City Year, Inc.

Help City Year Make a Difference on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 16th, 2012!

City Year Baton Rouge will celebrate a "day on" with a service project to beautify Belaire High School and La Belle Aire Elementary School. Service will feature at least 250 volunteers on various projects around Belaire’s campus including painting, small construction projects, and trash pick up.

“All labor that uplifts humanity and dignity and importance should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

City Year Baton Rouge unites young people, ages 17-24, from all backgrounds for a year of full-time service. As tutors, mentors, and role models, these young leaders -- called corps members -- make a difference in the lives of children and transform schools and neighborhoods in Baton Rouge.

According to a report by America’s Promise Alliance, every 26 seconds another student gives up on school, resulting in more than one million American high school students who drop out every year.

In Louisiana the graduation rate is only 67%, meaning that 1 in 3 students will not graduate from high school. Research has shown that dropouts are three times more likely to be unemployed and are eight times more likely to be in prison or jail than high school graduates.

In response to the high dropout rates across the country and specifically here in Baton Rouge, City Year Baton Rouge implements two programs: Whole School Whole Child and Diploma’s Now. These programs are based on recent research from Johns Hopkins University stating that predictors of high school failure can be spotted as early as 6th grade. With the Diploma’s Now program, students at risk of dropping out are identified early in order to eliminate the problems that lead to dropping out: poor attendance, poor behavior or course failure in English or math.

Research shows that students who are most at risk of dropping out typically fail or struggle with a core subject, show behavior problems, and have inconsistent attendance records long before high school. As a result, we know the students who are most likely to drop out of school AND what they need to succeed.

In the Whole School Whole Child and Diploma’s Now model, diverse teams of 8-10 City Year corps members serve in one school all day, all year long and lead a series of activities in the three focus areas, such as one-on-one and small group tutoring, in-school and after-school enrichment programs, and family engagement events. By focusing on improving student attendance, behavior, and course performance in math and English, City Year Baton Rouge hopes to curb this alarming trend and create an education system where all children are given the tools and opportunities to succeed.

This year, City Year Baton Rouge is implementing the Whole School Whole Child program at 1 Public School, and the Diploma’s Now program at 3 Public Schools. In total, City Year Baton Rouge corps members offer targeted support to 370 students. Your support will help City Year provide academic support, after-school programming, and positive school climate activities for Baton Rouge students and enable us to do what we do best – keep students in school and on track to graduate. Furthermore your support will help bring City Year Baton Rouge closer to making a difference at Belaire High School, La Belle Elementary School, and the Baton Rouge community on Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

To learn more about how City Year Baton Rouge is helping students succeed, contact us at:

City Year Baton Rouge

111 North Third Street

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Phone: 202.776.7780

Fax: 225.663.4220

CFC # 37889 • United Way # 9618