Hands-on Technology Experience for Low-Income Kids

Citizen Schools' mission is "Educating Children, Strengthening Communities." Our vision is to close the opportunity and achievement gap for middle school students from low-income communities and move students onto a successful track, heading toward high school graduation, college attainment, and positions of leadership in their careers and communities. Since its inception in Boston in 1995, Citizen Schools has partnered with middle schools and communities to reimagine the learning day and provide all students with rigorous and engaging experiences that connect students’ current learning to their future. We mobilize a second shift of afternoon educators, who provide academic support, leadership development, and apprenticeships - hands-on projects taught by volunteers from business and civic organizations. By focusing on middle school, Citizen Schools capitalizes on this critical developmental period and inflection point, effectively setting students' sights on graduation, college matriculation, and ultimately a successful career. Citizen Schools also seeks to build a strong and skilled pipeline of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technology professionals to fill the national gap in qualified STEM professions. In the 2014-15 school year, Citizen Schools serves 4,877 students from disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, 80% of whom are children of color. Google remains one of Citizen Schools’ leading supporters – not only through financial contributions but especially through the human capital of Googlers, who teach our students in 10-week, hands-on apprenticeships.

In this fall semester, 56 Google Citizen Teachers are leading 25 apprenticeships in Citizen Schools programs, bringing learning to life for more 430 students. Apprenticeships taught by Googlers include:

• Rockin' Rockets - Students at Bronx Writing Academy in NYC are working in groups to solve a mission related to rocket science (each group has a different mission – e.g., bring water back from Mars). For the few weeks, students learned about the components of what makes a structurally sound and aerodynamic rocket, and are now actively building their rockets. One student, Namel, joined three weeks into the apprenticeship and missed the beginning, when students first learned about the mission. But the students in his group were so excited to fill him in on his mission, and now Namel is engaged in Rockin' Rockets and looking forward to building his team’s rocket and completing the mission!

• Video Game Design – Dan Burton, from Google San Francisco, is teaching 19 students at Greenleaf Academy in Oakland how to create a simple but complete version of a video game, learning about video game design and about some of the many jobs that can be theirs with strong programming skills. In Video Game Design, students apply design process to identify objects (agents) and interactions (operations). Throughout this apprenticeship, students learn basic computational thinking, including basic object interaction, stacks, creating object instances, rule based programming (algorithmic thinking), and message sending. Using Scratch software, they create a basic computer game entitled Frogger. Their computer games will be demonstrated at the WOW! presentation, where guests will be able to play various versions of the game designed by students. Students will also be able to explain, in relative detail, the role of algorithms, feedback, design, and other major aspects of programming to audience members.

• Trebuchets - In this Apprenticeship, students are learning how to build, design, and implement trebuchets, going back in time to a medieval era, when castle walls were your only defense and trebuchets were used to expand kingdoms. Students will master the history, physics, and design of these devices in a competition to see who has the best trebuchet. There are two students (Wilfred and Angel) participating in Trebuchets this semester, taught by Bob Cassels and his Google team in Cambridge. These students are also in the Citizen Schools Sheltered English Immersion Program, where they are learning English as a second language. Citizen Teacher Rodrigo Chandia has translated the entire apprenticeship curriclum for Wilfred and Angel. From lectures on the history of trebuchets, to demonstrations on parabolas and launching projectiles, to building instructions, Wilfred and Angel have been engaged in the entire class. Because of Rodrigo's tireless effort to include Wilfred and Angel, this apprenticeship has become a space in which all students, regardless of language, can learn, be engaged, and succeed.

“Watching the students develop their programming skills in Video Game Design has been inspiring. Multiple students told me that they’ve been playing with Scratch (the programming software they’re learning in the apprenticeship) at home! Thanks to Dan, these students are accelerating through the lessons and solving problems on their own!  It’s amazing to see them so engaged." - Peter Lynch, Citizen Schools Teaching Fellow, Greenleaf Academy

“It has been great watching how the kids have changed since I started working with Citizen Schools; I can certainly see an improvement year over year and I'm excited to be a part of that.” – Tayeb Kareem, Google Volunteer Citizen Teacher and President’s Volunteer Service Award winner (currently teaching Lego Mindstorm Robotics at McCormack Middle School in Boston)

Citizen Schools’ signature apprenticeships all culminate in a celebration of students’ learning and the projects they have created called the WOW!. Citizen Schools and Google will have several opportunities to celebrate our partnership this fall at special WOW! events that will be held at Google headquarters in New York City; Cambridge, MA; and Mountain View, CA. We look forward to sharing highlights from those celebrations in our winter 2015 report.        

Citizen Schools is so grateful for our powerful partnership with Google and its employees. With fall apprenticeships in full swing, we are already hard at work with Google champions in each region to recruit new volunteers to teach in the spring. Passionate Googlers like Susan Dickey, Albert Ching, and Sam Wintermute (Android App Design, Elmhurst Community Prep, Oakland, CA); Asher Kach, Andrew Ring, and Stephen Pratt (Video Game Design, Carter School of Excellence, Chicago, IL); Laura Parrott and Charlie Trageser (Mindfulness with Google, McCormack Middle School, Boston, MA); and Philip Zhao, David Weiss, and Stephanie Letzler (Lego Robotics, Isaac Newton Middle School for Math & Science, New York, NY) are sharing their knowledge and experience by teaching and inspiring high-needs students around the country. The enthusiasm of Google volunteers continues to inspire children and colleagues alike, as they explore new worlds with students and set them on a course for success in high school, college, and careers.

Bay Area Googler Fuels Student Success By Recruiting Others to Teach

Jeff Breau, a Googler in San Francisco, has been a personal supporter of Citizen Schools since 2011. Over the years as a volunteer Citizen Teacher he taught three apprenticeships to middle school students in the Bay Area including Rockin’ Robots, Train Your Brain, and Reading the News. Jeff was recently promoted and found himself with a busy travel schedule, making it hard to commit to a semester of teaching. Asking himself “How much am I able to do?” he switched gears and began inspiring colleagues to invest their time volunteering with Citizen Schools. His encouragement worked. Since last spring, Jeff has helped the Citizen Schools California team recruit 32 volunteers! (See the full story and an interview with Jeff below)

Links:

• Jeff Breau Story and Interview
• Citizen Schools Celebrates Google
• Citizen Schools website

• Google Apprenticeships in CA - Fall 2014 (PDF)