While the blog goes on summer vacation, we’ll spend the coming weeks sharing past blog posts about how City Connects helps students thrive.
This week’s roundup looks at some of your favorite blog posts from the past school year.
A focus on health
February 8, 2024
While schools look at students’ needs in academics and social-emotional behaviors, students’ physical health isn’t always considered. City Connects Coordinators are placing a special focus on health — one of City Connects’ four domains.
“Now, because of the pandemic, some of the families in our schools have had disruptions in routine medical visits, like yearly doctor’s visits and dental check-ups. Some kids are anxious about going to the doctor or dentist after all this time. And some parents need help reconnecting to and navigating the healthcare system.” Cynthia Scheller, the Director of City Connects’ Student Support Programs and Practice, says.
Making a difference from Dublin, Ireland to Springfield, Massachusetts
March 28, 2024
Earlier this year, we proudly welcomed the principals of the 10 City Connects schools in Dublin, Ireland, to meet with our staff at Boston College and learn from City Connects schools in the United States.
It was a wonderful chance to share ideas and strategies about how City Connects helps schools understand and address the needs and interests of their students. One of the most inspiring sessions was a discussion on implementing City Connects in large cities that occurred between the Dublin principals and Daniel Warwick, Superintendent of the Springfield Public Schools in Massachusetts. Warwick was joined by Jessica Davila, the principal of Springfield’s Alice B. Beal School, and Stephanie Sanabria, Springfield’s City Connects Program Manager.
“If they’re hungry, they are not going to learn,” Dublin and Springfield educators agreed, summing up how non-academic obstacles affect students.
Expanding students’ experiences through enrichment
April 5, 2024
At Catholic Central in Springfield, Ohio, City Connects Coordinators Shannon Baker and Rosie Bond help students with basic needs like food and clothes, and they are also passionate about exposing students to a wide array of enrichment activities.
“We see what interests our students, and we’re lucky that our community is very interested in responding to and supporting our students.” Bond says.
How City Connects works in a rural community
September 15, 2023
Kelley Miller was a language arts teacher for 18 years, and she loved building relationships with her students and their families.
Some students were struggling with their home lives. Some came from families facing economic struggles; 48 percent of students at her school are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.
Keenly aware of students’ lives, Miller, last year, became a City Connects Coordinator at Shakamak Junior-Senior High School in Jasonville, Ind. Now she’s building relationships to help meet students’ needs and build on their strengths.
A City Connects Coordinator teaches yoga
March 21, 2024
Tatiana Peña is a City Connects Coordinator at the Mary A. Dryden Veterans Memorial Elementary School in Springfield — and she’s sharing yoga with students at her school. When Peña became a young mom, she struggled with anxiety. One thing that helped her was yoga.
“I like to focus on the whole child – knowing that spirit, mind, and body are all interconnected, it allows the program to flow. We tap into fun and feeling safe.” Peña says.
