My first full week of City Year training was a good one. Friday I was finally told the school and team with whom I will be working. There had been a lot of anticipation regarding this placement. I had my sights set on the National Charter House School (NCHS), which will serve as a national pilot program, testing various approaches and techniques that will further City Year's ultimate goal, addressing the high school dropout crisis. I did everything in my power to ensure my placement at this school, I spent a lot of time working on the application, I verbally assured the City Year staff that I was enthusiastic about the program and willing to learn (not easy for me), and I tried to ask them good questions about the work that they were doing at the school. Unfortunately, I was not accepted into that program. Instead, I am at the Boston Renaissance Charter School (BRCS) and really happy with the placement.

It turns out that at BRCS there will also be opportunities to lead students in activities that are not exclusively academic (something I thought was unique to NHCS) and I was less enthusiastic about NHCS after I found out that corps members are not actually involved in the actual data analysis collected at the school. I don't have any regrets about not being placed in that school. Any negative sentiment was especially wiped out when I started to get to know my team this past weekend at a retreat. There are 15 of us and everyone has had a unique and accomplished life (this should not be shocking due to a number of experiences indicating that people are generally interesting, however, the realization still manages to surprise me). Additionally, one of the girls on my team, Uma, is actually going to attend Oberlin next year- Small world!!!!!

One exercise that we did this weekend that I found particularly intriguing was a "Leadership Compass". Each direction, North, West, East, and South, stands for different leadership traits respectively, active, analytical, visionary, and empathetic. After due consideration, I determined that I am North-East, leaning more towards the East. I had started to think that I would never be able to figure out what leadership type I am, when I recalled a plan I had for making my house more environmentally sound this past summer. This plan rapidly grew to include organizing the basement, which, in turn, necessitated an organization of the garage and finally the entire house. It was a really good plan and I was really excited about it (as I am sure anyone I was hanging out with at the time will attest to). I had details hashed out, but when I tried to follow through, I was stuck. I felt bogged down by the enormity of the task. Definite East. At the retreat we drew a compass in the sand, and my team was spread evenly around the compass. Our opinions on where we stand on the compass may change as the year progresses, but the basic idea that within one team there is such a variety of strengths and abilities to support each other where we are weakest makes me excited to work within the team this year.

I will not start working full time in the schools until October 4. Until then I will be doing training at City Year headquarters and working occasionally at the school to help the teachers set up and to welcome the students to the school. We visited the school for the first time yesterday to meet the teachers with whom we will be working. Last year Boston Renaissance was located in a 13 story building in downtown Boston. Each grade had a floor, and there were over 1000 students packed into the building- a fact that made fire drills thrilling I'm sure. The school is transferring to a renovated old mill and it is an awe-inspiring building. There is exposed brick and wood in every room. Massive arching windows look out onto a turf field and track containing a jungle gym. Vibrant colors add life to every room. The interior of the school seems to reflect the school's philosophy of being open to learning through whatever path is most effective for the individual.

I went to a briefing on the school mechanics with the 4th-6th grade teachers today, and they spent a lot of time discussing and proposing different techniques to assist each other in making learning as fun as possible. One question was, "how do we communicate the school's behavioral expectations creatively, so the students are engaged and have fun, but also learn the material?" Several ideas were thrown out and one teacher was given the floor because she apparently did an excellent job last year. The other teachers seemed to genuinely appreciate her input and I saw many taking notes. They also discussed an activity called "open circle", which they hope to implement at least two days a week, and at which the kids will have an outlet to discuss problems and issues among fellow students or in their personal lives. In these 15 minute sessions the teacher is supposed to play a hands-off role and to serve as a guide assisting the students in problem solving skills and I am sure a number of other things. There are also typically 2 teachers per classroom that collaborate together and while one teaches the other assists by working with smaller groups or by simply walking around the room to ensure that the kids are all on the same track. The Boston Renaissance Charter School needs to improve (otherwise we wouldn't be there), but it seems to me that it is headed in the right direction and I am really looking forward to observing the school and how effective they are with their creativity and fun.

