The New Civics Taking Root in Chicago

The April 2013 edition of  The Progress of Education Reform, published by The Education Commission of the States, provides a look at the new civics and how it differs from previous practices in civic education http://www.ecs.org/html/Document.asp?chouseid=10696. According to the article, civic education has long been a central element of K-12 curricula.  "American schools typically required student to complete multiple courses in civics and government."  However, civics was also typically delivered through "textbook-based classroom lectures centered on civic knowledge."  Today, an Illinois student can graduate from high school without ever having taken a civics or government class.  Illinois is one of only ten states without a civics or government requirement.

Chicago Public Schools is working to reverse the trend of "old civics" and no civics.  With funding support from the McCormick and Spencer Foundations, CPS launched the Global Citizenship Initiative in August 2012.  The Global Citizenship Initiative currently works with 16 district high schools to breathe new life into the civic mission of schools. Based on researched-based six proven practices of the new civics - service-learning, discussion of controversial issues and current events, extracurricular activities, participation in school governance, classroom instruction in civics and government, and simulations of the democratic process - CPS provides professional development, curricular resources, access to civic resources, participation in multi-school civic learning events, and technical support.

The most recent opportunity for GCI teachers and students was a visit from former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor - http://chicago.cbslocal.com/video/8812136-former-justice-oconnor-helping-teach-civics-to-public-school-students/.  O'Connor discussed her time on on the Supreme Court and her post-Supreme Court vocation to strengthen civic education in American schools.  Earlier in the semester, Alcott students were able to receive Mayor Rahm Emmanuel in their classroom for a discussion on gun control issues.

Alcott High School students were able to discuss the value of civic education in schools.  One student wrote:  "I find my civics class very intriguing.  I am learning how to become an active citizen and be a participating in the process of bettering my community."  Another wrote:  "I would like to let you know how grateful I am to participate in this civics course.  It demonstrated an opportunity to change things in our communities that impact or concerns us the most."  Civic education is about academic learning in the best possible way; it allows students to develop the skills and learn that they can change the world.

During the 2012-13 academic year, our 16 GCI schools are expected to implement a year-long capstone course for seniors - civics and financial literacy, and facilitate a Student Voice Committee.  The Student Voice Committee meets regularly with the school principal throughout the school year to address school improvement issues.

Teachers are already planning for the second year of GCI during which we will introduce a Global Issues course for high school students along with a revised Civics and Financial Literacy Course.

For more information, contact Jon Schmidt at 773.553-6391 or jjschmidt@cps.edu.

CPS Culminates Chavez Month with Commemorative March Through Pilsen

CPS students completed a month-long observance of Cesar E. Chavez month by gathering at Juarez Community Academy on Saturday, April 06, 2013.  Cultural dancers began the day by honoring the leaders who have fought for justice throughout the generations.

Following the opening ceremony, students participated in workshops designed to help students explore the connection between Chavez and current issues facing our communities.  Many of the workshop focused on the arts and enabled students to create posters, drums, etc. that were used during a commemorative march through Pilsen.

In 1966, Cesar Chavez and farmworker activists embarked on a 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento.  The intent of the march was to draw attention to the injustices suffered by farmworkers in California.  As the farmworkers approached the state capitol in Sacramento, one of the major vineyards agreed to recognize the farmworker's union - a major victory for the United Farm Workers. But Chavez was not just interested in marching for justice for farm workers, he was also deeply committed to the values of faith and a commitment to non-violence that he wanted to re-assert in the movement.    CPS students on Saturday conducted their own march punctuated by chants, drums, and calls for justice to affirm the work of Chavez and practice their own first amendment rights.

Throughout the month of March, more than 1400 CPS students participated in service and action projects across the city.  Each of the 45 projects directly connected to the life, work and values of Cesar E. Chavez.  Students served in food pantries, marched with union laborers and groups demanding immigration reform, worked with immigrants preparing for their citizenship exams, packaged goods for re-distribution in the community, worked with children on literacy skills, and gathered stories of immigrants.

For the ninth consecutive year, CPS honors this great leader.  Cesar E. Chavez embodied so many of the values that continue to be important as communities struggle to find and assert their identities and engage in the struggle for justice.  Los estudiantes estan in la lucha por justicia!  We raise and answer the question:  Companeros se puede?  Si, se puede!

CPS Students Learn/Serve During Alternative Spring Break

Twenty-five CPS high school students spent their 2013 Spring Break in the community of Pilsen, a working-class neighborhood on Chicago's south side, that has been a port of entry for Mexican immigrants for decades.

The purpose of the CPS Alternative Spring Break is to expose students to one of Chicago's fascinating communities and enable students to explore that community in some depth.  As they learned about Pilsen, students served in community organizations - a senior center, homeless shelter, children's program, art program, environmental justice initiative and community activist center - and met with community leaders to learn about their commitment to Pilsen and how they personally work to serve the community.

