophy to unite children with “near peers,” City Year team members like Justin Fogata, a graduate of George Mason University, and Adria Anderson, a Howard University alumna, believe in City Year’s commitment to making changes in the lives of children everywhere.
City Year members work in diverse settings. Fogata, one of the team leaders for Saturday’s community service, works as an advisor for HIV and AIDS awareness within the program. Anderson works as an after-school tutor in whatever subject necessary.
City Year’s D.C. operation has become especially successful in recent years with the election of Michelle A. Rhee as the chancellor of D.C. public schools. Rhee has made an effort to support the program’s involvement in schools.
“I have been pleased to work with City Year this year to provide more small group and one-on-one support to our students,” Rhee said. “Especially in systems undergoing significant reform, I have seen directly how powerful quality one-on-one and small group support can be in challenging our students to higher achievement levels.”
According to The Washington Post, in April of last year, President Obama signed a $5.7 billion national service act that has nearly tripled the size of AmeriCorps, the federal initiative which fuels City Year.
These funds assist City Year Corps members in raising graduation rates in public school systems by increasing the amount of tutoring and mentoring programs and staff to facilitate them.
“City Year is definitely not an easy job. You don’t get paid as much as you probably would like, and it’s definitely tiring. But the smiles on those kids’ faces and the difference you make at the end of each day is definitely worth it,” Anderson said.
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