 | You have to have folks with our students every single day, making a difference in their lives. That’s what City Year does, with its diversity, with its long-term commitment, with its passionate young people. There’s no one else I know in the country who is having that kind of impact.” -U.S. Secretary of Education,
Arne Duncan |  |
As full-time tutors and mentors, City Year corps members make a difference in children’s lives and help develop a new generation of leaders. City Year Columbia service programs include school-based service programs, youth leadership, and community transformation.
SCHOOL-BASED SERVICE PROGRAMS
City Year Columbia corps members serve as tutors, mentors, role models and leaders in elementary, middle and high schools in downtown Columbia. This school-based service model, called Whole School, Whole Child, helps create positive change in the lives of children and their school environments by improving student attendance, behavior and course performance -- all confirmed indicators for high school graduation.
Learn more about our Whole School Whole Child initiative: Watch the WSWC Video
Through the Whole School, Whole Child service model, corps members provide:
- Attendance Monitoring and Incentive Programs
- Corps members work closely with students to monitor and improve attendance through special initiatives and communications to parents and guardians.
- Behavioral Support
- Corps members coach students toward positive behavior through general instruction, mentoring and incentive programs.
- Course Performance: Math and English
- Corps members tutor one on one, in small groups and during whole class activities.
- After-school and Community Service Programming
- Corps members lead afterschool that reinforce learning and good behavior through homework assistance, enrichment activities and service projects that explore and address needs in students’ communities.
- Positive Climate of High Expectations and Civic Engagement
- Corps members lead youth leadership programs and community engagement events that foster leadership development, strong connections to the community and build students’ motivation to succeed and serve others.
YOUTH LEADERSHIP
One of the important ways City Year Columbia corps members share their belief in service and their commitment to helping children is by leading programs that teach middle school students about their ability to make a difference. Young Heroes is City Year’s premier youth leadership initiative, in which each Young Hero serves 75 hours one Saturday a month from September through May and earns the Silver Presidential Volunteer Service Award for their efforts.
Learn more about joining our Young Heroes program.
COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION
In addition to helping schools and students succeed, City Year corps members transform communities through physical service projects such as:
- Renovating schools
- Painting murals
- Planting gardens
- Creating playspaces
By engaging community members, corporate partners and civic leaders in this work, corps members help share the power of service to make positive, holistic change. Learn more about volunteer opportunities by contacting Heather Siegfried.