The week began with community building at a local park district site.  Students were challenged to get to know their peers from around the city, identify their core values, engage in problem solving, and have fun with each other.

Students debrief a community building activity

Students also had an opportunity to learn about and practice their first amendment rights.  They created signs and posters for the children's march for immigration reform, a 1500 strong demonstration in Chicago's Loop, and, subsequently, marched with teachers, parents, and other students the following day to protest the closing of 53 schools in Chicago.

Students express their solidarity with immigrant families facing deportation

As students studied the community, they learned about the issue of gentrification.  Pilsen, over the last decade, has lost some 25% of its Mexican-American population as more white people move into the neighborhood.  The process of gentrification has raised rents and property tax levels forcing some former residents to leave the community.  To gain some insight to the problem, students listened to a report by WBEZ reporter Linda Lutton that provided some context to the issue:  http://www.wbez.org/series/race-out-loud/racial-change-pilsen-mi-casa-tu-casa-102030.  Students participated in a "philosophical chairs" discussion designed to strengthen active listening skills as students discuss their own thinking about gentrification.  The level of sophistication with which the students argued was impressive indeed.

Students at St. Pius Church discussing community issues

Students completed the week by participating in reflection and evaluation exercises.  They gave high marks to CPS for a week that gave them new insights into the community of Pilsen and their own capacities to make change in the world.

High School Science Teachers Explore Place Based Education as Service-Learning Strategy

More than 40 high school science teachers gathered at one of Chicago's most unique park facilities to learn about how place based education can engage and transform students ability to understand and feel connected to their community. 

Teachers collaborate on tool safety during an ice breaker activity

McGuane Park, located on the city's near south side, is carved out of a former rock quarry and features a fishing pond, natural water drainage system, restored natural prairie area, and some of the very few sledding hills in the city. 

Field Museum educator Laura Milkert discusses water quality testing with teachers

Despite 10 inches of snow on the previous evening, the science teachers braved the elements to learn about place based education and its connection to service-learning.  Educational leaders from Friends of the River, Alliance of Great Lakes, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, De LaSalle High School, The Field Museum, the University of Wisconsin/Stevens Point guided teachers through experiential learning activities that utilize the outdoors to help them engage their own students in learning and service opportunities.  Place based education helps students apply learning in local settings, make positive contributions to their community, feel a deeper sense of connection to place, and, in the words of one teacher, "help immigrant students begin to establish a feeling of connection to this country." 

The Adopt-an-Ecosystem professional development was led by Samantha Mattone of the Department of Literacy's Democracy Learning and Student Leadership Team. Adopt-an-Ecosystem is a collaboration among city environmental organizations to bring high quality service-learning experiences to CPS middle and high school students.  Member organizations include Friends of the River, Friends of the Parks, Alliance of Great Lakes, The Field Museum, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and Friends of the Forest Preserves. 

CPS Student Leaders Dialogue with Principals at Harris Fellows Summit

More than 125 CPS student leaders from 12 schools around the city met with high school principals to discuss important school improvement issues.  Clemente High School hosted the Summit as students worked together to discuss and deliberate on four broad issue areas before presenting their ideas and recommendations to principals.

Students participate in team building activity with principals

The third annual summit focused on the following issues:

1. Classroom Instruction
2. Student Voice and Leadership
3. Restorative Justice
4. Community Building in Classrooms

Students named these issues as opportunities to build better relationships at schools and engage more deeply in academic learning.  Students recognize the power of positive relationships in schools among students, teachers, and administrators in order to achieve desired academic gains.  Students also recognized the important of including student voice more regularly in important school decisions. 

As students discussed and deliberated with their peers and with principals, they developed recommendations in each area:

1. Classroom Instruction - Teachers should be encouraged to enforce classroom rules consistently and provide engaging lesson plans that are project-oriented, promote classroom discussion, and involve everyone in learning.
2. Student Voice and Leadership - Every CPS high school should have a Student Voice Committee with more support from faculty and staff where that is lacking.
3. Restorative Justice - Adults should work to listen to problems students are experiencing and work to de-escalate tensions and not resort to suspensions.  Students should seek out adults to sponsor restorative justice programs at their schools.
4. Community Building in Classrooms - A panel of students should present ideas and recommendations at Network Chief meetings and teachers and students should spend up to 5 minutes every day discussion teen social issues with the goal of building positive relationships and help students focus.

