While countless high school graduation commencements in the region are celebrated this time of year, there is another graduation celebration that honors a special group of young adults that have helped successfully guide off track students back on track toward their own high school graduation.
The 101 City Year Detroit (CYD) corps members have given more than 171,700 collective hours tutoring and mentoring Detroit area students and providing them with the support and skills they need for academic success. They will be honored and celebrated for their year of service on Friday evening, June 14 at Bricktown Auditorium.
“City Year Detroit corps members dedicate a year of their lives as role models to support our most vulnerable youth to stay in school and on track to graduation,” said Penny Bailer, Executive Director of City Year Detroit. “Our amazing young adult corps members complete their year of service with a life-changing experience that will drive their own success and community leadership.”
The Graduation Celebration program for the 101 CYD AmeriCorps members will be held on Friday, June 14, at the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Bricktown Auditorium, 500 E. Lafayette Blvd. in Detroit. The event begins with a light buffet reception at 6 p.m. followed by the Celebration Program at 6:45 p.m. Karen Ridgeway, Superintendent of Academics for Detroit Public Schools, is the Honoree/Keynote Speaker for the event. Thanks to generous sponsors, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Michigan First Credit Union Foundation, there is no charge for City Year friends and family members and other guests to attend.
City Year Corps members serve more than 50 hours per week for 10 months, from August to June, and receive a small weekly living allowance from AmeriCorps, taking home a little more than $260 a week. At year-end, upon successful completion of 1,700 hours of service, each corps member also receives an “Eli Segal AmeriCorps Education Award” of $5,500, good for seven years, to help cover the cost of undergraduate or graduate school tuition, or to repay college loans.
Bailer said research shows that three quarters of all potential dropouts can be identified as early as sixth grade. Early warning signs include poor attendance, poor behavior or low English or math scores. Research also shows that with the proper intervention, it is still possible to reverse the trend.
“City Year Corps members are trained young adults who kids can relate to students as “near peers” and are uniquely positioned to respond to their needs. They serve on teams embedded in our partner schools and focus on improving students’ attendance, behavior and course performance in both in-school and after-school tutoring and mentoring,” said Bailer.
City Year Corps members begin each day with an enthusiastic greeting for students, cheering, clapping and calling them by their name as they enter the school doors. If a student doesn’t show up for school, a corps member will call home to notify parents or caregivers and encourage them to make on-time school attendance a top priority for the family and student.
The 101 corps members serving in the 2012-13 school year were divided into 11 teams sponsored by local businesses to serve at 11 DPS and Detroit area schools in five districts, including Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Education Achievement Authority of Michigan (EAA), Taylor Public Schools, Harper Woods Public Schools and River Rouge Public Schools:
The Ford Motor Company Fund Team serving DPS Benjamin Carson High School of Science & Medicine
The United Way Team serving EAA’s Central Collegiate Academy
The CSX Team serving DPS Clippert Academy
The Deloitte Team serving DPS Cody High School Academies
The Henry Ford Health System Team serving DPS Detroit Collegiate Prep High School
The United Way Team serving Harper Woods Middle & High School
The Diplomas Now Team serving DPS Noble Elementary
The United Way Team serving DPS Osborn High School Academies
The Whole School Whole Child Team serving EAA’s Phoenix Academy
The Comcast Team serving River Rouge High School
The Walmart Team serving Taylor Public School Truman High School
Sponsors for the City Year Detroit 2013 Graduation Celebration are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Michigan First Credit Union.
For more information about the City Year Detroit Graduation, contact Sharman Silberman, Director of Signature Events and Development Initiatives, at 313-874-6862 or ssilberman@cityyear.org .
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