FOR STUDENTS mapping their futures, college is often presented as the only option for reaching professional success. But there is another path that, while less direct, may be just as important as a traditional post-secondary education: committing to public service, an experience that builds core skills and provides clarity and purpose before they expand their academic interests and begin to map out their career pathway.

At City Year Greater Boston, our AmeriCorps members serve as student success coaches, providing academic support to students while also providing an additional layer of emotional support and guidance in Boston and Everett public schools.

They also discover a lot about themselves. That’s why, for the first time, City Year has been included on the Common App, the single online application form used by over 900 colleges and universities. City Year is the only service organization on the Common App, a powerful acknowledgement that our program provides a highly valuable educational experience, but not in the ordinary sense. It’s also validation that public service, while not replacing college, deserves equal footing as an option for young people as they weigh their futures.

What do City Year AmeriCorps members learn? Among the most important and lasting lessons is leadership. It’s the confidence that they possess what it takes to lead others and the perseverance to solve problems. It’s often an invaluable self-realization of their potential.

City Year AmeriCorps members serve as mentors and essential touchpoints for students in the schools we serve. They help schools build an inclusive and culturally responsive culture, including meeting kids at the door and greeting them in ways that makes our young people feel like someone wants them to be there.

They engage with families, which helps to build that critical home/school connection. We have learned that when relationships with families are nurtured, the payoff is significant: students are more likely to attend school, deeply engage with learning, and be socially and emotionally successful.

Wearing their red jackets, our members sometimes serve as go-to individuals who learn about problems bubbling up in a school and can mediate before a larger issue emerges. For example, a young person recently brought a weapon to a school. This situation was met with rapid intervention after being reported by a City Year AmeriCorps member, all because they were the person that students felt comfortable telling. 

Our AmeriCorps members also play an important role in the classroom. Some schools, especially those serving historically underserved communities, manage high teacher turnover and teacher absences, where sometimes substitutes are rotated in for a long stretch of the school year. Our AmeriCorps members can be a constant for students.  They also work individually with students to help them with math and English Language Arts assignments.

Serving as an AmeriCorps member is not an easy assignment. But members learn that the rewards are abundant. They need to be open to learning, as well as open to struggle — and working through struggle — simply because working with young people is inherently challenging. They experience first-hand how they can make an impact, and our alums often tell us they learn the value of empathy, working on diverse teams, perseverance, and problem solving, core skills for future leaders.

At City Year, we think students who are uncertain about their future paths should be celebrated as champions of possibility and supported as they define what career they want to pursue. Many of these uncertain students are multi-gifted individuals worried about choosing incorrectly or are young people from backgrounds that haven’t presented them with the opportunity to envision all they can be.

At City Year we know service is a way to create the space for them to figure it out and a venue for them to preview so much of what is possible for them. The value of City Year for members is that it provides a year of a meaningful experience that builds members’ personal skills as they consider college and beyond.

By any measure, the value we provide to our partner schools is profound. Last school year, two out of three students receiving academic support from a City Year Greater Boston AmeriCorps member in literacy and math improved their academic performance. And 100 percent of the administrators in the schools we serve report that City Year has a positive impact on their schools’ climate and culture; in the words of one Boston principal, “the impact {of City Year} on our community is truly life changing”.

Inclusion on the Common App is incredibly timely for City Year, as demand for our corps members far exceeds our supply. With our inclusion on the Common App, it’s our hope that the personal and professional value of public service continues to receive the recognition it deserves as we seek to grow our applicant pool this year to expand our footprint with a growing corps of emerging leaders.

Monica Roberts is senior vice president and executive director of City Year Greater Boston and is the former chief of family and community advancement for Boston Public Schools