Principals listen to student ideas on classroom community building

The Harris Fellows Student/Principal Summit was the third annual gathering of students and principals.  A video of the 2nd Annual Summit is available at http://vimeo.com/59871147.  Harris Fellows student leaders work to develop leadership skills and capacities among students and provide opportunities for students to articulate and express their concerns and ideas to powerful people.  This year Harris Fellows is focusing efforts on building Student Voice Committees at 16 high schools currently participating in the Global Citizenship Initiative.   For more information contact Cristina Salgado at ccsalgado@cps.edu. 



King Month of Social Action Mobilizes Hundreds of CPS Students

CPS high school students and teachers engaged in various service-learning projects to honor the work and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Month of Social Action in January 2013.  King and fellow civil rights leaders worked tirelessly to bring social change to America.  CPS service-learning projects were designed to connect with themes of the civil rights movement and give students a chance to practice civic skills in their communities.   Projects during the month included working at neighborhood food pantries, writing letters to the Congress about handgun violence, making peace flags, learning about and practicing peaceful solutions to conflict with members of the Grey Panthers, conducting peace rallies, and more.

Alternatives, Inc. worked with Chicago Academy High School students on restorative justice ideas and strategies.  Hope Lassen, a youth worker at Alternatives, helped students understand how to address conflict and rebuild relationships in a safe, restorative manner.  One Chicago Academy High School teacher reflected on the students’ experience: The students who went on the trip learned a lot about themselves and felt that it was beneficial to their time. I am excited about the idea of taking methods learned at Alternatives, Inc. and implementing them at Chicago Academy High School.

Westinghouse High School students participated in a Play for Peace project led by Kendra Bostick.  Play for Peace is an international organization promoting peace through compassion games and experiential learning activities.  One activity - connection circle - allows students to express themselves and find connections with each other. By the end of the activity the students stood linked arm in arm as a symbol of unity.  Adyna Jackson, Service-Learning Coach at Westinghouse, said her students gained a lot from the Play for Peace project because they had the opportunity to learn more about each other and discuss problems at their school and potential solutions.

Schurz High School students spent a day with the Illinois Council for Handgun Violence learning about handgun issues and made important connections to the values and work of Martin Luther King. By the end of the project, students wrote letters to legislators addressing issues such as bullying, domestic violence and handgun violence. A few of the students mentioned how they never had much of a chance to discuss these problems before or take specific steps to address them.

Other CPS students volunteered at the DuSable Museum of African American History on King Day, worked with Kids Off The Block on a violence prevention campaign, joined the Council on American and Islamic Relations on an anti-discrimination campaign, and served senior citizens breakfast and interviewed them about their own experiences during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.

More than 20 students groups from CPS participated in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Month of Social Action.  They learned about the work of King and the civil rights leaders by exploring various organizing strategies, connected their learning to work in their communities, and participated in follow-up discussions to debrief their experiences.  King said that the “arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  CPS students lived out that faith during January by working in their communities to bring more understanding, more compassion, more justice. 

Hancock and Lincoln Park Students Kick-Off Cesar Chavez Month of Service

Students from Lincoln Park and Hancock High Schools spent their Saturday mornings kicking off the 8th annual CPS Cesar E. Chavez Month of Service.  Each year students from across the city participate in service projects designed to honor the life and legacy of our great civil rights leader, Cesar E. Chavez.  Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union at a time when most critics said it was impossible to organize poor migrant workers who toiled to bring produce to American tables.  Chavez' response:  Si, se puede.  Indeed, using non-violent strategies learned from Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, Chavez organized in the southwest and the work impacted the entire country.

Hancock students "playing for peace"

Students from Hancock High School spent their Saturday morning on March 2, working with the non-profit organization Play for Peace.  The goal of Play for Peace is to bring groups together to learn how to build peace through cooperative games.   Hancock students learned about leadership, cooperation, collaboration, and the spirit of non-violence and were challenged to bring their new skills back to their high school to carry forward the tradition of Cesar E. Chavez. 

While Hancock students were hard at work, World Language students from Lincoln Park were paired with adults studying the citizenship exam at Erie Neighborhood House in Bucktown.  While students coached the adults on the exam (100 questions about American government and history), they also had the opportunity to practice their language skills and interview the prospective citizens about their journeys to America. 

More than 50 student groups will be serving throughout the city during March, to celebrate the spirit of Cesar Chavez through service.  April 6 will feature the culminating activity in Pilsen where students will create various works of art to remember Chavez and his work then march peacefully through the streets of Pilsen to commemorate the fasts and marches of the Chavez and the United Farm Workers.  

Lincoln Park students working with immigrants to prepare for citizenship exams

CPS/ACE Students March on Washington to Demand Action on Climate Change

The Alliance for Climate Education is one of Service-Learning's top partner organizations.  More commonly known as ACE, a national student movement to address global warming, the organization seeks to educate young people about climate change and mobilize them for action.  In Chicago that means students conduct carbon audits and then mobilize to reduce the school community's carbon footprint.  These actions range from starting recycling programs in their school to launching a DOT (Do One Thing) campaign to reduce energy consumption.

