Eric Schwarz
Eric Schwarz
Cofounder and President
Citizen Schools
There is an increasingly large disparity between the content of school curriculums and the skill requirements of our society and economy. According to Eric Schwarz, schools are unable to sufficiently fill the achievement gap; thus, learning out of school must become the basis of education reform. In order to better prepare children for the expectations of society, Eric founded Citizen Schools, an organization that recruits and trains volunteers for apprentice-based after-school, summer, and Saturday programs serving 9-14 year olds. Students are able to work with “citizen teachers,” including doctors, lawyers, and photographers, doing hands-on learning projects. Eric emphasizes the program’s role in both providing continual learning venues outside the classroom and demonstrating to young students that the things they learn while in school will affect their adult lives. “Math is not just something you need to learn in school,” Eric says. “You need it to make a profit, to make architectural drawings work. The result is that the students’ writing, presentation, and math skills become relevant and familiar.” He also underscores the power of the Citizens School approach to convince professionals of their ability to become teachers in their own right.
Prior to founding Citizen Schools, Eric participated in the out-of-school learning movement through his leadership roles in City Year, a youth service program. Eric’s activism in youth outreach began when he worked for the Gary Hart presidential campaign as the national student director, where he recruited thousands of college students to volunteer in support of his candidate. For his work as president and CEO of Citizen Schools, Eric has received the 2002 A&E Networks Biography Community Hero Award, the 2002 Nan B. Kay Great Friends to Kids Award, the 2004 and 2006 Fast Company Social Capitalist Award for outstanding non-profit innovation and results, and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2005. Eric graduated from the University of Vermont and received his master’s in education from Harvard University.
For more on Eric Schwarz:
Happily Ever After School
Boston Globe
November 17, 2007
A Mass. Call to Service
By Maureen Curley and Eric Schwarz, Boston Globe
April 12, 2007
Learning in the Afternoon
Boston Globe
March 18, 2007
Citizen Schools: An After-Hours Adventure
By Sean Cavanagh, Education Week
January 17, 2007
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