I am happy to announce that I had success in the job search. After three days of applications and resumes, I was contacted by an owner of a cafe that sells coffee and deli items and focuses on locally grown produce. I had turned in my application Friday morning and heard back from the owner that night. She asked me to come in for an interview the next day. It turns out that she actually did City Year in the 90s, and she was very sympathetic to my need for a second job. I feel incredibly fortunate. The cafe has a great atmosphere (I got free coffee just for the interview and the people seem really nice), it is also a 15 minute walk and 5 minute bike ride from my apartment, and the owner said that she knows City Year is really intense, so I should keep her updated as to how I am feeling and she fully understands if I need to take a weekend off (which I am not likely to do).

Please stay in touch and write comments if you suffer the urge!!

Nora

I'm in a New Local

I have finally moved into my apartment in Somerville which has surpassed my wildest expectations of how I would be surviving given my "livable wage". There are marble counter tops, wooden floors, a refrigerator and dishwasher, and it's spacious! My roommates and I (thanks to my aunt) have equipped the house with nice kitchenware and electronics. We have WiFi. The list of attributes goes on and on, but despite all of this my favorite part of the house is the relatively plain porch that is off my bedroom. Despite few outstanding merits, I keep being drawn out there to read or write this blog. Possibly sitting in a lawn chair exposed to the neighborhood that does not reflect the interior of this apartment feels the way living should considering my circumstances. There is definitely an appeal to having to "suffer": using ragged mouse-infested couches, shoving a wooden spoon in the microwave to make it shut, applying duct tape to everything that should stay in tact, and securing 5 locks at the end of the day because 1 is not sufficient. However, I must say in spite of myself that I am happy not to be contending with mice. I am very fortunate to be living in this apartment and for those of you who want me to experience life with less than perfect circumstances, have no fear.

I have been crunching the numbers and my weekly grocery bill has to be less than what I have already spent in my forth day in Boston- that is if I want to have any "fun" money. I will keep you updated as to how I maximize my income, because getting the greatest benefit for the least amount of money is a challenge that really engages me. In fact, after the completion of this blog I am planning on biking to the grocery store to examine which dairy products are the cheapest for the amount of protein, calcium and vitamin D they contain.

In order to to give myself a little more financial flexibility, I have decided to find a weekend job. I have spent the past couple of days biking around Somerville and Cambridge hunting for one. This process was not as easy as I thought it would be. I started out looking in Harvard Square (1.5 miles from my lodging and good tips). I was caught off guard by how many people were there; mid morning wrought preoccupied Harvard profs and students, massive crowds of families taking Harvard tours, smaller groups of families speaking foreign tongues and taking pictures. Taken aback, my mind would not permit my body to disturb the likely busy, and therefore ruthless potential employers. I was slightly disgusted by this rare flair of timidity, but I continued to wander around glancing at places thinking "they could be hiring...they could be hiring, etc." and I would float on.

Finally, I had enough of the nonsense and chose a cafe (which tend to house safe, friendly people) to try my luck. Success! Wow, who knew it could be that simple- I left application in hand. Barrier demolished, I hit a lot of cafes yesterday and by early afternoon I braved a restaurant. Turns out restaurant people are open and friendly too.

City Year training starts early Monday morning and extends throughout the month of September. We had registration day for the out of state corps members and people seemed really nice and although I tend to be reserved and reluctant when meeting new people, I am looking forward to getting to know the City Year Corps. The atmosphere there really puts me at ease. Corps members tend to be the type of people that willingly strike up a conversation with people they don't know, whether they have the skill to do this or not. I am confident I will be learning a lot this year.

I am also confident that I am forgetting to inform you of things that I made a mental note to write about, but I plan on updating this blog at least once a week, so if these observations stick, they will appear in later issues.

P.S. My roommates and I communicate in Spanish! Yahoo! That is except for David, but he responds in Portuguese, which awesomely enough, I can understand.

Until Later Next Week,

From Boston: Nora