Two super activist CPS students were thrilled to learn they would accompany an ACE delegation to Washington DC on February 17, 2013, to participate in the largest climate change rally (40,000 strong) in the country's history.  Fiona McRaith from Whitney Young and Sara Kruse from Northside Prep - http://bigstory.ap.org/photo/bill-mckibben-fiona-mcraith-leah-qusba-maayan-cohen -  marched alongside climate activist Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, throughout the demonstration and demanded that President Obama and Congress put an end to the Keystone XL pipeline as well as fracking, the practice of drilling 1-2 miles into the earth's surface to break up stone deposits with a combination of fresh water and toxic chemicals to enable natural gas to flow.  These practices continue the country's reliance on fossil fuels and wreak havoc on the environment.

We are grateful for the excellent partnership with ACE and the opportunity for our students to practice their first amendment rights to safeguard the environment for future generations.

Morgan Park Students Enjoy Huge Opportunity in Springfield

The following contribution was submitted by Dorianne Thomas, a student at Morgan Park High School.  Dorianne describes her very eventful trip to Springfield to meet with state legislators to share student ideas and concerns.

I absolutely enjoyed Springfield, and I'm not just saying that.  I got a huge opportunity that doesn't come too often in life.  I think that young voices were heard on the trip, and I hope that it made a difference in some of our State Reps' lives.  Who gets to meet some of their State Representatives during their freshman year of high school?

The trip started at 5:30 a.m.  Even though it was a little early for most of us, we still had a little buzz that kind of traveled around the teacher's parking lot as we waited for our bus to come pick us up and get the show on the road.  We finally got to Springfield, IL about 10:30 am. and everyone was dressed in their casual attire and ready to have discussions with State Senator Emil Jones III, who is actually a graduate of Morgan Park High School, in the State Capitol Building.  I think he was definitely on the same page as us as far as our thoughts were on immigration, environmental and educational issues.

What was really the ice breaker of the day was meeting State Representative Monique Davis.  She was kind and very encouraging when it came to answering questions.  She was really concerned about our life plans.  She asked about our goals and future careers that we were thinking about.  I think it really showed that she is very interested in our futures.  .  She was very open with us about her thoughts about the CPS Board of Education and what her expectations and ideas were on improving the education in Chicago Public Schools, so we can do just as well as the charter schools in the Chicago area.  She was on board with uniforms but not on board with longer school days, which got everyone's attention and was probably the best discussion to conclude our visit.

When we got back on the bus, the only chatter heard for the most part was about the answers heard from the state Reps and commenting on certain questions asked.  It turned out to be a great trip that I would love to do again.

Whitney Young Science Teacher Engages Students Through Biology

Todd Katz is a science teacher at Whitney Young Magnet High School.  Recently he sent me this report on the work he and his students are doing through service-learning.  It's a lengthy report but indicative of the amazing work students are doing through excellent adult facilitation and guidance.

Biology in my class is very different from biology in most other classes across the country. My teaching philosophy is to create leaders of our communities rather than followers, yes-men, or test takers. As a result of how I teach, students of my class leave empowered, proud, confident, and aware of their own social and ethical responsibility to themselves, their family, community, and their environment from a scientific standpoint. In addition, they conclude their freshman year with a sense that they are capable of doing anything they put their minds to.

This February marked the beginning of the second year of the Mycelia Project. The project's purpose is to allow students to identify ways in which they can either individually, or as a small group, make positive impacts on their community and environment by creating a more symbiotic relationship between the two. The guidance provided by me is minimal as to not stifle the student's own creativity or limit what they can or cannot accomplish.

The objective of the project was to include as many of the ten Mycelia pillars in their 15-week long project as possible. These pillars include ecology, food, water, energy, health, sustainability, waste, gardening, community, and education. The more pillars utilized within their project, the higher the maximum point value they could receive. For instance, completing six pillars could earn them a score of a B, but doing seven could earn them a higher score of a B+.  After 2,227.5 hours of work, here is what 99 freshman biology students were able to achieve.

To initiate their project ideas, they wrote and received $3,748 from Friends of Whitney Young Grants and Whole Kids Grants sponsored by Whole Foods. Additionally, they applied to other grants including Friends for Change and America's Global Youth Service. At the same time they raised $2,508 on their own through the sales of reusable tote bags and coupon books. As a result, they chose to donate $1,990 to local community non-for profits focusing on improving the environment.

