'City Year' of Service Begins Anew For Hundreds in Philadelphia
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More than 200 members of City Year, the federal government's community service agency for young people, took the oath of service today at South Philadelphia High School.
They raised their right hands and began to recite: "I pledge to serve as a City Year member..."
City Year members work directly with teachers to get students who are "off track" back on track and headed toward high school graduation.
These young adults, ages 18 to 25, will provide educational support to students in eighteen Philadelphia schools with things like tutoring, mentoring, and serving as role models.
"If we are able to impact a student who is off track from the time period between grades 3 through 9, we have an 80 percent chance by grade 9, if he or she is on track, to get them to graduate from high school," notes Ric Ramsey, the executive director of City Year Philadelphia. "So our whole purpose is, how do we reduce the dropout rate and how do we improve the graduation rate here in Philadelphia?"
This is Whitley Roberts' second year in City Year. She mentors high school seniors to prepare them for life after high school.
"We have different workshops after school," she said. "Different writing workshops for essays and applications. We work hand-in-hand with the college advisors there, just to make sure we give our students the full fruit of what they need to make those plans."
The group was also treated to a performance by the Lincoln University marching band.
