Sitting down with BoSTEM AmeriCorps Maker Fellows Hannah Hatch and Will Lindau.
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Somerville, MA Expanded Learning Time students dive into the topic of what makes them unique, and how to celebrate their individuality.
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Former Citizen Schools middle school student Jose Melo, currently a junior Biology major at Bowdoin College had his interest in the STEM field pique from the three years in middle school where he participated in Citizen Schools’ after school programs at the John W McCormack Middle School in Boston, Massachusetts. Hear Jose and Alazar Ayele, from Biogen, at our February 15 Elevating Voices for Equity event.
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Citizen Schools students recently had the opportunity to participate in our special Shark Tank event, which included four weeks of learning through a detailed set of modules called GoIT. Students who participated had the opportunity to learn about app development and pitched ideas to a panel of judges.
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Despite school closures, Massachusetts Teaching Fellows remain steadfastly committed to service. In between participating in virtual professional development modules, Teaching Fellows are supporting our students, public school teachers, and school communities through a variety of different avenues.
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On Monday, January 20th, our Teaching Fellows joined the legions of AmeriCorps members honoring Dr. King’s legacy with a National Day of Service. The day, known as “A Day On, Not a Day Off,” is dedicated to improving our communities.
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Citizen Schools held their 2nd Annual Get CycED fundraiser last month at the B/SPOKE Spin Studio in Boston, MA. Hosted by our Council of Champions, 35 riders came together for a fun-filled, high energy morning of indoor cycling and after party to raise money for Citizen Schools.
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Citizen Schools Massachusetts concluded the fall semester with three incredible WOW!s showcasing student achievement.
East Somerville Community School enjoyed a “Saturday Morning Cartoons” theme to learn more about game design, finances, and design thinking.
Argenziano showcased Google Apprenticeship with lego robots, Maker Challenge involved families in science experiments, and Beautiful Children tapped into artistic skills with stress balls and face-masks.
Winter Hill celebrated with an 80’s themed WOW! Featuring superheroes, crime-scene investigators and, dancers.
Last month, CSMA Executive Director Vanessa Bishop was officially sworn into the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council at the State House. The Council’s members include private and public sector professionals from around the Commonwealth who influence and advocate for STEM learning.
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Citizen Schools celebrated Mass STEM Week 2019 with activities leading up to and throughout the week of October 21st. The partnership began as a collaboration with the Lieutenant Governor’s office. With a focus on STEM mentoring and illustrating career pathways, Citizen Schools activities included hands-on science stations, touring STEM companies and bringing more STEM industry professionals into the classroom to see how students can “See Yourself in STEM.” Using the #citizenschools, #SeeYourselfInSTEM and #MassSTEMWeek, Citizen Schools also captured the excitement across social media channels.
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This summer, five Citizen Schools students from the East Somerville Community School, Winter Hill Community Innovation School and Trotter Innovation School were given the opportunity to participate in an iD Tech Camp at Bentley University. Our students spent a week engaging in hands-on STEM courses like coding mobile apps and building a computer that they were able to take home. The funding for our students’ enrollment in the camp was provided by the Patriots social justice grants. On July 26th, camp participants and family members headed to Gillette Stadium, where they were able to watch the Patriots practice.
To see more, check out the Patriots’ coverage of the day here.
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This summer, Citizen Schools Massachusetts was excited to welcome two new staff members to our team! Ani and Shanay jumped right in as leaders during summer Teaching Fellow training, and both have already proven to be incredible assets to our organization. Read on below to learn more about their diverse backgrounds and positions at Citizen Schools.
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This year, Citizen Schools Massachusetts welcomed eight returning and six new AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows (TFs). This year’s TFs come from a diverse range of personal and professional experiences, united by their deep commitment to public service and social justice for the 300+ students we are serving at our three partner middle schools in Somerville.
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“Dear Mayor Curtatone,
I'm a student at the East Somerville Community School. I live in Somerville and I think affordable housing is important because people and families are losing their homes because rents are raising more than usual. [...] Kids’ best friends have to leave and move apart due to un-affordable housing. Please fix this issue. If you do, thanks.”
-Emily, 5th grade
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In June of 2018, Citizen Schools was awarded a $2M grant from the Biogen Foundation as part of the foundation's recently announced STAR Initiative. As one of six recipients of the STAR (Science, Teacher Support, Access and Readiness) Initiative, funding will allow Citizen Schools to expand work in Somerville and Cambridge. One of the goals of this initiative is to show the impact that can be made when corporations partner with nonprofits, districts and communities so that other major corporations. Through this work, they hope to encourage other corporations to develop more of a partnership with their educational communities to provide more sustainable programs for children. The grantees from Star Network participated in an end-of-the-year STAR Initiative Showcase and Celebration on May 23rd at Lesley University to share the amazing work that was done over the past year.
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When five young women stepped up to present to the City Council on affordable housing, they demonstrated kids really are the future.
At the Somerville City Council’s May 23 full council meeting, five middle school students from the East Somerville Community School (ESCS) stepped up to share their research and thoughts on affordability in Somerville.
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Many of our AmeriCorps members go on to achieve many accomplishments but the news of Jennifer Eliezer, AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow at Young Achievers in Mattapan, receiving the Fullbright Foreign Scholarship Award to teach abroad in Costa Rica, was beyond exciting. In her time here with Citizen Schools, Jennifer has built great connections with her students and we couldn’t be any more excited follow her journey.
Read MoreOn Friday, April, 26th, Citizen Schools staff & students, families, AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows, corporate and community partners came together to celebrate the inspiring and hard work of middle school students, volunteer Citizen Teachers and AmeriCorps Teaching Fellows for our annual WOW!NOW Breakfast fundraising event.
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As each SPLATs lit up with different colors, so did the faces of our students who beamed with pride, joy, and curiosity as they began their unique SPLATs journey. SPLATs is a remarkable tool that exposed students to various STEM careers and academic pathways as they sharpened their skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. SPLATs didn’t just keep the students moving intellectually, they also were able to exercise physically. Some games focused on trivia, and others were speed-based competitions or obstacle courses. “Giraffes and Leaves” a game created by Mahdiat and Makayla allowed students to imagine they were in a safari, crawling over and around SPLATs as they ‘gathered leaves’ with their heads.
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I am an educator. I am not a psychiatrist nor a trained mental health professional, but in my role as a Citizen Schools Teaching Fellow it’s my job to show students I care. The students I work with are between 13 and 15 years old. They have complex feelings and emotions and I seek to treat them as such, as opposed to “just kids” that don’t know any better. When I am supporting students in their classes, I often ask “how are you?” and mean it genuinely.
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