Students worked to reduce our schools carbon emissions through ACE Biggest Loser: Energy Use contest in which ten classrooms outside of the science department worked to reduce energy consumption. Sunday June 17^th, students will be participating in Climate Cycle; a 20 mile bicycle ride which will not only improve their health, but will also make Whitney Young eligible to receive a grant for 5 KW of solar panels for the school. Please support us at Climatecycle.com Whitney Young

Whitney Young (WY) students realized that they could work smarter by recruiting outside help. In fact, they recruited an additional 446 students from WY and another 671 students from 67 other schools to help in their community outreach endeavors, which spanned 61 of Chicago's neighborhoods.

Recognizing the struggles of individuals within our city, students helped our homeless and malnourished children. In total, students assisted 1367 homeless and cooked 170 meals from scratch and served another 554 meals for them. In addition, over 70 malnourished children will not go hungry for a year because of our students work with Feed My Hungry Children.

Students then put themselves to work doing 900 hours of real, hard-working, community service learning. This includes cleaning up 17 beaches, ten parks, four forest preserves, removing 978 invasive buckthorn trees, 846 honeysuckle vines, and nine trash bags full of garlic mustard. They collected litter from 13 communities including 1080 gallons of aluminum cans, and 37 bags of trash. Forty bags of clothes were picked up from a local neighborhood and donated to the Salvation Army. Older clothes not suitable for donation and destined for the waste stream were repurposed into 170 "rag bags" or cloth bags and donated to individuals at one of the four fashion shows. These shows exhibited ten dresses made by our students using up-cycled materials like candy wrappers, balloons, newspaper, seat belts, plastic bags, and other material typically discarded after a onetime use. In total, students up-cycled 398 items that otherwise would have become trash.

Students started, encouraged, and enhanced our schools recycling program as well as the program of two other schools. They started up ecology clubs at elementary schools that now meet on a regular basis. Additionally, they educated others about our schools greenhouse and its function. They created an amazing hydroponics system using zero energy to water plants year round and return excess water to be reused again. Whitney Young students also planted 1073 sq. ft. of gardens, built 743 sq. ft. of raised garden beds, eight vertical gardens for five schools, 34 mini-aquaponic systems, and 12 window gardens.

Some students took it upon themselves to actually grow their own gardens for other uses. Four young entrepreneurs established working relationships with The Publican restaurant by growing and selling organic microgreens and baby greens to them. Additionally they started their own backyard urban farm to provide fresh produce to community members within a food desert. Students also have learned the business and logistical side of growing, cultivating, and shipping of mint, rosemary, and chili peppers to John and Kira's Chocolates in Philadelphia.

According to feedback from my students, the single most disturbing comment heard from community members was a lack of awareness of the issues that surround our environment. So our students spoke up.  Students felt that the best way to continue to improve the quality of the environment around them was to educate others. As a result they taught at 67 schools, integrated technology to educate through the creation of 143 blog posts, 16 websites, a 25 minute documentary, an online magazine with ten articles on environmental issues, and a 60 page healthy cook book with 60 recipes geared towards high school students to make the foods for their friends and families. They also met with members of their community and state government including aldermen of three different wards and Congresswoman Sterns to get new laws in place to regularly educate our states architects about utilizing more green building practices in their designs.

Students also looked creatively to their online gaming community as an avenue to educate others. This was done through creating an educational map for interactive use on a gaming platform called Minecraft with over 100 downloads.

In total, students in the Mycelia Project spoke with 580 adults about their project and worked with 113 teachers from 63 schools throughout the city to teach 3255 children and young adults about ways in which they have made a positive impact on their community and environment.

I am very proud of the work my students have accomplished and the leadership they have demonstrated in completing this project. I believe these students can walk proud knowing that what they chose to accomplish in these past 15 weeks is far more than most kids and adults do in a year. But more importantly, they did it under their own leadership and responsibility.

A big thank you to Friends of Whitney Young for their financial help in supporting these students. And to Brew and Grow for their continued help and support teaching my kids and supplying us with our aquaponic needs. Lastly, congratulations to this freshman class for a great job helping the environment in our city!

Summer Bridge Students Experience Service-Learning

In addition to instruction in Math and Literacy, CPS Summer Bridge students will experience service-learning this summer. Following a pilot run last summer with a subset of students, the Service-Learning Initiative was asked to develop service-learning curriculum that would engage students in real-world projects to benefit students and their communities. 

In partnership with Mikva Challenge, Peace Jam, Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, and the Coalition to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), the Service-Learning Initiative developed resources to engage 15,000 students in hands-on classroom activities and projects.  This summer, third grade students will explore peace-making with a particular focus on Nobel Peace Prize Laureates (several of whom visited Chicago in April), in order to create peace-making strategies in their classrooms and schools and identify peace-makers in their neighborhoods for community peace prizes.  These peace-makers will be honored at the conclusion of Summer Bridge during a ceremony. 

