For the first ten weeks of the school year, middle school students at six Boston Public Schools have transformed into statisticians, laboratory scientists, mobile app developers, and robotics engineers. As part of an extended school day with the nonprofit Citizen Schools, students have worked with volunteers from companies across the state on hands-on projects called “apprenticeships”. For just shy of 20 years, Citizen Schools has been bringing a second shift of education resources to local schools, ensuring that our youth is given the opportunity to not only discover, but also achieve, their dreams. A key component of their programming is the partnerships they develop with the private sector, and at John Hancock, we are proud to call ourselves one of those partners.
As a first year Citizen Schools’ partner, John Hancock volunteers worked with students on two separate projects for the 10-week period. Let’s Talk About College is a curriculum that looks at every step of the college application process through a financial lens. Volunteers guided students in creating a board game to make difficult concepts like tuition, application fees and financial aid relatable and fun. Rita German, John Hancock Volunteer Coordinator, managed the project and was thrilled with the results, “You never stop to think where your initial inspiration as a kid comes from. After teaching, you realize that we have so much to give to the next generation. By the end of the program they are playing their board game and are excited about going to college. And we did that!”
The second curriculum John Hancock volunteers participated in, Pencil Coding, concentrated on creating and designing a video game based on simple coding. Through volunteering with Citizen Schools, John Hancock employees are building their professional development skills from public speaking to project management. They’re bringing their experiences back into the workplace as more informed citizens, and implementing the skills in everyday business.
Each of the John Hancock volunteers expressed a sense of satisfaction found in working on this rewarding program. Through imparting their knowledge and passion to the next generation of leaders and innovators, our employees find a joy in knowing they are shaping the future. That feeling of joy was certainly palpable at the showcase, held on December 10th at John Hancock’s headquarters. The science fair style event allowed students to present what they learned to parents, teachers and community leaders. It was hard to tell who was more excited- the volunteers or the students!
At John Hancock we believe that in order to create stronger communities, we have to align ourselves with partners who focus on our city’s greatest and richest resource- our youth. We are proud of our employees for always going the extra mile to make this work possible.