Opening Day with Mom!

Yesterday was City Year Boston's Opening Day at the English. It was a beautiful day and I had a blast being able to show my mom a little glimpse of City Year.

My mom flew in that morning and hopped on the T to get to the English by the time the ceremony started. She made record time and was even early.  It was incredible.  The ceremony began at 9:30 and each team walked in cheering and making a ton of noise. There were three Corps Members who spoke. One who had attended City Year programs in Boston growing up, another who served in City Year LA last year, and one who is a CM at the English this year.  The mayor, superintendent, and City Year staff spoke about the upcoming year of service. Then, all 177 CMs plus 30 Senior CMs recited the City Year pledge and officially began our year of service.

After the ceremony was over, we met outside and found out that we would be painting the wall behind the bleachers.  There was a quote stenciled on the wall and the background needed a new coat of paint.  It was a lot of fun and so cool to see it all finished.  I wish I could be at the school tomorrow when the students arrive because the school looks incredible.  There are murals all over the place, the cafeteria has so much color and life to it, and it just looks like life came to the school. These students are getting a whole new school.  SO COOL!!

We finished up around 3:00 and headed back to my apartment. I packed for the night at the hotel and Mom met Chelsea's parents. We headed out to the hotel, checked in, and then went out to dinner at a seafood restaurant where we got sushi.  It was good, but I was so tired, I could have gone to bed then.  When we got back, we went to the hotel restaurant and got dessert.  We were in bed and asleep by ten. Wild Saturday night!

Today was pretty laid back too.  We went out for breakfast in JP and then ran errands.  I needed to go to the grocery store and drop books off at the library.  Since Mom has been to Boston multiple times, she didn't really care if we did touristy things, so I made her do all of my normal Sunday activities. Her flight left around 8:00, so we went out for an early dinner and then parted ways.

I'm really glad that my mom got to come and see City Year in action.  It was a lot of fun and a great start to the year. I hope that this year, I am playing for the name on the front of my bomber (City Year), for my students and for my team and not for me.