6th grade students will investigate the many aspects of food including the food web, nutrition and health, equity of distribution, over-exuberant marketing, costs and budgeting, and choices related to food.  The unit's essential question, why do people eat what they eat? encourages students to examine the economics, culture, traditions, distribution, and geography of food choices. Working together, 6th graders will create a cookbook of healthy food choices that includes familial cultural stories of food.  Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and his wife Amy Rule have agreed to submit their own favorite recipe and story to the project.

8th graders will begin their service-learning work by examining the issues that matter to themselves and their own communities.  From this starting point students will make connections to political candidates for office in the 2012 general election then create a voter education guide that lets voters understand where the candidates stand on issues important to the community.  

Students in 10 schools on the south side will have the unique opportunity, utilizing the Action Based Community curriculum of Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, to identify a local issue then develop a plan of action to address that problem and present their action plan to professionals at a federal court house venue. 

Summer service-learning opportunities for students tie in neatly with Literacy curriculum which focuses on the civil rights era in the United States.  The Literacy curriculum serves as an ideal set-up for student action.

It is an exciting proposition for CPS to engage students who have been asked to attend summer school to gain promotion to the next grade in projects that have real-life implications.  Students will be gaining real-life 21st century skills as they work together to solve some of society's most pressing problems. 

Teachers and College Mentors Prepare for Summer of Service and Leadership

Teachers from 15 CPS high schools along with college mentors from universities across the country gathered for two days of professional development on June 1-2 in preparation for the 5th Summer of Service and Leadership (SOSL) program.  Beginning with a day of community building and experiential problem-solving experiences at Irons Oaks Outdoor Adventure Center, teachers and college mentors enjoyed a day of activities designed to build teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills. 

Originally funded through a federal grant in 2008, the Summer of Service and Leadership has grown each year to serve rising 9th graders as they prepare for high school.  Summer of Service and Leadership encourages students to learn about and be active in their communities, to develop leadership skills, to examine pressing social issues, to become oriented to their new school, and to begin to think about college opportunities.

Excellent CPS teachers and motivated college mentors work together to facilitate a dynamic curriculum where students are rarely in their seats working independently.  Through a wide range of hands-on and experience-based learning opportunities, students work together to learn about, understand, and solve problems.  During the summer of 2012 students will be asked to engage the issues of aging, food distribution, and the environment.

Through a first-time collaboration with the CPS Office of STEM, students will also have an opportunity to learn and apply science and math skills to environmental problems.  During the fourth week of the program, students will visit local colleges in order to begin the process of college preparation.

Reports from teachers over the years indicate that SOSL students are most likely to continue to serve, lead, and participate more actively in the life of the school than other students in the building.  Indeed, several groups have continued to work together over the course of the school year and have emerged as real school leaders. 

Summer of Service and Leadership is coming to a high school near you beginning on Monday, June 25 and continues through Friday, July 20 with a culminating event at the UIC Forum.

Global Citizenship Initiative Launches in Chicago

Thirty teachers from 15 high schools came together to launch the Global Citizenship Initiative (GCI) on May 18-19, a project designed to building the civic mission of schools in Chicago. With funding support from the McCormick Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and Macarthur Foundation, high schools will work together for the next three years to strengthen civic skills and participation among students.  This work recalls the founding principles of public education in the United States - to prepare young people for the important participatory work of democracy.

Each GCI school will work in three areas during the first pilot year:  1) Strengthen service-learning and civic action; 2) Implement a year-long course in civics and financial literacy; and 3) Facilitate student leadership and governance work in their schools. 

Each of these strategies has been identified by the civic education community in the United States as an effective proven practice of civic education.  By re-focusing on building civic skills, the aim of the initiative is to reverse the decades long decline in civic participation in the country.  Unfortunately more and more people are retreating from public life into private spheres to the detriment of a healthy and functioning democracy.  As Alexis DeTocqueville admired the skills of Americans to associate and thereby bring more equity to public life in the mid-19th century, Professor Robert Putnam acknowledged more recently that Americans are more often "bowling alone", a sign of retreat into the private.  The more we tend exclusively to our private lives, the more government and corporations make decisions for us that adversely impact our communities.

GCI teachers will continue to gather for professional development in civic practices over the course of the year highlighted by a week-long civics boot camp at the end of July designed to prepare teachers to facilitate a very hands-on, project-based civics course beginning in the fall.  Together with teachers, civic partners, and universities, GCI is charting a new course for civic education in Chicago. 

Evergreen Middle School Opens New School and Community Garden

It all started as 6^th and 7^th graders at Evergreen Middle School conducted a carbon audit at their building as part of a service-learning project.  Students attempted to measure how much carbon their school emitted into the environment on an annual basis.  As students looked at the data, they began to brainstorm ideas to lessen their carbon footprint. 

