New and returning Citizen Teachers from Charlotte, grounded in the belief that all members of a community can be part of closing the achievement gap, gathered for the first-ever Citizen Schools North Carolina Summer Citizen Teacher Social on August 1st to celebrate a year of success and to kick off apprenticeships for the fall.

As more than thirty guests from Bank of America, EMC, Microsoft and UNC Charlotte mingled with one another in the vast UNC Charlotte Center City ballroom, it became obvious that the Citizen Schools 2012-2013 school year was off to a strong start.

John Gilson, chair of the Citizen Schools North Carolina Advisory Board and Citizen Teacher of four Mock Trial apprenticeships at Eastway Middle School, shared a heartwarming story with attendees about why he volunteers with Citizen Schools.

During a recent Mock Trial WOW! at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, one of Mr. Gilson's apprentices, Tyrone, became visibly upset about the verdict, which was not in his team's favor. Mr. Gilson witnessed Tyrone crying and hugging his mother who had attended to show her support.

"I walked over to tell them exactly what I was thinking – I was honored that Tyrone cared so much about the apprenticeship that he cried in front of his classmates. To me, there is no better compliment as a Citizen Teacher than to see that one of your students truly cares. Also, I told Tyrone that he was fantastic and that he had nothing to be upset about. Tyrone was a fan favorite, several of the jurors and the Judge mentioned to me that Tyrone was exceptional. Tyrone’s mother mentioned to me that he wanted to be an attorney when he grew up. At that moment, I knew that I had far exceeded my goal of doing something meaningful."

Mr. Gilson then left the attendees with the following words of encouragement and thanks:

"Committing to a ten-week long apprenticeship, and to the countless hours spent preparing for class and preparing for your WOW! is a great sacrifice of your time. I hope that each of you looks back on the semester with fond memories, that you too found something meaningful, and most importantly, I hope that you all agree to volunteer again this coming school year."

The Research Triangle Park Headquarters was equally as packed the night before with Citizen Teachers from Durham. More than thirty volunteers from Cisco, Duke, EMC and Fidelity assembled in the front corridor for the same purpose as their Charlotte counterparts: education reform.

Robert Lake, a past Citizen Teacher for three semesters in Durham, shared his experience and gave accolades to the past year’s success. He concluded with encouraging words for the new semester.

Citizen Teachers also participated in a Twitter hashtag raffle. To be eligible for the raffle, attendees had to tweet that they were at the event and use a custom hashtag. Special shout out to Ed Lau, a Microsoft employee and Charlotte Citizen Teacher, for winning!

Finally, at both the Charlotte and Durham Citizen Teacher Socials, last year’s Presidential Award winners were recognized with a certificate and pin from the President of the United States. Please join us in congratulating the following Citizen Teachers for the recognition of their service!

GOLD
Acey Boyce	UNCC Stars Alliance	Eastway Middle School
Arthur Everett	EMC	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Brandon Fennell	Bank of America	Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Elvira Johnson	CPCC STARS Alliance	Eastway Middle School
Hong Zou	EMC	Lowe's Grove Middle School
James Gleeson	EMC	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Jerry Diehl	EMC	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Katelyn Doran	UNCC Stars Alliance	Eastway Middle School
Kim Kiesow	EMC	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Sonya Johnson	CPCC STARS Alliance	Eastway Middle School

SILVER
Carol Lenox	EPA	Neal Middle School
Derek Powe	Fidelity	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Edward Lau	Microsoft	Eastway Middle School
Isaac Carter	Microsoft	Eastway Middle School
Joseph Austin	NCSU	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Matthew Rascoff	Wireless Generation	Neal Middle School
Melissa Garrett	Anuvia Prevention and Recovery	Eastway Middle School
Peter Smith	NCSU	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Ricky Mohamed	Microsoft	Eastway Middle School

BRONZE
Anindita Mukherjee	Cognizant	Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Anne-Marie Stevenson	Latta Plantation Nature Center	Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Bernine Khan	EPA	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Brian Bolt	Cisco	Neal Middle School
Carl Roda	NCSU	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Carson Dimick	Duke University School of Law	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Coleman Poag	EMC	Neal Middle School
Daniel Oldman	EMC	Neal Middle School
Ian Long	Duke University School of Law	Neal Middle School
James Bowen		Neal Middle School
Jarred DeVaughn-Brown	NCSU	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Joshua Williams		Eastway Middle School
Julia Conner	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department	Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Kelly Leovic	EPA	Neal Middle School
Michael Juby	Parker, Poe, Adams and Bernstein, LLP	Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Rachel Clark	EPA	Lowe's Grove Middle School
Rebecca Dodder	EPA	Neal Middle School
Robert Lake	Cisco	Neal Middle School
Saurav Das	Cognizant	Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Tonya Melvin-Bryant	NCSU	Lowe's Grove Middle School