Jacksonville, Fl — Dozens of future leaders celebrated a life accomplishment, as City Year Jacksonville honored its 2025-2026 Student Success Coaches on Tuesday at the Jessie Ball duPont Center.
City Year Jacksonville provides a pathway for young adults to find meaningful work, gain real-world leadership experience and develop career-ready skills.
Tyasia Saunders is one of those AmeriCorps members. She plans to be a dentist, and is already a mentor to countless young people.
“They see me as someone they’re comfortable with, see me as someone they can come to and count on no matter when, no matter what happens.”, Saunders said.
City Year Executive Director Dawn Emerick says they’re developing civic leaders for a better Jacksonville.
“There’s a big gap right now between the generation of Jacksonville and the young people. Folks are not getting involved in philanthropy. They’re not doing civic engagement work. We have a real delta.”, Emrick said.
City Year AmeriCorps members currently serve in nine Duval schools, with plans to expand to 15 in the next six years.
Westside Middle School Principal Dave Errico says Student Success Coaches mentor teachers, as well as ELA and Math classrooms.
“The connections they really do make with the kids are unique. Kids go to them. They see themselves in them. The mentors. I think there’s just that safe space that they create that’s just another adult on campus that’s not necessarily their teacher or their admin team members.“, Errico said.
Like all nonprofits, reaching their goals will require financial support and commitment from school leaders across Jacksonville.
City Year Jacksonville is also recruiting for young adults ages 18-25 to apply for the 2026-2027 year.
City Year was founded in 1988 as a national service program to unite young adults for a demanding year of full-time community service. It has grown to more than 2,000 members serving in 29 US cities, as well as in South Africa and the UK.
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