Three years later, Evergreen opened an amazing new garden, which replaces an asphalt parking lot.  The new garden serves as a carbon sink, home to native grasses and flowers, as welll as vegetables and fruits, and a creates a learning, reflection, relaxation and play space for students and community members.  What began as a question – what can we do to lessen our impact on the environment?  – resulted in a $315,000 investment in a new community space that adds value to the neighborhood and creates a space that is simply much better for students than an asphalt parking lot. 

Student speakers at the event recounted how they have become environmental activists through the project, have gone on to participate in and lead environmental efforts at their new schools, and have made a real impact on their world.  One student leader stated:  “You don’t often get to work on a project at school where you can leave a positive impact on the world.” 

Led by two extraordinary teachers, Ron Hall and Michael Youngberg, at Evergreen and supported by countless other students, teachers and community partners and artists, the garden will stand for ages and provide students with countless opportunities to engage their new world in new and life-giving ways.

For a brief news story on this project, go to http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=206683.

CIMBY Completes 12th Year at Science Summit

Calumet Is My Back Yard, the longest-running service-learning project in the nation, completed its 12th successful year with a Science Summit at the Field Museum on Friday, May 25, 2012.  More than 200 students and teachers attend the culminating summit that featured behind-the-scenes scientific tours, student presentations of their stewardship over the year, and visits to stunning museum exhibits. 

During the 2011-12 academic year, more than 800 students participated in 40+ stewardship days at natural areas throughout the Lake Calumet region on the city's south side.  Fifteen high schools engaged classrooms in hands-on science activities enabling students to learning about ecosystems, biodiversity, and the threats that non-native invasive species pose to our ecology. 

This year student groups were asked to present their stewardship work over the course of the year.  Students created presentation boards, videos, slide shows, games, and field guides of the plants and animals at their adopted ecosystem.  Students did a great job building and presenting their materials.

As one student said at the end of the day:  CIMBY is a great opportunity and it can change your life.  The goal of CIMBY is to raise the next generation of environmental leaders and activists.  CIMBY students are lucky enough to move beyond the textbook into our natural areas to gain a deeper understanding of the threats to our environment and how they, together, can work toward solutions. 

Many, many thanks to the amazing teachers and CIMBY staff who gave countless hours to helping make these exciting opportunities available.

CPS Recognizes Service-Learning Coaches

Isaac Castelaz from Chicago Academy receives
SL Administator of the Year Award

100 CPS teachers, SL Coaches, students, parents, and community partners gathered at The Phoenix Restaurant on Wednesday, May 23, to celebrate a year of amazing accomplishments and to recognize the staggeringly good work of the District's Service-Learning Coaches.  Our Service-Learning Coaches put in countless hours doing wonderful work connecting students, teachers, and curriculum to opportunities to contribute to the greater good in their communities.  The results can be stunning as students recognize, many for the first time, that they can be world changers. 

In addition to recognizing the work of our excellent SL Coaches, awards were also given to outstanding leaders in service-learning:

SL Coach of the Year
Deborah Hawes, Morgan Park High School

Teachers of the Year
Adam Heenan, Curie
Eddie Marie Gonzalzes, Morgan Park
Jeschelyn Pilar, Hancock

Administrator of the Year
Isaac Castelaz, Chicago Academy High School

Students of the Year
Adonis Hill, Hope College Prep
Stephanie Navarette, Kelly High School
Kaylan Elder, Al Raby High School
Emmanuel Cherry, Hubbard High School
Tasanee Durrett, Morgan Park High School
Erika Castillo, Curie High School

Community Partner of the Year
Alliance for Climate Education (ACE)

Congratulations to this year's winners.  Their accomplishments are truly astonishing. But our thanks go to all of the nominees who were recognized for their contributions and to all coaches who have served so faithfully this year.

Belmont-Cragin Students Race Against Hunger

Students from Belmont-Cragin Elementary School partnered with Prosser High School for a Race Against Hunger on Friday afternoon, May 11.

With support from international hunger relief organization Action Against Hunger, the entire Belmont-Cragin faculty, administration, and student body learned about hunger around the world then went into action by participating in a race against hunger.  Students learned about hunger utilizing inter-disciplinary curriculum then planned and implemented their race. 

On a gorgeous Friday afternoon, Belmont-Cragin students rode the bus or, in the case of the middle school students, marched with banners from their school to Prosser's Hanson Park stadium where they were greeted and hosted by Prosser High School students.

After opening presentations by Principals Stewart and Hunter and Belmont-Cragin students, each grade level took to the track and ran at least one lap around the quarter-mile track.  Students sought pledges for their laps and students proudly shouted out the amounts they had raised...$3, $4.  The amounts were not important; the fact that students brought so much enthusiasm and energy to address the problem of world-wide hunger was important.

