Spotlight on… Jake Drollinger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Jake Drollinger

Hometown: Sheboygan Falls, WI

Education: Sheboygan Falls High School

What do you do on the Start-Up Team? I serve as the Recruitment Coordinator here at City Year Milwaukee. I support the outreach and admissions process through presentations, roundtables, customer service, and interviews. I also serve as Alumni Engagement and Social Media Manager.  

Why did you join City Year and why do you serve? I joined City Year to further my experience and find a stronger focus in my life, while at the same time, creating a positive change in the world! I serve to inspire others to serve and give back to their communities.

What are you most excited about this year? I’m so thrilled to be apart of the start-up team in Milwaukee and see the very first City Year Corps in a city that will benefit so much from such a proven and positive organization!

What are you most nervous about this year? I’m nervous about gun violence affecting our teams and schools. Guns kill more than people; they kill school climate and feelings of security.

What do you do in your “free time” during City Year? I’m looking for a cheap surfboard and a very thick wetsuit, so I can take to some freshwater waves in Lake Michigan! They call our area the Malibu of the Midwest…

Service with Sam’s Hope!

With Barb from Sam's Hope!

On November 19^th, 2009, City Year Milwaukee partnered with Sam’s Hope Literacy Foundation and the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team to help give over a thousand children their very own brand new book! Students from all over Milwaukee came to the Milwaukee Art Museum to celebrate art, reading, and their favorite team, the Bucks! Upon arrival at the museum, the students took a guided tour of the museum with staff and Bucks mascot, Bango. Then, they broke into smaller groups throughout the museum gallery spaces and read with the players and coaches.  After the small group reading sessions, everyone congregated in the main lobby where the team was announced and the students all got the opportunity to take a pledge in several different languages, as taught by Bucks players. The pledge was to “Read Every Day!”

City Year played a “behind the scenes” role for this event. Two days prior, Corps Members and staff in Milwaukee stood before thousands of books that needed to be sorted by quality, reading level, and school. After much team work, singing, laughing, and 7 hours, the books were all sorted and ready to be given to the students in Milwaukee! All that was left to do was watch the joy and excitement on the faces of the children.

Corps Members with Dan Gadzuric of the Bucks!

"Good luck next year!" - Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks

A Service Excursion by Jason Beinemann

Jason serving with Care Force

Hi, my name is Jason Beinemann. I am a Senior Corps Member on the City Year Milwaukee Start-Up Team. A few weeks ago, I was given an amazing opportunity to step out of the City Year Milwaukee offices and get my hands dirty with some good old physical service down in Charleston, South Carolina. I was an honorary member of Care Force. Care Force is a division of City Year, Inc., that engages our corporate partners and their employees in high-impact community service events. They travel across the country and put on large scale service events to improve youth and family-focused educational, recreational and residential facilities.  During this particular week, we were prepping for a service day for one of our corporate sponsors, CSX. This service day involved revitalizing a park by installing a frisbee golf course, new plants and benches, as well as painting murals and picking up the trash around the park grounds. It was a very challenging and enjoyable week of service. I will take a lot from that experience and bring it to Milwaukee, where our service events will be transformative, inspirational, and sustainable!

Jason moving cement mixer



OPEN HOUSE

City Year Milwaukee held its first Open House on Wednesday, November 4^th. The information session was a huge success; engaging 30 individuals either as potential applicants or community leaders who we can partner with in the future of our organization!

Every first Wednesday of the month we hold an Open House at our downtown Milwaukee office at 322 East Michigan Street, Suite 300. We also have an Open House in the community every third Thursday of the month. As these events come up we will post information on our website, as well as this blog!

What to expect at an Open House

Refreshments

Casual Environment (Informal)

Presentation with Testimonial and Q&A

Access to Apply Online!

A Real Glimpse at What It Means to Serve with City Year

Interested in attending one of our Open Houses?

RSVP with Ciana Jones – cjones10@cityyear.org

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Open House

City Year Milwaukee held its first Open House on Wednesday, November 4^th. The information session was a huge success; engaging 30 individuals either as potential applicants or community leaders who we can partner with in the future of our organization!

Every first Wednesday of the month we hold an Open House at our downtown Milwaukee office at 322 East Michigan Street. We also have an Open House in the community every third Thursday of the month. As these events come up we will post information on our website, as well as this blog!

What to expect at an Open House

Refreshments

Casual Environment (Informal)

Presentation with Testimonial and Q&A

Access to Apply Online!

A Real Glimpse at What It Means to Serve with City Year

National Make a Difference Day!

Saturday October 24th was a big day for City Year Milwaukee! It finally happened, we had our first ever service day, and it came on National Make a Difference Day. We spent several weeks planning and preparing for this event, and what an event it turned out to be! We partnered with Fernwood Montessori School to build a large stone labyrinth which completed the service learning unit for the kindergarten class. We had volunteers come out from all over the Milwaukee area. Faculty from the school and City Year Alumni were on hand to serve during the day as well.

Together, we transformed an unusable and muddy area of the students’ playground into an area of reflection. The students will be able to walk through the maze and deliberately take time to think about their day and dream about their future. The volunteers met at the school for the opening ceremony where City Year Corps Members led a powerful and energetic program.      The principal of the school, Mr. Sanchez, said a few words to the crowd and one of the teachers gave a brief overview on how the project came to life due to the kindergarten class wanting to transform their school. For lunch, the generosity of Erbert’s & Gerbert’s Subs bestowed a might feast for all who were serving. This included soup, subs, and cookies. Overall, it was a very successful day and we can’t wait for our next project.

Written by Jason Beinemann and Liz Gaspar.



What is City Year?

City Year was founded on the belief that young people can change the world. City Year’s vision is that one day the most commonly asked question of a young person will be, “Where are you going to do your service year?”

City Year supports this vision in four primary ways:

• Full-Time Youth Service Corps

City Year’s signature program, the City Year youth service corps, unites 1,500 young people age 17-24 for a year of full-time community service, leadership development, and civic engagement. These young leaders come from diverse backgrounds and put their idealism to work by tutoring and mentoring school children, reclaiming public spaces, and organizing after-school programs, school vacation camps, and the Starfish Corps, Young Heroes, and City Heroes programs.

• Inspiring Citizen Service Through High-Impact Community Events

City Year seeks to be a catalyst – a mechanism to engage people and institutions in the citizen service movement. Events such as city-wide service days and Martin Luther King Jr. Service Day bring together thousands of people from throughout City Year communities each year to complete critical projects. These projects revitalize communities, and foster a spirit of civic engagement by and bringing together community members from all walks of life.

• Leading Discussion and Development of National Service Policies and Initiatives

City Year’s vision is pursued not only through action, but also through public policy outreach and international initiatives promoting the concept of citizen service, engaging policymakers, providing leadership to Voices for National Service, and securing support for AmeriCorps. By generating new, innovative policy ideas and leading discussion around these ideas, City Year seeks to build awareness and support for citizen service among leaders and key stakeholders across the country and the world.

• Expanding Service Opportunities Around the World

City Year aims to inspire and support citizen service across the globe to unite people from all races, religions, cultures and ethnicities in building a more just world.

In 2005, City Year launched its first international site, City Year South Africa.  Located in Johannesburg, 200 corps members serve in 18 primary schools through after-school programs in literacy, life skills and tutoring, as well as service projects to reclaim and brighten school spaces. In addition to serving the Johannesburg community through high-quality service-based community projects and after-school programs, City Year South Africa has also helped its City Year corps members realize a brighter future through excellent placement rates in professional employment, apprenticeships, and universities.