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.

Morgan Park Students Take a Stand and March with Undocumented Students at Daley Center

As American citizens the privileges and rights we enjoy are often taken for granted. The real value of rights such as free speech and public education are not fully appreciated until you meet undocumented students who do not have those rights.

On April 10, 2012, approximately 30 Morgan Park students boarded a school bus and embarked on an activity that fostered sensitivity, compassion and a better understanding of the plight of undocumented students in America.  In conjunction with community partner – Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Morgan Park students learned about the situation of undocumented students and participated in an exchange with college students of various cultures who once were illegal immigrants.

The training focused on undocumented students through analyzing the personal stories of how they came to the U.S., the factors motivating their parents to bring their families here, and the constant state of fear each faced as a result of their illegal status. Their stories put a face on the value of the of the DREAM Act of Illinois.

The Dream Act signed by Governor Quinn on August 1, 2011, grants privileges to undocumented children of immigrants and allows them access to financial aid for postsecondary scholarships, college savings and prepaid tuition programs, previously unavailable to them, provided that specific guidelines are met and that said students graduated from Illinois high schools.

Following the training and student to student exchange, Morgan Park students held signs, listened to speeches and marched alongside other students in support of the Dream Act and proper documentation of illegal immigrants at Daley.  On May 8, 2012, Morgan Park students will join other students in Springfield with the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights to address issues with legislators pertaining to the Dream Act.  The Morgan Park group will also address the Leave No Child Inside Movement and Charter School Assessment.

Mather Students Partner with NEIU on Empty Bowl Project

Mather students and teachers gathered at the Fine Arts Building at Northeastern Illinois University on Friday evening to participate in the Empty Bowls Project.

According to the Empty Bowls website (http://www.emptybowls.net/): "Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger and was created by The Imagine Render Group. The basic premise is simple: Potters and...craftspeople, educators and others work with the community to create handcrafted bowls. Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a cash donation, guests are asked to keep a bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. The money raised is donated to an organization working to end hunger and food insecurity.

It is the collective genius of all the people involved that has made Empty Bowls what it has become. Events have now taken place across the United States and in at least a dozen other countries. Many millions of dollars have been raised and donated to hunger-fighting organizations....."

Northeastern Illinois University made its pottery room available for Mather students and teachers to create the bowls. Students spent 5-6 hours at the university creating bowls for a community event to take place on May 04, 2012. At the Empty Bowls event, Mather staff, community members, students, and families, will gather to share a simple meal and learn more about food insecurity issues in the Chicago and around the country. All proceeds from the dinner will be donated to the Lakeview Food Pantry, an organization working to provide emergency food aid to individuals and families.

Jennifer Brown, an art teacher at Mather who organized the project, received some start-up funding through Donors Choose, an online opportunity for teachers to raise funds for special projects. Ms. Brown was assisted by other Mather faculty at the event.

We already look forward to the Empty Bowls dinner at Mather on May 04, 2012.

Curie Student Travels to Washington DC

The Chicago Youth for Millennium Development Goals works with schools throughout the District to expose students to international issues and give them a chance to address the millennium development goals. Often students are able to meet with refugees, immigrants and visitors from around the world. Recently, Natalie Leanos, a Curie student won a trip to Washington DC to participate in Save the Children 10th Annual Advocacy Day. Here are her thoughts on the trip.

I had an awesome week! I was one of the two advocates from Chicago that won a scholarship to Washington D.C. to attend the Save the Children 10th Annual Advocacy Day. The point of Advocacy Day is for us, the young children, to go speak to our Congressmen and Senators; and let our voices be heard about what they can do to help the malnourished children around the world, as well as here in the United States. It was a success!! There were many children from around the US participating in the two day event.

The first day were workshops where everyone got to know each other and work together to make posters showing awareness of what is going around the world and what we, the people, can do to help. Unfortunately my flight was canceled on the night before the event started. I was stuck in New York City for the night, and I needed to be in Washington the next day at eight in the morning. So yes, I was stressed at first because I didn’t know anyone who was going to attend the event and I was going to arrive real late to the workshops. Although my flight was canceled, I got to explore New York! Especially Times Square, it was AWESOME! The next day I got on a flight at 10:30 a.m. to Washington. I had butterflies in my stomach on my way to D.C. I was excited yet nervous about meeting new people.

I finally arrived to D.C. at 1:00 p.m I had missed the workshops and all that was left for the day was a luncheon with all the participants for Advocacy Day and the Staff of Save the Children. There were also special guests in the luncheon, such as Jonathan Capehart, who writes about politics for the PostPartisan blog, and Alex Wolff, a musician from Nickelodeon.