Action Against Hunger is establishing a strong presence in Chicago and enables students to connect academic learning in science, math, english, social science, physical education, the arts, and health to an important social issue, in this case hunger in Zimbabwe.  For more information about how your school can be involved, please contact jjschmidt@cps.k12.il.us. 

Thanks to Belmont-Cragin teachers and Principal Stewart for providing leadership for this amazing event.  Belmont-Cragin is one of 10 elementary schools currently participating in a District-wide initiative to connect the STEM disciplines to service-learning. 

Eric Solorio HS Students "Cook" with Peers with Severe and Profound Disabilities

As students walk through the halls at Solorio, a cluster of students walk by and some might be in wheelchairs, others might be humming and making noises, but most are smiling. They are stared at, whispered about, and many have questions but do not know how to approach the four or so adults who are walking with them.

This was the typical scenario in the hallways of Solorio until the teachers in the SPH room start to invite teachers from the “regular” divisions on Fridays to “cook” with the students in the Severe and Profound cluster. Teachers were to prepare the students the week prior in a discussion on the different labels of disabilities. They were to write down any questions of behaviors that they might have witnessed in the halls, cafeteria or non content classes that they might share with the SPH kids.

During the assigned day, the division would come down and be exposed to the students, ask their questions, and be educated about the students with severe and profound disabilities. After that portion of the SLC class was complete, the “regular” students would be placed with one of the kids and help them cook. Helping them cook would include helping them identify the different ingredients by pointing or helping them hand over hand pick up the ingredients.

The menu the students have made included: pizza bagels, tostadas, smoothies, fruit salads, and quesadillas. The lesson for the “regular” students is to be exposed, understand, and be aware of what the different behaviors of the students represent.

The experience for the students in the SPH cluster is having “friends” come to the room and help them how to make something good to eat. The week after, division teachers speak with their students about the experience and what did they learn about the kids, their feelings about it, their easy or uneasiness with being with the students.

Various divisions loved the experience enough to inquire how to enhance awareness about disabilities. They have started their own project to come up with stations that mimic disabilities and the trial and tribulations that people with disabilities have to overcome. This will be offered for other divisions to attend during next school years Fridays SLC time.

3000 Students Celebrate Chicago Youth Service Day

3000 CPS and DePaul University students celebrated Chicago Youth Service Day on Saturday, May 05, 2012, with a Peace Rally at Union Park on the city's West Side.  Students from across the city served in a variety of capacities during the morning then convened at Union Park for a massive rally.  Highlights from the Peace Rally included radio DeeJay FM Supreme, community activist Ameena Matthews from Cease Fire, and the a spoken word performance by TEAM Englewood students.  

Prior to the rally, students enjoyed an afternoon of activities including hip hop dancing, live graffiti art, face-painting, peace posters, and team building games.  More than a dozen community organizations also offered students the opportunity to extend their day of learning by continuing their volunteer or advocacy work.  

The message of the day was peace.  Joy McCormack, the mother of slain DePaul student Frankie Valencia, exhorted the students to take seriously their ability to create peace in their communities.  Ameena Matthews challenged the students to leave the celebration with a renewed commitment to become a peace maker. 

Two DePaul students and one Roosevelt High School student spoke of their semester-long efforts through the Community Peace Makers Initiative.  CPS students, with the support of DePaul graduate and undergraduate students, studied the problem of violence and attempted to understand the root causes of violence.  Each of the 20 groups created a peace project as a culminating to to their studies.  Roosevelt High School, for example, staged a highly successful peace march.  

Throughout the day students from 50 high schools and ten middle schools worked with seniors, did restoration work in forest preserves, completed renovation projects at community organizations, and worked at environmental sites throughout the city.  

The third annual Chicago Youth Service Day was a huge success.  

Unfortunately, political leaders and Chicago's media chose not to attend.  It is a sad fact that the efforts and spirit of young leaders in Chicago is not important enough to draw their attention. 

Sophomores and Seniors Collaborate on Hancock High School’s First Peace Night

On Tuesday, March 27, students from the Senior Seminar and English II classes hosted a Peace Night at Hancock High School.  The night featured a free viewing of the documentary The Interrupters followed by conflict-resolution workshops. 

The documentary profiles the work of Ceasefire, a Chicago-based non-profit organization that aims to prevent street violence.  Students had an opportunity to reflect on the film during the workshops, which were facilitated by the Senior Seminar students.

  

Both the seniors and the sophomores spent several weeks preparing for the event.  The seniors attended a peace circle training in March and have been working with a DePaul University student all semester on building conflict-resolution skills.  Meanwhile, the English II students researched the different types of bullying and prepared presentations for each division about the risks of bullying and its consequences.  The night was a great success, and we hope it will become an annual event.