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Showing posts with label youth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label youth. Show all posts

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Back to school giveaway #Ward09

  •  Back to school giveaway
  • Saturday, August 19, 2023
    10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
    0005th District Police Station
    727 E. 111th Street
    Chicago, IL 60628
    While supplies last
    Parent must be present to receive supplies

    Refer to flyer below

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

4th of July violence

 To be honest I don't really want to add to the perception that Chicago is a dangerous place. Late last month a group of teens converged in the north side's Lakeview neighborhood and the stories became that neighborhood was destroyed. I'm sure there was damages to property whether a car, a bus or a storefront that was a bit of a stretch. Though behavior that resulted in property damages or any injuries or concern for safety is unacceptable.

So anyway, I want to share a couple of videos with regards to the 4th of July violence and we can start with WGN which reported 61 shot with 15 fatal over the past holiday weekend. [VIDEO]

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Tucker Carlson: Democrats are stoking racial violence

 

[VIDEO] Perhaps some of you in this audience is watching FOX News and some of you probably are no fans of Tucker Carlson. However, I did want to share this monologue with you all. This aired on his TV program last night.

And he connects the chaos that occurred in Chicago both downtown - near Millennium Park - and near 31st Street on the south side with chaos going on around America (shown in above video is the chaotic scene at a gas station in Compton, California). It just shows how the eyes are on Chicago and especially since the DNC will have their convention here next summer. If this is already going on now, can they handle the potential chaos of the Democrat National Convention? There will be protests and of course another concern could be rowdy youth converging in one place.

This is something that perhaps the mayor to be Brandon Johnson could get ahead of except as you see here, his own words in an interview during 2020 could be used against him. Ahh which could've been used against him in the recent mayoral race except well perhaps not very effectively and he's going to be mayor for the next four years.

I want to have optimism that as Tucker states Mayor-elect Johnson isn't an ideologue. His way with words, his ability to talk is probably an improvement over Mayor Lightfoot who seemed to refuse to call out the chaos in downtown this past weekend for what it is.

Regardless it's amazing that this story has wings. Shots fired in the loop. Young people fighting each other in the streets. Youth running around disrupting traffic. A young couple being assaulted by said youth. A car burning in the middle of a street. Young people jumping up and down on top of anything from a CTA bus to a car. It's a shame.

So while our new mayor doesn't seem to condone the looting he still doesn't want to condemn the young people whom people say lack opportunities in their communities. I'd be curious how he intends to provide those young people opportunities. Whether jobs, educational, recreational, or even just services to address whatever is going on at home.

With the DNC coming to the city next year, the eyes will be on the Windy City. The new mayor needs to take control and not make excuses for this unfortunate behavior.

Saturday, February 25, 2023

WGN: Breaking down Chicago early voting numbers #ChiMayor23

 

[VIDEO] On WGN Weekend Morning News there is a discussion with Steve Valles - co-director of Chicago Votes breaking down early voting numbers. I suppose the news I have seen have discussed to which candidate early voting benefits? Another aspect I've seen out there, is how long until we finally determine who won the 2023 mayoral race or at least who's in the mayoral runoff?

This discussion has been about how to energize young people to vote in this election. Also we hear that this is the first election where Cook County Jail is a polling location. So Chicago Votes has something going on with the inmates there.

Early voting is going on through next Monday and Election Day is next Tuesday February 28th. Have you all early voted yet? Do you plan to wait until Election Day?

Monday, December 21, 2020

CPS Holiday Meal Giveaways

The below image is from state Sen. Elgie Sims email blast. Regarding CPS Holiday Break Meal Giveaways. Want to know locations visit www.cps.edu/mealsites or call 773.553.KIDS (5437).

Before Christmas you can pick up your meal kids on Monday thru Wednesday or December 21st thru 23rd this week from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at a mealsite near you.

