Glossary

Here are some common terms that I reference in my weekly entries. Hopefully they help you understand what I'm talking about.

Community Meeting -- Once a month, the entire corps and staff of CYNH gets together for a Community Meeting. These gatherings are intended to unite us in reflection of our service as well as to give us a chance to learn more about other people at our site.

Deltas -- A term used to refer to things that should be changed.

The Gorge -- The cafeteria in the Timberland building, where the headquarters for CYNH is located.

GYSD -- Global Youth Service Day is a day for students across the globe to participate in a day of service to improve their schools and communitites.

Idealist Journey -- Something we do on Fridays to help us step back and reflect on our service. We have a workbook with exercises that guide us in our contemplations. Also, during these sessions, corps members bring questions for discussion on the topics of service and our work.

In-kind -- A donation of something other than money (like food or materials for a service project) made to City Year.

Leadership Compass -- A tool that highlights the four main styles of leadership. It gives us a common language to use when discussing the way we operate when leading. It uses the four compass points for the four styles. A North is associated with action; this is when someone likes to jump into things with a sense of urgency to accomplish a goal.

Learning Lab -- A period during the day at Seabrook Middle School when students can get a jump start on homework, meet with teachers to make up tests and late assignments or meet with clubs.

Moccasins -- The concept of resisting judgement of others until you've walked a lifetime in their moccasins. Basically it means remembering that everyone has different backgrounds that shape their behaviors and thoughts.

NELA -- NELA stands for New England Leadership Academy. It was a three day conference in Boston at the end of December with members from the City Year Boston, New Hampshire and Rhode Island corps. You can read more about this week here.

Power Greeting -- A City Year power tool we use to create a welcoming environment. We usually use it to pump up the people we're greeting.

PITW -- Putting Idealism to Work. Basically, these are words of wisdom to keep corps members and others at City Year motivated and focused.

Pod -- At Seabrook Middle School, the four grades (5th-8th) are separated. Each has a central room, called the pod, connected to four classrooms. The pod features a few desks and computers for students to use during class.

PT -- Physical training, a power tool we use many mornings to prepare ourselves for a great day of service.

Ripples and Joys -- A ripple is an instance in which a person displayed idealism and courage. A joy is something positive that we've seen or heard.

Q2Q -- Like a cue-to-cue in plays, a Q2Q is a very specific breakdown of major CY events. They include times for all pieces of the event, from preparation to clean-up, and the point people for each task.

Readiness Check -- Something we do each morning as a team to make sure we have each piece of our uniform and a good mental frame. One person leads the readiness check by calling out each item ("Boots and shoes!" "Mind ready to serve!" for example) and the rest of the team shouts out a word in response.

WSWC -- This acronym stands for "Whole School, Whole Child" and describes our approach to our in-school services. Teams that work in the schools Monday through Thursday serve not only the students who are at-risk for dropping out but also the school community as a whole by serving as positive role models and an injection of joy and excitement.