ReServe is engaging nearly 100 AmeriCorps ReServists in New York City and Miami for a variety of initiatives. Each day during AmeriCorps Week 2012, ReServe will post an article to highlight one of its AmeriCorps ReServists and the positive impact they are making in their communities. This year’s theme is “AmeriCorps Works” and is observed from Saturday, March 10 through Sunday, March 18, 2012.

Each morning, middle school students at IS126 Albert Shanker School for Visual and Performing Arts in Astoria, Queens are greeted cheerfully by a team of intergenerational AmeriCorps members who range in age from 17 to 64. Positive messages of, “great to see you today!” and “thanks for being on time, let’s see if you can do it all week!” ring throughout the hallways.

These AmeriCorps members, comprised of ReServists and City Year corps members, are all part of the NYC Success Mentor program, a citywide initiative of the Mayor’s Task Force on Truancy, Chronic Absenteeism, & School Engagement that connects at-risk students with caring adults who serve as positive role models, encourage regular attendance, and identify and begin to address underlying causes of chronic absenteeism.

Research shows that 3 out of 4 students who are chronically absent in the sixth grade never graduate from high school; and over 40% of NYC children in the juvenile justice system have been chronically absent.

AmeriCorps ReServists Yolanda Moss (L) and Peter Simunovich (R) at the Success Mentors headquarters at IS126 in Astoria, Queens. Photo: Ashley Prather

This year, 24 AmeriCorps ReServists are providing individualized attention and guidance to more than 360 students and their families at 7 public middle and high schools throughout the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn in an effort to improve student outcomes. In two of these schools, IS126 in Astoria, Queens and MS302 in the South Bronx, ReServe has partnered with City Year, a national AmeriCorps program that unites young adults 17-24 to support students in high-need schools by focusing on attendance, behavior, and of course  performance.

Since September, two ReServist AmeriCorps members have been serving as Success Mentors at IS126 in Queens. After retiring early, Yolanda Moss decided she wanted to serve her community by working with youth, especially middle school students, “you learn a lot from kids, they keep you young!” she said. She has more than 26 years of experience working for the New York Police Department as a 911 telecommunicator and dispatcher.

Peter Simunovich, her teammate, is an Australian journalist with twenty years of experience covering sports and human-interest stories for News Ltd. of Australia, The Times London, Agence France Presse, New York Newsday, and the New York Daily News. What Peter enjoys most about being a Success Mentor is listening to his mentees explain the issues that prevent them from coming to school, and sitting in on parent education workshops to learn more about how to help students and their families.

Postive messages and AmeriCorps signage greet students at the Success Mentors headquarters. Photo: Ashley Prather

He has adorned their office with handwritten signs that display positive messages for their mentees, such as “be the best you can be,” and “it’s up to you to say yes or no.” Many of their mentees have expressed they do not come to school regularly because they are bullied, struggling academically, or experiencing stress in their home lives.

The Success Mentors work with their students to set personal and academic goals, and refer students to guidance or other social services when necessary.
 
In addition to providing one-on-one mentoring support, City Year and ReServist AmeriCorps members also work alongside the school’s attendance team, which includes the Assistant Principal, pupil accounting secretary, guidance counselor, social worker, attendance teacher, and the Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialist (SAPIS), to review patterns in attendance data and develop school-wide interventions to improve the attendance rate.

Over the next four months, in an effort to avoid the “spring slump,” or the time of year when attendance generally starts to slip, the team has planned four incentive trips for students who have demonstrated the most improved attendance, including an overnight trip to Washington DC. 
 
School staff at IS126 have emphasized that the ability to provide intergenerational mentoring support to their chronically absent students has been invaluable.

While the City Year Corps support chronically absent students who could benefit from ‘near peer’ relationships and additional academic tutoring, the ReServists oversee the majority of students in the school who are overage and under-credited and could benefit most from the life experience and guidance of older adults.

Success Mentors headquarters at IS126. Photo: Ashley Prather

Although motivating this population of students to come to school has been especially challenging, “imagine being 16 in a 7th grade classroom,” said Yolanda, they have noticed a significant change in their mentees’ behavior and attendance.

In the beginning of the year, some students were shy or hesitant to talk to their mentor. Now students are opening up much more, and they have students lining up to eat their lunch in the AmeriCorps ReServists’ “Success Mentor headquarters.” They keep an open door policy, and some students who are not assigned to them have started to walk in and ask to be assigned as mentees.

In response to a question about what has helped them develop relationships with their mentees, both Yolanda and Peter had one answer: just listen. “Students want you to listen. The fact that we are not teachers works in our favor. They open up to us in a different way that allows us to learn more.”

ReServe is grateful to Yolanda Moss and Peter Simunovich, the entire 24 member Success Mentor AmeriCorps team, City Year, and other AmeriCorps members throughout the city who are providing support to youth who need it the most.

Written by Ashley Prather, Program Officer at ReServe.