These are a few nearby mealsites:

  • BENNETT -10115 S PRAIRIE AVE
  • BROOKS HS - 250 E 111TH ST
  • BURNSIDE - 650 E 91ST PL
  • CORLISS HS - 821 E 103RD ST
  • CULLEN - 10650 S EBERHART AVE
  • DIXON - 8306 S SAINT LAWRENCE AVE
  • FERNWOOD - 10041 S UNION AVE
  • GARVEY - 10309 S MORGAN ST

 

Friday, December 18, 2020

College Fix: Chicago Teachers Union demands public schools stay closed as Catholic schools in city have safely remained open

The College Fix 

The Chicago Teachers Union recently asked a judge to issue an injunction ordering Chicago Public Schools to remain closed to in-person learning for the spring semester. It comes as the city public school system plans to return K-8 students in January and February, according to its reopening plans.

Catholic schools in the city and surrounding area have been open for a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning for a full semester now, with minimal problems. As private entities, Catholic schools have been allowed to stay open under health guidelines, while public schools have been fully remote for the fall semester.

I wonder how many of you are ready to send your children back to school soon.

h/t Newsalert 


Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Another young life cut short by violence

 

[VIDEO] This really isn't something you want to hear about. A young man cut short before he makes an impact on the world

From the WGN story above to a Tribune write-up:

Isaiah Wade, 15, was shot in the head just before 2:30 p.m. Monday in the 10000 block of South Perry Avenue where he lived in the Fernwood neighborhood, police said.

Responding officers found him lying in an alley near his home. Five shell casings were found in a backyard nearby and there were bullet holes in several garages, police said.

The boy’s mother told police she believed her son was chatting with someone on social media and might have been lured outside. Police said they recovered the boy’s cellphone.

“Another family left to mourn, forever altered,” Cardinal Blase Cupich said in a statement. “Mt. Carmel High School is a close community and we keep Isaiah, his family, friends and school staff in our prayers during this unimaginably heartbreaking time.”

I hope Wade's family finds out who did this and he receives justice for a life that was taken. It was reported no one was in custody and police are looking for tips via cpdtip.com

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Tribune: Chicago police arrest 13 people after tents are set up outside CPS headquarters to protest officers in schools

It seems the demonstrations continue as far as protests with regards to having police officers in school. And it seems that there was a clash involving tents at Chicago Public Schools HQ - 42 W. Madison St.
More than a dozen people were arrested, including two minors, after protesters set up tents outside the Loop headquarters of Chicago Public Schools on Monday to protest the stationing of police officers in schools.

Police said they gave protesters several warnings that the tents outside 42 W. Madison St. were blocking the streets. Those arrested were charged with “illegally obstructing the roadway,” they said.

The protest was the latest call by activists for the removal of Chicago police officers in Chicago public schools. It came days before the Chicago Board of Education is to consider a resolution that could phase out use of officers.

The resolution, up for a vote Wednesday, would “require that the CEO and district leaders, in consultation with school communities, identify and recommend an alternative plan to ensure safe and supportive school environments.”
...
Monday’s protest drew about 60 people and was organized by the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Assata’s Daughters, FYSH Youth — HANA Center, STOP Chicago, KINETIC Youth — Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Logan Square Neighborhood Association and Enlace Chicago.
Tweets contained from the write-up at the Tribune


Monday, September 30, 2019

ABC 7 Chicago: CPS students can begin applying to elementary, high schools for next year Monday

One of my own regrets from my time in the 8th grade is that I never got a real grasp of CPS' process as far as which schools I could attend and what programs they offer. Often I was dependent upon my parents or even my teacher. It seems like a nifty process students have to be able to chose where they can go to school.

Hopefully today's students take advantage and of course do their "due dilligence" on those schools and programs of their choice.

Visit go.cps.edu

For pre-k programs chicagoearlylearning.org.

Saturday, September 7, 2019

WBEZ: Teens Say Free CTA Rides On First Day Of School Are Not Enough

Usually on the first day of school students and their parents will ride CTA for free. Some students say this still isn't enough.
Students say it’s helpful, but they want the offer year round.

