The Opportunity Equation by Eric Schwarz

Author:Eric Schwarz [Schwarz, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8070-3373-9
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2014-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

SECTION TWO

HOW CITIZEN POWER AND AN EXPANDED LEARNING DAY CAN NARROW ACHIEVEMENT GAPS, BROADEN OPPORTUNITY, AND STRENGTHEN AMERICA

VOICES FROM CITIZEN SCHOOLS

JOYCE KING THOMAS, VOLUNTEER

The secret sauce of Citizen Schools is the volunteer—the caring and talented adults, from all walks of life, who teach apprenticeships that our middle school students choose. Volunteer citizen teachers are part of a proud American tradition of citizen power that has strengthened the country since its founding, and that will be discussed in this section of the book. Here is the story of one of our volunteers, Joyce King Thomas, in her words.

I never learned how to say no to my oldest son. He always won our biggest debates.

At eleven, he came out on top in our knock-down, drag-out fight over listening to R-rated rap lyrics. (He needed to experience the Beastie Boys uncensored; it was part of a Brooklyn boyhood, he effectively argued.) He used his relentless charm to persuade us to make room for a parakeet, a second parakeet, a turtle, three lizards, a two-foot-long live-cricket-eating Komodo dragon, and, finally, a dog.

Lest I sound like a wimp and Aidan sound like a monster, you should know that I was the chief creative officer of a huge New York ad agency, and my son is a Colgate University graduate aiming for a master’s in education at the Bank Street school.

Years of honing his skills at getting me to do things I had no intention of doing culminated when Aidan asked me if my company and I would volunteer for Citizen Schools, the organization he worked for. No, I didn’t stand a chance.

The mission of Citizen Schools is to provide middle school kids in disadvantaged areas with an educational after-school experience. What makes the program unique is its twelve-week “apprenticeships.” Citizen Schools recruits companies like Google, the Food Network, and AOL to teach apprenticeships that give the kids hands-on experience in fields they might not otherwise be exposed to. Each apprenticeship culminates in something called a WOW!, where the kids literally wow their parents, teachers, and friends with what they’ve accomplished in those twelve weeks. While all the school reformers are debating what should happen in the six or seven hours kids are in school, Citizen Schools is busy filling up those three lonely after-school hours; the hours kids fill with either random TV watching or potentially dangerous hanging out.

As I mentioned, when Aidan made his pitch, I was the creative director of a gargantuan New York ad agency. We were in the middle of one of the most challenging economies in history. Clients’ businesses were hurting, which meant we were hurting. Teaching a two-hour class in Harlem every Wednesday for twelve weeks, and investing hours in prepping for those classes, wasn’t really a smart career move. But it turned out to be one of the smartest life moves I ever made.

For our apprenticeship, my team of volunteers divided the class into three “mini agencies,” gave them an assignment, and let them develop a strategy, brainstorm ideas, present their ideas, and, finally, film and edit a real commercial.

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