100 students and teachers from the southeast side of Chicago celebrated National Public Lands Day on September 24, by helping to restore wetland ecosystems at the Indiana Dunes National Park.

Students from Washington, Morgan Park, Harlan, Bowen, and Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences boarded buses early in the morning in order to learn more about intact ecosystems at the Indiana Dunes, the importance of biodiversity, and then pitched in by planting native plant species in a wetland bog, cutting back invasive species, and learning the craft of environmental interpretation.

Following a morning of hard work, students were rewarded for their labors with a picnic lunch and trip to Mt. Baldy, a immense sand dune with views of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. The dunes provided a good respite in nature for our high school students and the breath-taking views of Lake Michigan and its lake shore were memorable.

These students will now return to the Lake Calumet region of Chicago to restore and maintain their own more natural areas through the Calumet Is My BackYard program. Each high school group will continue to learn about environmental science in the classroom then put their knowledge to work restoring prairie and wetland areas throughout the southeast side of Chicago.

Communities Welcome Teachers for Immersion Institute

Teachers from schools in Logan Square, Kenwood/Oakland, and North Lawndale spent a full week during July participating in a Community Immersion Institute sponsored by the Service-Learning Initiative and the Office of Social Sciences.

The Institute is designed ngage teachers in the organizations, issues, and history of their communities and seek ways to connect these perspectives and opportunities with their own classroom curriculum.

Logan Square Neighborhood Association, the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization and the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation played active roles in facilitating the Institute throughout the week.

Teachers began the week by participating in community building activities and learning about the history of their neighborhoods. The next two days were spent in communities learning about current issues, organizations, and strategies. In Logan Square, teachers were able to have lunch in the homes of families.

Following a day of reflection and learning about three community-based pedagogies - service-learning, place-based learning and social justice education - teachers spent the final day of the Institute developing projects for their own classrooms. Many of the projects will enable students to learn more about the history and development of their communities and become active citizens in their own communities.

On August 25, teacher participants will gather again to share their projects and plan next steps in the process of connecting classroom to communities. For a full story of the Community Immersion Institute go to: http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/notebook/index.php/entry/1225/Summer_institutes_get_teachers_into_neighborhoods.

Summer of Service and Leadership Kicks Off in 21 Schools

50 teachers and college students gathered on June 4, 2011, for a professional development seminar to prepare them to launch the 4th Summer of Service and Leadership - a four-week leadership and service-learning experience for rising ninth graders.

Summer of Service and Leadership (SOSL) engages students in 21 high schools around the city in team building and leadership development experiences that prepare them to serve their communities. Students are currently examining the issues of aging, poverty and environment and then serving at locations throughout the city by working side-by-side with senior citizens, assisting and food pantries and restoring natural habitats.

In addition to the great service work students do through the program, SOSL is also a great transition program for 8th graders as they embark upon their high school careers. With the help of teachers, college mentors, and community partners, students are able to build new relationships with teachers, fellow students, and leaders in the community. They also have opportunities to explore college with the support of the college mentors.

The following high schools are participating in SOSL this summer: Amundsen, Chicago Academy, Clemente, Gage Park, Harlan, Kelvyn Park, Kennedy, King College Prep, Kinzie, Richards, Roosevelt, School of Social Justice, Solario, Steinmetz, Taft, Upflit, Von Steuben, Washington, and Whitney Young.

SOSL will culminate on Friday, July 22, 2011, at the UIC Forum. 500 students will come together to share their fantastic summer experiences. Look for a rainbow sea of colors as students report on out on their great work this summer.

Curie Students Explore the Amazon as Global Citizens

Ten Curie High School students and their teachers flew from Chicago to Iquitos, Peru to begin their Amazonian rain forest adventure with Global Explorers. Teachers Josh Parker and Erin Faulkner led the students through a week-long exploration of Amazonian nature and culture from June 22 - July 1.

Students encountered the legendary pink river dolphins, the only fresh water dolphins the world, fished successfully for piranha, encountered boa constrictors, tarantulas and macaws, toucans, and parakeets, heard the magical calls of the oropendula birds and spotted a tailless whip scorpion on the rain forest floor at night time.

But students also got to meet villagers from Yagua and Santa Isabel where they learned about the medicinal properties of trees and plants from a shaman, participated in tribal ceremonies and were able to purchase native jewelrly made from plants and fish bones.

Undoubtedly for most students, the highlight of the trip was a day of service in the tiny river community of Santa Isabel. Students delivered bi-lingual children's books to start a library in the school, built book shelves, painted the school, and create a playground area for the community's youngsters. Students were in awe of how the villagers work together without the benefit of electricity and machines to build, create, and cook what they need to live.

In the closing days of the trip, students were able to ascend 200 feet into the forest canopy to enjoy the Amazon from on high. Students navigated the canopy walk among 18 different trees. It was an amazing way to complete the exploration of the Amazon. It was a life altering experience for the students. All returned more committed to continue to engage in meaningful service-learning work in their own communities. And, they all vowed to return one day to the Amazon.