“I think students should get free rides because I don’t really know how you will expect youth who are focusing on their education and career to have constant money,” said Jennifer Nava, a senior at Kelly High School in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

It’s a big ask in a city dealing with a huge financial deficit. Just last week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city faces a projected $838 million budget shortfall next year.

Still Jennifer, an outspoken teenager who keeps close tabs on city affairs, wants to remind Lightfoot that she promised to make transportation more affordable for students during her campaign.

“If time is not now, then when?” Jennifer said.
How about this, create a U-Pass program for K-12 students especially designed for those students who must depend on public transit. If there isn't enough money to allow free rides for CPS students year round then do what the city's universities have done, require activity fees. Probably not a popular solution, however, as stated in the article the reduced fares for K-12 students add up.

Friday, September 6, 2019

16,000 homeless CPS students

That is a sad statistic and helps me recognize the many issues that CPS students bring with them to class. I can imagine there are those who are embarrassed by their circumstances, however, all they have to do is reach out.

From today's Tribune:
Students in temporary living situations rarely self-identify, according to advocates. Lockett, now 22, said he didn’t like his classmates and teachers to know he was homeless. But his situation is hardly unique.

More than 16,450 Chicago Public Schools students didn’t have a permanent home during the 2018-19 school year, according to numbers released Thursday by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Most were in temporary living situations, meaning they stayed in shelters, motels, cars or, in about 90% of the cases, “doubled up” with others, according to the coalition. Doubling up doesn’t generally meet the federal government’s definition of homelessness, so people in those situations don’t qualify for federal programs for those without homes.

About half of the city’s homeless students were in 10 of the city’s 50 wards, according to the coalition’s data. At least 865 were believed to be living in Ald. Walter Burnett’s 27th Ward. Burnett spoke at a homeless coalition news conference Thursday at City Hall to plug a proposed increase to the real estate transfer tax on properties worth more than $1 million to address the situation.

“We need to put the people first," Burnett said. “We need to help the needy and not the greedy.”

The advocates’ proposed 1.2 percentage point increase could generate about $150 million that could be used to reduce homelessness. The coalition said that’s 10 times as much funding as what’s already dedicated to the issue.

During her campaign, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she supported an additional tax on expensive property sales to direct more money to homelessness. But she has also said City Hall is on a different timeline than the homeless coalition. And she’s also suggested raising the transfer tax to help fill this year’s budget hole.

The coalition wants a referendum on the tax increase on the March ballot.

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Block Club Chi: Boy, 11, On Life Support After Years Of Bullying At CPS Leads To Suicide Attempt, Mom Says

I'm really aching for this boy and his family. He made a suicide attempt as in on life support. Jamari Evans is way too young to be ready to take his own life, as he's really just starting off.

It seems after some extreme actions from his teachers - ideally the ones who really should do what they can to protect him - contributed to his current condition. It's sad that he wasn't getting the support he should've had. It's also sad that highers up with CPS didn't take what his mother said seriously until Evans attempted suicide.

It's strange that he was even denied a transfer from his elementary school. What reason was a transfer to another school denied. This story should be a PR disaster for Chicago Public Schools.
BTW, I find it quite sad that the events that caused this young man to attempt suicide happened at a school named for the father of Black History Month, Carter G. Woodson.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

CPS schools are closed on Wednesday #Chiberia

Many were concerned, especially on social media and with temps going to very chilly lows CPS is cancelling classes on Wednesday.
And here's the official word by the CPS' CEO
If you're looking for a warming center here's some information posted at The Sixth Ward. Feel free to call 311 to find one near you.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Report: Chicago Public Schools 'failed to recognize' extent of systemwide sexual abuse problem


We've seen a lot about this in the last few months or so. The allegations of sexual abuse and in some instances prosecution of them. This report well who knows if there is a lot of surprise over this:
Broad failures at all levels of Chicago Public Schools kept officials from preventing and responding to sexual abuse suffered by students in the nation’s third-largest school system, according to a prominent law firm’s early review of problems documented this summer in a Tribune investigation.

