If you’re a parent or teacher, you’re probably familiar with the many challenges of remote learning. Sherry Tom, earth science teacher at Hostos Lincoln Academy of Science in Bronx, NY, is both, doing her best to support her students while sharing a workspace with her husband and two elementary school kids. “At school, my kids are led from one activity to the next. When learning from home, they’re expected to navigate Google Classroom on their own because I’m working and their dad is working.”
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Most middle school memories are a bit hazy, but Isabel Morales remembers clearly how much she enjoyed her Community Development apprenticeship as a Citizen Schools student at Robinson Middle School in Lowell, MA. “We went to so many places in Lowell and I learned so much about the city. I grew up in Lowell but my parents weren’t born here, so I didn’t have that family connection to it. Learning about the history of it and being a part of fixing it up was really meaningful to me.” 12 years later, Isabel has come full circle as a first year Teaching Fellow (TF) serving students at Winter Hill Community School in Somerville, MA.
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On Wednesday, July 29, Citizen Schools CEO Emily McCann was featured as one of the guest panelists on MENTOR’s webinar, which explored how educators and organizations are implementing relationship-based approaches to support underserved students impacted most heavily by both COVID-19 and violent racial injustices. Now more than ever, educators must prioritize students’ social and emotional learning (SEL), and many are turning to relationship-based approaches like mentorship for impact.
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Daana Archer isn’t like the teachers most of us are used to. She remembers her learning experience in middle school as “one-directional—the teacher was the holder of all information and knowledge, we accepted it and that was the end of it.” But Archer is one of many teachers across the country today striving to transform the way students learn, especially important given the unprecedented shift to virtual instruction.
The Catalyst Virtual Climate Science unit was just the research and project-based curriculum Archer needed in the midst of the pandemic.
Dr. Katie McBrine is a Pediatrician at Healthcare South in Scituate, MA who started to make her own Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when the hospital ran out. Students, parents and staff from our Somerville, MA schools joined online last Thursday, May 7th to learn how to make simple masks without any sewing involved.
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When Google closed its offices due to COVID-19 a week before NYC public schools did, our Google Citizen Teachers didn’t hesitate to think of ways to continue apprenticeships virtually. “It wasn’t an option to not make this work. This is a commitment we made to students and we don’t want to let them down,” says Jackie Zopf, Music Operations Program manager, YouTube. “We’re connecting globally every day—this is normal for Google and we’re fortunate to be well-resourced.”
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The day after NYC public schools closed their doors, Principal Kourtney Boyd asked if the Citizen Schools New York (CSNY) team at P.S. 157 could help by calling parents and putting together a list of students’ tech needs at home. Campus Director Jay Torres was ready to deliver—at that very moment. She and her team of AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows had collected this information from the beginning of the school year, having prioritized parent involvement as an important driver of student engagement—“this is the core” says Teaching Fellow Brenda Amaya.
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In one of Pauline’s earliest Carbon Footprint apprenticeships a few years ago, a “teeny tiny” 7th grader named Evias caught her eye. In the beginning, he was more on the quiet side but otherwise totally engaged, and by the end of the apprenticeship, he was participating more and answering tough questions with ease. Evias had improved so much and did so well that Pauline selected him to be the class ambassador for the WOW! presentation at the end of the semester.
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When Sue Freeman was in middle school, she loved math and according to her, that was definitely “weird”. But in recent years, she has seen many more students name it and science as their favorite subjects. Students in her classes don’t just want to be basketball players or dancers, but also mechanical or industrial engineers that design cars or invent robots. This was why Sue’s robotics apprenticeships were so popular with students--building and programming robots got even the rowdiest kids focused and engaged in scientific concepts.
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“Do you know what dubstep is Joanne? We want to do a dance to dubstep” said Jeremiah, one of my 6th grade students in my video production apprenticeship called VidLab at Orchard Gardens, a K-8 school in Roxbury, MA. Having been in college when Skrillex was at the height of his dubstep career, I was certainly familiar with the bass-heavy electronic dance music genre, but couldn’t believe this tiny 10-year old not only knew what it was but enjoyed it!
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Adam Barriga’s story first caught our attention back in 2009, when he was a 6th grader in Dave Mantus’ apprenticeship It Is Rocket Science. At his WOW! presentation, Adam taught rocket science to crowds filled with politicians, directors and CEOs at the Massachusetts State House, where his grandfather Eduardo Barriga worked as a custodian for most of his life. Recently retired, Eduardo watched with pride as his grandson impressed audiences in the very halls he used to clean.
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