Thanks are due to Pearson Foundation, Global Explorers, and AFAR Magazine for this absolutely incredible opportunity for CPS students!

CPS Recognizes SL Coaches and Top Practitioners

CPS Service-Learning Coaches gathered for the Annual Coach Recognition and Awards Ceremony on May 24, 2011, at the National Museum of Mexican Art along with teachers, principals, students and community partners.

In what has become an annual affair to acknowledge the excellent work of our Service-Learning Coaches and award top performers in service-learning, the event culminated a year of extraordinary work in service-learning. In addition to hundreds of coach and teacher-initiated service-learning projects, CPS also featured the Jane Addams Week of Service, Martin Luther King Celebration of Service, Cesar E. Chavez Month of Service, Chicago Youth Service Day, Adopt-an-Ecosystem, Elections 2011, and Carbon Emissions Reduction Action Project. This sampling of projects is just a taste of the experiences available to CPS students this year.

The evening's theme - We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand tiny threads - comes from the pen of Herman Melville. His thoughts encourage each of us to recognize and explore the connections that bind us together in a common humanity. Service-learning is an excellent teaching and learning strategy to help students see and act upon these connections.

Winners of this year's service-learning awards were:

Community Partner - Hostelling International Chicago
SL Coach - Jeanne Walker, Orr High School, and Saswati Koya, Chicago Academy
Principal - James Schwartz, Al Raby High School
Teacher - Necia Jeffries, Roosevelt High School, Patricia Holloway, Chicago Discovery Academy, Katrina Vafakos, Taft High School
Students - Nicole Bolton, Morgan Park High School, Jasmine Sarmiento, Kelvyn Park High School, Jose Solis, Kelly High School, Ericka Ballard, King College Prep, Mauricio Ruiz, Foreman High School, Princess Davis, Marine Military Academy

Congratulations to the 2011 Service-Learning Award winners.

Kelly Students Support Progressive Immigration Legislation

As part of Chicago Youth Service Day on Saturday, April 30, 2011, more than 100 Kelly High School students traveled to St. Nicholas Church on Chicago's southwest side to join immigrants, community leaders, and elected officials to raise their voice for progressive immigration legislation.

Kelly students have long been interested in the DREAM Act and have fought for passage of the act which would enable thousands of children of immigrants to access loans and scholarships to attend colleges and universities. Currently, children of undocumented immigrants are not able to attend college because of funding being denied.

A second piece of proposed legislation, the Smart Enforcement Act, would enable local governments to choose whether they want to cooperate with a federal enforcement program that targets hardened criminals but also has led to the deportation of undocument immigrants arrested for misdemeanor crimes.

Immigrant advocacy groups say they hope Illinois can begin to reverse the trend of pro-enforcement state measures that have been sweeping across the country.

By participating in the rally, Kelly students learned about first amendment rights to assemble and petition the government. They also learned to raise their voice for causes the believe in.

According to Service-Learning Coordinator Raul Magdaleno, Kelly students brought energy and spirit to the gathering on Saturday. The rally was sponsored in part by the Illinois Caucus for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

A Thousand Youth Join Chicago Youth Service Day

A thousand CPS middle school and high school students participated in the second annual Chicago Youth Service Day on Saturday, April 30, 2011. Students worked with senior citizens, restored natural areas in parks, wetlands, and forest preserves, served in homeless shelters, built community gardens, and advocated for immigration reform and passage of the DREAM Act throughout the city.

At the Linne Woods natural site north of Chicago, Lincoln Park High School students removed invasive growth and built natural erosion control mechanisms using downed invased treee species. Students also enjoyed the burn pile where they cast the remaining invasive plants which will make room for natural plant species.

At the Ruth Shriman Senior Apartments complex in Uptown, students from Von Steuben High School served breakfast, socialized, and played games with residents seniors.

Three groups of Amundsen High School students traveled to Pilsen to help with the annual Dia de los Ninos celebration and parade, to Foster Avenue Beach to continue work on their adopt-a-beach site, and to the Just Harvest organization to assist with the food pantry, while 100 Kelly High School students participated in a rally to advocate for immigration reform at St. Nicholas Church.

Curie High School students teamed up with students from Gary Elementary to develop a mural about the enrivonment while Dyett and Fenger students partnered to assist at the Roseland Boys and Girls Club. Middle School students at Jackson Language Academy created a memorial garden to honor a teacher who recently passed away.

Countless partner organizations including BuildOn, Chicago Cares, Friends of the Parks, Alliance of Great Lakes, Public Allies and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County provided opportunities for students to be involved in service throughout the day.

All participating students traveled in the afternoon to McCormick Place for a spectacular Civic Action Rally highlighted by community partner tables, 15 activity stations including hip hop dancing, art, spoken word, and theatre, and a rally featuring the outstanding and amazing dance performance by FootWorkingz and spoken word performance by the Half Pint Poetics of Kuumba Lynx.

As emcee Steve Mayberry noted: Now don't let today be the end of your journey. Let it be the beginning. Let generations to come look back on this day and say something bold and proud and beautiful was let loose on the City of Chicago on that day, April 30, 2011, and the city was never the same again.