AmeriCorps Member Spotlight: Ju White

Meet AmeriCorps member Ju White! He proudly serves as a senior AmeriCorps member and Service Leader with City Year New Orleans. Ju works tirelessly to serve as a tutor and mentor and focuses on developing meaningful relationships and providing one-on-one support to his students. Read on to learn about Ju’s first year as an AmeriCorps member and the impact he made.

When Ju began service with City Year, he had a vision of sharing his talents and resources with the children of his community, New Orleans East. While serving on the United Way of Southeast Louisiana Team at Mildred Osborne Charter School he found multiple opportunities to do so.

Ju started an apparel design club to teach students how to sew and create clothing—he understood the impact that kind of creative exposure had on him as a child and wanted to share it with students. He went a step further when he volunteered to hem 10 band uniforms for students that needed adjustments so their uniforms would fit in time to march with parades.

When Ju’s service day was finished, he stayed at school to support the boys basketball team. He attended every practice and game that year, and the team went on to win Louisiana’s state quarter finals.

“Throughout the service year I never heard Ju complain—his spirit and his mind never wavered. If something needed to be done for the students or the school, he quietly did it and only afterwards did we find out that it was Ju. He is just that kind of person. He does not need recognition; he understands the impact of the work he is doing for his students and that is always enough for him.”

-Tykia Barber, Impact Manager