Our Service Programs

Cleveland School-Based Service Programs

City Year Cleveland's school-based service is at the heart of City Year's "Whole School, Whole Child" approach to transformative change in the lives of children and their school environment. With initiatives tailored to meet community and school needs, City Year Cleveland's 60 corps members serve in schools as:

Tutors
Mentors
Role models
Leaders of after-school programs (Starfish, Young Heroes, City Heroes) and vacation camps

Tutoring Woodland Hills - Photoshop Edited

When serving in the schools of Cleveland, corps members provide one-on-one and small group tutoring. The corps help students who may not receive enough attention to succeed academically due to class size or other class dynamics. Corps members also participate in the following specialized City Year Cleveland programs:

Lunch Buddies offers opportunities for corps members to visit with students to discuss life, homework, books, etc.
Student mentorship through extracurricular programs like Leadership Council, physical fitness, newspaper and arts clubs.
Support the Cleveland High School Transition Program - Help eighth and ninth grade students successfully navigate the hurdles of preparing for and starting high school through structured programs and activities.
Support Victory & Beyond - Work closely with community partners and corporate volunteers to help prepare high school students for post-secondary job, career, or educational opportunities.
Book Clubs - Book clubs can inspire independent reading and a passion for lifelong learning. City Year Cleveland school teams work with teachers to identify titles and authors to which they would like to expose students. The school teams then recruit students, distribute the selected books and facilitate before and after school book clubs. Book clubs will focus on Tears of a Tiger, Trouble Don't Last, Bud Not Buddy, The Pact and Forged by Fire in 2008.

Youth Leadership and After-School Programs

One of the import ways corps members share their belief in service and their commitment to helping children is by leading programs that teach elementary, middle school, and high school students about their ability to make a difference in their communities.

	Young Heroes develop middle-school youth into emerging civic leaders through community service and an interactive curriculum that focuses on social and community issues. This five-month program brings together students to work in diverse teams, serve a minimum of 80 hours and, in the process, earn the President's Volunteer Service Award. More details and an application are available.
	City Heroes engages high school students in civic leadership development, teamwork and problem solving activities that build their awareness and understanding of social issues in their community, such as interactive lessons, debates related to a monthly topic, and hands-on community service.
	Starfish Corps is an after-school program designed for elementary school students to convey the importance of community issues by combining games and academic enrichment activities with community outreach, environmental awareness, and culture and diversity appreciation. Click here to read Starfish Stories submitted by individual Cleveland corps members about their experiences tutoring and mentoring students.
	Camp City Year is a positive day camp experience conducted during spring break, providing assistance to working parents while teaching the core City Year values of diversity, service and responsibility. Cleveland corps members run two camps – one on the east side of Cleveland and one on the west – to accommodate children across the city.

Community Transformation

In addition to helping schools and students reach new heights, City Year corps members transform communities through physical service projects such as:

Painting murals - CSX employees joined City Year Cleveland to paint murals at one of Cleveland's Boys and Girls Clubs in 2007.
Planting gardens - Smith Barney employees joined City Year Cleveland for an Opening Day 2007-2008 service project at Cleveland's MLK High School.
Creating play spaces - CSX employees, again, team with City Year Cleveland to create add value to this play space at a Cleveland Boys and Girls Club location.
Renovating schools and refurbishing community centers - Alcoa employees work with City Year Cleveland to renovate and paint portions of Cleveland's Giddings K-8 School. Alcoa and the Alcoa Foundation are also Giddings' year-round corporate partner.