The report by the law firm Schiff Hardin identified repeated “systemic deficiencies” in training, incident reporting, data collection and trend tracking that pervaded city schools, the system’s downtown headquarters and a school board controlled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Employees were not consistently trained on district policies and procedures involving sexual misconduct, according to the report authored by Schiff Hardin partner Maggie Hickey and released Friday. CPS also did not ensure that those policies were being implemented or that they were effective, the report said.

The report describes how understaffed and underfunded CPS investigators struggled to process reports of potential sexual harassment, notifications sent to the Department of Children and Family Services, employee misconduct allegations and altercations between students and staff — thousands of reports during the 2016-17 school year alone.

Hickey noted that the district’s incident-reporting software, known as Verify, “is almost universally viewed by principals as cumbersome and inefficient.” CPS is moving to a new system next year, the report said.
While this blog is named for a now closed former public school, it just has to be said. Another reason for confidence in public education to go into a negative direction...

h/t Newsalert

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Pullman playground and gang truce....

I'm sorry to have not shared yesterday's playground building in Pullman - although I did note this over at The Sixth Ward earlier this past week. I also didn't know the story behind this though judging by the headline is more interesting than building this new playground.

I will share a tweet from the reporter of this story for the Tribune, Tessa Weinberg
But the playground’s foundation was really laid nearly a year ago when Sherman Scullark, a member of the Risky Road gang faction, rang Detective Vivian Williams’ doorbell.

Williams, who has lived in the neighborhood for 32 years — and has spent 23 of them working as a Chicago police officer — was shocked when Scullark came to her.

“I could see in his face that he needed to talk about something. And when I opened the door he said, 'Officer Williams, I'm just tired. I'm tired,’ ” Williams said.

Scullark was tired of the violence. The conflict between Risky Road and the Maniac Fours faction had been going on since Scullark was a young boy.

And it marred the community. Kids didn’t play outside. They knew not to go to the basketball courts or the gas station — both hotspots for shootings when rival gang members found each other across the 107th Street dividing line.

So Scullark asked Williams, who’s known as the neighborhood mom, to set up a meeting between the rival gangs. Williams agreed but needed approval from the district commander.

The next day, Williams got it. But Scullark beat her to it. He had already orchestrated a truce agreement.

He had approached his rivals on their block and let them know he wasn’t carrying a firearm. Then he told them how he felt. It turned out some of them felt the same.

They agreed to put down the guns, and the neighborhood has been more peaceful ever since.

“I said, 'You didn't even give me 24 hours?’ ” Williams said. “He said, ‘Now can you introduce me to Arne Duncan?’ ”

Duncan, the former education secretary under Barack Obama and former Chicago Public Schools CEO, is the driving force behind the organization Chicago Creating Real Economic Destiny, known as Chicago CRED.
Read the whole thing!

And here's a flyer for that recent event that I hadn't posted here.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Where are the Black male teachers?

Black men - I suppose this could be directed at myself - where are you? We need you in our classrooms for the boys. We need you to help them with their academic success.

UIC wants to help train and recruit Black male teachers. Perhaps it's a program who's time has come.
h/t Newsalert

BTW, I started this blog as something of an education blog named blatantly for one my old elementary schools. While the emphasis seems to have changed over the years it's still a subject of interest as I do believe a good education will lift people in more ways than one. I'm not just talking about getting a college degree, I'm simply talking about going thru K-12 and graduating with a high school diploma.

