Giving Compass' Take:

• City Year Americorps members share their unique stories teaching at schools in Detroit for one year. They provide perspective as to why they will pursue teaching careers or go on to do other work after this year.

• What is the retention rate for City Year members? How does this program compare to Teach For America?

• Read about how some schools in Detroit will be bringing on teaching advisors to help them execute the best teaching plans.

For the 71 young adults who just finished 10 months of service in Detroit district schools, this past academic year was, essentially, a trial by fire.

The City Year Americorps members worked with some of Detroit’s neediest children — tutoring and mentoring them, and assisting their teachers in the classroom. It wasn’t easy. Many rose at 5:30 a.m. and reported working up to 12-hour days for a modest stipend.

For many volunteers, the rigor of it all was clarifying: It inspired some to pursue teaching and pointed others toward different career paths.

Chalkbeat caught up with six recent Americorps alumni to discuss what they learned about the challenges and rewards of serving in Detroit schools, and how those lessons shape what they want to do next.

Bryan Aaron, 23, Detroit: When he started tutoring in a class of 5th graders at Noble Elementary-Middle School, he was surprised to learn just how much factors outside of the classroom — food and housing insecurities, lack of transportation — affect students’ grades and attendance. In some cases students would be living with a parent one day, and an aunt or grandparent the next.  That helped him understand how much consistency matters for students. In one case, he helped a student with poor attendance figure out how to get to school since his father was using the family car at that time.

Blake Wilkes, 23, Detroit: After spending a school year working in an 8th grade classroom at J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy, Wilkes has decided he’s not suited for a career as a classroom teacher in the long-term because he said he doesn’t “have the patience to deal with what [students] go through.” The recent college graduate plans to pursue a graduate degree in psychology, with the goal of becoming a school guidance counselor for the Detroit district.

Read the full article about City Year Americorps by Kimberly Hayes Taylor at Chalkbeat