Wordless Wednesday: Opening Day slideshow

Enjoy this slideshow of photos from our Opening Day that took place on Friday, October 7 at the San José Athletic Club.

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-Photos by Romel Antoine, Program Manager CYSJ

Thanks to you, Katie Wyatt

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, City Year sites all across the country are recognizing the hard work and dedication that America’s teachers put forth each and every day. City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley will be featuring a blog post each day this week in which we will thank a teacher or administrator at one of our service partner schools for inspiring and supporting us as we serve.

Today, Corps Member Yvette Licea will recognize Katie Wyatt,  a fifth grade teacher at Mildred Goss Elementary School.

“Yo! Yo! Yo!” chants the teacher.

“ YO! What’s up?!” responds the class.

Standing in front of 34 fifth grade students is no easy task, and to engage them in the classroom setting is even a bigger challenge. Katie Wyatt from Mildred Goss Elementary School in San Jose, CA takes on this challenge every day with style.

Corps Member Yvette Licea has learned a lot from Katie Wyatt, a fifth grade teacher at Mildred Goss Elementary School.

Her classroom is controlled fun full of learning experiences. She makes every lesson into a game. She has them chanting, singing and acting every minute possible, and the kids do it proudly with a smile. Not only that, she’s not afraid to be hip as shown in the fact that every morning she has them sing Nas’s bridge of “I know I can, be what I wanna be.”

She has them perform skits to vocabulary words, something she calls “Boston Theater” which they absolutely enjoy. Her many creative voices when she reads keeps students engaged and hanging onto her every word.

The greatest part of all is that the students are learning and retaining the information she teaches. They positively participate and perform the task that is at hand. And for those who are not grasping the material covered, Ms. Wyatt readily makes herself available for those students and reminds them that she is there to do so.

She takes advantage of every opportunity each day to remind the students that she cares not only about their progress in school, but about their well being as children, which shows in the mutual relationship that she has with each student in her classroom. She opens herself up so that they can also open up to her, therefore creating a positive atmosphere throughout the entire classroom.

It’s safe to say that Ms. Wyatt is my role model when it comes to teaching. Getting to know her since my start at Goss has truly been amazing. She’s honest and outgoing, which is refreshing to see in a teacher. The children love and adore her; and they can’t even imagine having another teacher for the fifth grade.

She is funny and animated, providing everyone with the comic relief that a stressful education job can bring, and everyone truly appreciates it. Goss has truly found a precious gem in Ms. Wyatt and I hope that she continues to touch the lives of those around her for a long time to come.

Thank you Ms. Wyatt for being the person and educator that you are, and for always striving to learn more!

Yvette Licea, Corps Member CYSJ

Thanks to you, Norma Rodriguez

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, City Year sites all across the country are recognizing the hard work and dedication that America’s teachers put forth each and every day. City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley will be featuring a blog post each day this week in which we will thank a teacher or administrator at one of our service partner schools for inspiring and supporting us as we serve.

Today, Senior Corps Member Romel Antoine will recognize Norma Rodriguez, Principal at AJ Dorsa Elementary School.

Team Leader Romel Antoine with Dorsa Principal Norma Rodriguez at the Opening Day Ceremony at Joseph George Middle School.

In today’s data-driven education climate, it is often easy to lose the human aspect of what City Year Corps Members, teachers and school administrators signed up to do this year; to help reduce the achievement gap. At first glance, this goal seems unattainable. But Mrs. Norma Rodriguez, Principal of Anthony J. Dorsa Elementary School, does everything in her power to achieve this goal everyday.

The Alum Rock Unified School District, in which AJ Dorsa is located, ranks #548 in California. Further examination of this data tells us that this is not the entire story. What you do not see in Alum Rock’s ranking is that during Rodriguez’s tenure, AJ Dorsa has jumped a whopping 120 points in the Academic Performance Index. Thanks to Mrs. Rodriguez, approximately 630 underprivileged students in San Jose, CA grow socially and academically every year.

Norma is fiercely dedicated to the intangible relationships students form everyday, from being greeted in the morning with lively music and a community rally to the mentorship they receive from the adults around them. It is in this spirit that she has welcomed the City Year program with open arms to the Dorsa community.

When you step into her office, you’re instantly reminded that Norma has a mission to improve student achievement every year. The charts showing growth and performance throughout the school illustrate her commitment to academic excellence.

It reminds her that although the school has come a long way under her leadership, there is still a lot to be accomplished before her team achieves the ultimate goal of becoming a California Distinguished School. She knows she cannot accomplish this task alone and that she must incorporate the needs of every parent, teacher, City Year Corps Member and student in order to be successful.

When the City Year team at Dorsa talks about Mrs. Rodriguez, it is with an air of reverence, trust and respect. The amount of appreciation that each Corps Member feels toward the work that she puts in everyday is astounding. They are constantly thinking about ways to “make Mrs. Rodriguez” proud.

Today I had the pleasure of listening to a conversation she was having with the fourth and fifth graders enrolled in our After-School Program about respect for each other and changing the traditional story of low-performing minority students. She said,

“Change begins with each of you. When you make bad choices you’re not just effecting yourself, you’re helping to rewrite the story that we have set out to change together. We must work as a team and hold each other accountable. I love you all and will do anything to support you but first, you must support each other.”

Thanks to Mrs. Rodriguez, students are learning that no matter their background, the story of the 21^st Century American education system can indeed be changed.

Romel Antoine, Senior Corps Member CYSJ