City Year Little Rock Mid-Year Summit

Back to the Basics- 2023

In the first week of January, Little Rock AmeriCorps Members took it Back to the Basics, for Mid-Year Summit. This week-long training for AmeriCorps Members was put together by City Year Little Rocks Learning and Experience Manager, Marlie Mehu. The week was filled to the brim with team-building exercises, guest speakers, and training sessions to help AmeriCorps Members add to their arsenal of tools used daily in their service to students and schools. On the first day, AmeriCorps members were welcomed back by the smiling faces of staff and got to work immediately. Corps members were spilt into teams, as these would be the people they would sit and mostly work with for the week. Small food pantries were cleaned in preparation for the upcoming MLK Day of Service, there was SEL roleplaying, and an informative session on DESSA 40.

Day two was fun and filled with AmeriCorps Member led informative sessions, a Mine Field relay, scavenger hunts, and a game of Equity Monopoly. Day three brought out the competitive side of the teams as they played an intense game of City Year Jeopardy. Selected AmeriCorps Members were a part of a panel discussion on ‘How Do You Tutor?’ and AmeriCorps Members soaked up information from Alumni Corps Members sharing their Service year(s) experiences. Day four prepared AmeriCorps Members for their next steps after graduation. AmeriCorps Members dressed in their best business casual and were split into groups based on their needs for Life After City Year, or what we know as LACY. AmeriCorps Members received help on how to write resumes, fine-tune LinkedIn profiles, and interview support. We finished the day with an informative session from an Alum of the City Year on workplace resilience. AmeriCorps Members were refreshed with new knowledge and ready to finish strong by the last day of the Mid-Year Summit.

Mid-Year Summit was a remarkable success. A HUGE shoutout to City Year Little Rock’s, Marlie Mehu, for spearheading such a successful and informative week for AmeriCorps Members.