What's so great about serving a year with AmeriCorps? City Year Baton Rouge AmeriCorps member Mia shares her thoughts on why national service matters. Make the most of your gap year and #servewithme, too!

About City Year:
At City Year, we believe education has the power to help every child reach his or her potential. However, in high-poverty communities there are external factors and obstacles students are faced with every day that can interfere with their ability to both get to school and be ready and able to learn. But it's these students who need a bit of extra, individualized support. But there’s a gap between the kind of help they need and the support the schools are designed to provide.

America’s schools are designed to provide extra support to just 15% of students. But in many high-poverty communities, 50% or more students require additional support academic, social, or emotional support. The result of this gap is a shockingly high dropout rate in high-poverty communities.

But, there is a solution.

Within these communities, dropouts are often highly concentrated, so we’re able to identify and target the specific schools that are in need of extra support. From there, we can start working to put students on the right path to graduation—which is where City Year comes in.

At City Year, we partner with most at-risk schools to help bridge the gap between what their students need and what the schools are designed to provide. In doing so, we’re helping students reach their full potential and graduate high school in communities all across America.

Be part of the solution: http://bit.ly/1R6GfR1

Do you want to #makebetterhappen with City Year? Apply to serve as a City Year AmeriCorps member!

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Connect with us:
Read our blog: http://www.cityyear.org/blog
Follow @CityYear on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CityYear
Like @CityYear on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cityyear
See photos of our service on Instagram: https://instagram.com/cityyear/