If I may share this video, it may show why I would support such a program. It makes me wonder if these are issues faced by many boys in the current education system. [VIDEO]

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Tribune editorial: US Senators give Emanuel a pass on CPS scandal

Found this editorial on the sex assault scandal within CPS via Newsalert:
Days after the Chicago Tribune began publishing stories of alarming and unreported sexual abuse and assault within Chicago Public Schools, Illinois’ two U.S. senators fired off letters demanding accountability and transparency.

But something — or rather someone — was missing from their missives. No mention of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Must have been an oversight.

Instead of directing their concern at the person who actually oversees CPS, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth sent letters to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Illinois schools Superintendent Tony Smith expressing their alarm and requesting more data collection at federal and state levels. By threading the needle carefully, they honed in on narrow aspects of the Tribune’s investigation that touched on state and federal data collection and transparency, not CPS’ failures.

Interesting.
Interesting indeed! Read the whole thing.

RELATED

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

CPS Students Traveling To Memphis #MLK50 #HarlanFalcons

[VIDEO] I'm sorry I missed this from last month. A group of CPS students from three high schools including Harlan (Go Falcons) & Hirsch High Schools observed the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination paying a visit to Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Martin Luther King on April 3, 1968 died at the Lorraine Hotel which is now the National Civil Rights museum.

These students will also visit four historically Black colleges where according to Harlan Principal Ramona Outlaw:
“There’s a nurturing that goes on at those campuses that is indeed unmatched. The students, I want them to feel like they’ve come home and that place that they will call home for the next four years is something that they will be proud of.”
I sincerely hope these young people soak in the importance of that journey from last month.

Monday, February 19, 2018

CBS 2: Students Go To "Black Panther" To Get More Than Entertained

[VIDEO] Vince Gerasole was at the Studio Movie Grill Chatham - 210 W. 87th Street - to document the school groups that were up there. Those students are said to also be treated to a talk that will encourage them to pursue careers in the film industry.

What's especially highlighted was that this film has come off of a strong opening weekend:
The numbers are in and Black Panther is a monster hit. More than that, it has already earned a place in the box office history books in just its first three-to-four days of release. The movie earned a $201.8 million Fri-Sun weekend and will earn an estimated $235m over the Fri-Mon holiday. So, without further ado, I wanted to take a moment to note the copious big ways that the Ryan Coogler-directed/Chadwick Boseman-starring superhero spectacular has already planted its flag in the sand.
Just consider this is the biggest opening weekend of a movie with a mostly Black cast and by a Black director. And of course it's setting the bar for comic book movies in general also.

I have no problem encouraging young people to pursue careers in film. Going into Hollywood is lucrative so that's never discouraged, let's however encourage them to explore their own voices as artists. That as important as scoring a job in that business, main thing is to go ahead and get started.

Also enjoy Black Panther it's really good.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Behind the scenes of the Great Train Story

[VIDEO] The video above was posted by artistmac where he was shown behind the scenes of this exhibit The Great Train Story at the Museum of Science and Industry. The duration of this video is 31 minutes and it reminds of me of my own field trips to MSI.

To be honest I don't remember seeing this exhibit. If I did see it upon my visit while in grammar school at the Shedd School branch, the model trains were what caught my interest. Not only am I fan of trains, but at the time of this field trip I also played with a model train set. Sadly those old locomotives and cars are no longer in my possession as they were quickly forgotten when I got older.

The only memory of that field trip was passing through the old American main street exhibit. There was even a "nickelodeon" where we could've caught a movie. At that this nickelodeon caught my eye because it's also the name of a cable TV network for children.

Now I recognize that it's just time for me to make my own return visit to the museum. This time I'm not doing this for school, but just for my own enrichment. The lessons of these exhibits I can appreciate more and hopefully won't so quickly go over my head as they had upon visiting here as a child.

The man whom artistmac speaks with named William, truly has a difficult though enviable job as the museum's trainmaster. All he has to do is set up & operate a model railroad at a museum. He also has to keep it running and keep all equipment in museum quality condition. So kudos to him and perhaps he can tell other model railroaders how they could get his job!