In the luncheon Jonathan discussed the upcoming elections and how teenagers and younger children feel like their voices aren’t being heard. Personally, in my high school many seniors are about to be 18 years old, meaning they’re able to vote, they think that the Congressmen and Senators won’t pay attention to what they have to say about ways the Congressmen can do more for their community. But in reality, we the children are the ones that play an important role for change. The Congressmen care more about our opinion, rather than the adults. You see, we’re the future, we are the ones who will create more in life and they know that. That is why the next day the participants were divided into groups depending on where their hometown was. Each of the participants was going to go speak to their Congressmen and Senators from their location back home in the Capitol Building.

The goal was to speak to them about why they should not cut the budget on the School Lunch Program here in the United States. Not many children are going to be able to receive free lunch in school with these cuts. Just last year 3.5 million children experienced food insecurity, so now if they cut the budget the number will increase.

Another budget cut the government wanted to do was lower the percentage of how much money would go overseas to help the malnourished children in developing countries. I got to speak to Senator Mark Kirk, Senator Richard Durbin, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, and Jesse White Jr. My partner, Helena, and I succeeded with our speech. All of the Congressmen and Senators agreed with us; they were in favor of not cutting the budgets.

This was truly a mark in my life, a trip I will NEVER forget! Especially because I got to go inside the tunnels under the Capitol building to get to the four different offices of each Senator and Congressmen and I had the chance to speak directly to them. One of the great moments from the trip was also making new friends from different states. I got to meet teens from Philadelphia, Tennessee, Texas, and from many more. Thanks to my avid teacher, Mr. Hardin for getting me, and my classmates, involved in the United Nations Millennium Goals and to Mrs. Walker for introducing me to the Save the Children Scholarship. Both of my teachers have truly blessed me with this wonderful moment! I hope that one day we will all step up and have our voices be heard, together we can all make a change!
Sincerely,
Natalie Leanos
Curie Metropolitan High School

CPS Hosts 12th Annual SL Conference

With the theme From Academics to Action guiding the gathering, teachers, SL Coaches, students and community partners gathered at the University Center in downtown Chicago for the 12th Annual Service-Learning Conference.

An opportunity to bring together both veteran service-learning practitioners and new-comers to the field, the conference highlights excellent practice in CPS and this year explored how the service experience can lead to a deeper exploration by students and teachers of social issues facing our communities.

Workshop leaders facilitated sessions enabling participants to think about ways for students to examine immigration, affordable housing, environmental concerns, community violence, and food access issues. Each session challenged participants to align service project experiences to broader social issues and Common Core State Standards. Teachers, for example, looked at how they could engage students in an examination of a 2040 metropolitan planning document and its recommendations for water use and conservation.

Adam Davis of the Center for Civic Reflection closed the conference with a session designed to guide participants in a discussion of where we hope we can take our students through the service-learning process.

It was a rewarding day for conference participants.

Alternative Spring Break Features Visit with Alderman

The first Service-Learning Alternative Spring Break: Uptown Immersion came to a conclusion on Thursday highlighted by a visit with Ward 46 Alderman James Cappelman, who also happened to be celebrating the anniversary of his first day in office since succeeding long-time Alderman Helen Shiller.

In preparation for their meeting with the alderman, students participated in an activity called Speaking Truth to Powerful People. The activity asks students to name a issue that is of concern to them, devise a solution or strategy, then identify the person in power who can help them get what they want to build the common good.

Students identified student leadership programs in every school, and curricular relevance strategies as issues of concern to them. In mock meetings with decision-makers, students were tested (not the standardized variety, but authentically) to see how they presented their ideas to a powerful decision-maker. The students learned quickly from one another and did a great job.

Following the mock meetings, students met with Alderman Cappelman for an hour sharing their experiences with the alderman and insights about the community. In a lively and free-wheeling back and forth discussion with the alderman, our students raised questions of economic development, curricular relevance, youth and arts programming, and adequate support for the disenfranchised, particularly those experiencing homelessness.

During an afternoon reflection experience led by the Center for Civic Reflection, students contemplated the question: Does one need to know anything about the person(s) you are helping/serving? and were asked to complete the statement: A helpful person needs to....The thoughtful and engaged discussion that ensued demonstrated the power of experiential learning. Students were able to dig deep into their experiences to engage in thoughtful conversations with one another.

The Alternative Spring Break culminated with a celebratory barbecue where students share their final presentations, musical talents, and new friendships with each other. The final question on the lips of many students? When will this happen again?