English High School & Diplomas Now Summer Institute

So, the last few days have been a whirlwind. We returned back to City Year Boston for our first day as Senior Corps Members. The morning started and we quickly were thrown into finding out what teams we would be leading, for those of us who are Team Leaders for next year.

After much anticipation and excitement that has been built up over the past months leading up to this moment, it finally came time to find out what team I would be placed on. I wanted to be back at the Burke High School so badly, but when Julia revealed her TLs, my name was definitely not one of the two people. So, immediately, I knew where I would be, but I didn’t know with who I could be placed with in terms of a C0-Team Leader, if any. I knew the Burke and English would be a Diplomas Now school, but I had no idea that the McCormack Middle School would also be a Diplomas Now school and that Yaa would be placed there!

So, I knew that I would be placed at the English High School with Kayla as my Program Manager. All in all, I honestly felt weird about the news. I had mentally prepared myself to be placed at a new school, but I had hopes for it to not happen, of course. My initial anxiety was that I would have to be at a new school as a Team Leader by myself and lead the team through the process of starting and building a partnership. Not only that, but this school will be a Diplomas Now school and is funded by the i3 grant, the Investing in Innovation Grant from the government. The i3 grant and purpose is as follows (as found here):

The Investing in Innovation Fund, established under section 14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), provides funding to support (1) local educational agencies (LEAs), and (2) nonprofit organizations in partnership with (a) one or more LEAs or (b) a consortium of schools. The purpose of this program is to provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on improving student achievement or student growth, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates.

These grants will (1) allow eligible entities to expand and develop innovative practices that can serve as models of best practices, (2) allow eligible entities to work in partnership with the private sector and the philanthropic community, and (3) identify and document best practices that can be shared and taken to scale based on demonstrated success.

So, after more team building, we ended for the day. However, the DN schools had to meet for a preparation session for the Diplomas Now Summer Institute that would happen over the next 3 days. We got to work right away!

The next three days breezed by and we went to many workshops and trainings on the Diplomas Now model and heard much about the partners in the model, which include: City Year, Talent Development, Communities in Schools, and the school itself.

I had the chance to sit in on a meeting with the Headmaster, Assistant Headmaster, Guidance Counselors, and Student Success Coordinator. It was kind of a good feeling to know that they came early on to meet us and that we started planning how the year would look like. I feel like this is already going to be a great start to the year.

After this weekend, I can say I’m tons more excited than I first was when finding out what school I would be at. I totally understand why I was placed at the school I am placed at and I know that I always make these kinds of things work out for myself in the end. I know that I will take my love for this organization and the work we do and motivate my team members to make change and work on creating a positive community within the walls of the English, and we’ll have lots of fun doing it!

Sometimes, I can’t believe I’m a Team Leader, especially at a high stakes school that City Year and the government will be expecting results from. I’m so excited to get Corps Members in just a few weeks and to start coaching them and working through how the team will function and operate. I’m so happy that I have Kayla as my Program Manager because we get along really well and we operate in a similar fashion: being north and getting things done. We already predict having our team on lock down, but it’s because we know we need to get things done and that we’re motivated towards students achievement.

Now, I’m one day away before beginning City Year’s Summer Academy, which begins with a few days of Summer Academy, then switches into the WSWC Track of Academy. I’m so pumped about this because it will provide me with training and will give me the opportunity for me to network with fellow high school team leaders throughout the network. I’m so happy that I already got a taste of what Academy will look and feel like, and I can’t wait to continue to meet new people this upcoming week!