NEW ORLEANS – On Jan. 15, City Year New Orleans members and staff will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by beautifying the Arthur School at 3774 Gentilly Boulevard.
“People often forget or might not even know that MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service,” said City Year New Orleans Executive Director Arielle McConduit Ashley. “City Year is part of AmeriCorps, which is a federal agency for national service and volunteerism, and we are proud to serve this day and everyday.”
City Year’s model and approach to help kids succeed in school and prepare them for college and career is centered on the idea that “young people can change the world.”
The nonprofit places workers in historically underserved public schools to provide individual attention to struggling students. They provide direct intervention, tutoring, teacher support, extracurricular activities and more.
From 8 a.m. to noon, Corps Members and staff will be working at the Delores Taylor Arthur School for Young Men, which is an open-enrollment charter school in New Orleans with a male-focused mission. They will be beautifying the interior, creating bulletin boards, and decorating the hallways and the teacher’s lounge with motivational messaging.
Ashley said choosing to perform their service day at the Arthur School allows City Year to honor two historic legacies.
“Delores Taylor Arthur was a well known educator not just in New Orleans but across the country, and, like Dr. King, she had a passion for community and young people,” Ashley said. “Both of these exemplary Black leaders are those we hope our corps members and their students will look to for inspiration and examples of lives well lived.”
