Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Teams Up With City Year to Launch HMH Classroom Corps; Connecting Employees, Students and Teachers Nationwide

BOSTON, April 25, 2018

In March, HMH employees across three offices participated in the inaugural Learning Forums at P.S. 75 School of Research and Discovery in New York City, the Lake View YMCA in Chicago, and the Curtis Guild Elementary School in Boston. Volunteers guided elementary school students through literacy and STEM activities, including assembling geometric shapes using marshmallows and toothpicks, conducting volcano experiments, and performing short plays from HMH's Readers' Theater collection. Each student was able to select from hundreds of donated HMH books to take home.

"Connecting with customers is core to HMH's culture and business," said Bianca Olson, HMH's senior vice president of corporate affairs, who joined the efforts in Boston. "Our employees are passionate about giving back to their communities, and Classroom Corps provides new opportunities to for them work directly with students, teachers and schools. Our partnership weaves together City Year's in-school engagement with HMH's goal to improve student outcomes with holistic solutions."

"The Learning Forum provided a great opportunity to get out of the office and connect with the students and teachers in our community," said Krishna Ramudit, associate digital product manager at HMH, who volunteered at the Boston Learning Forum. "The kids were incredibly enthusiastic and I, along with all of the volunteers, had a great time helping them learn, create and read. It was a refreshing reminder of why we work hard every day to impact schools and improve student outcomes."

"When we bring people in from the community to interface directly with our students it sends them the message that they are important, and that learning continues beyond the school day," said Karen McCarthy, principal of Boston's Guild Elementary School. "It helps engage them in content from the curriculum in different ways. Building our own community partnerships with City Year, and then having their partners like HMH come in and see and join the work they do – all of that breeds more community, engagement and joy within our school."

HMH and City Year will continue to host customized programs throughout the year, including a second round of Learning Forums in the fall. Additionally, remote employees and those in offices not located near City Year locations will receive resources and customized support to volunteer in their local schools. City Year's AmeriCorps members will also have the option to participate in professional development and mentoring programs with HMH employees, many of whom are former educators.