Letter to Keep on Living

Pensacola, FL — One of the first activities our team participated in was the presentation of City Year to the Parents of Myrtle Grove Elementary. This event was also a Parent/Student workshop to highlight positive homework approaches which parents can use to improve their children"s discipline and work ethic, in and outside of school.

During the after-school workshop the CSX team created a skit with the City Year Founding Starfish Story. We cut more than 40 paper starfish for every child that attended and created an ocean out of long white and blue sheets of paper. We cut out 5, 3-foot starfish, which we stuffed with scraps of paper.

Although everything we made was from everyday materials, the effect that these props had was incredible. It allowed the children and parents to visualize the story"s theme, "The way to change the world is one step at a time, hence inspiring others to act."

With the participation of the children and corps members' parents were able to grasp a sense of how engaging City Year is and how invested each individual corps member is in the success and growth of the children! The experience was truly fulfilling for all who participated -- the corps, the parents, the teachers and staff, and most importantly the children!

I am definitely inspired to continue our City Year service with pure commitment and love.