PEAK Site Visit

Today I had the opportunity to visit an impressive program located at Holy Trinity High School called The Partnership to Educate & Advance Kids (PEAK). PEAK’s mission is to provide opportunities for at-risk youth to achieve academic and personal success through quality, values based education and the guidance of caring adult mentors.

PEAK provides scholarships that enable students to attend the highly regarded Holy Trinity High School who would not otherwise be able to attend. These scholarships are made possible through “sponsors”—individuals, families, or churches—who commit to paying four years of tuition for a particular student provided that the student fulfills program expectations. Of approximately 400 students at Holy Trinity, 50 are PEAK students.

The PEAK program focuses on serving students who are low-income and/or academically average or below average. While there are a variety of scholarship opportunities for students who excel in their studies, academically average and below average students are often an under-served population when it comes to scholarships. As Tyrina Newkirk, PEAK Program Coordinator, told me when I met with her today, the program believes that struggling students can be successful and graduate given smaller classes, adult mentors, and tutoring.

Beyond just providing financial support enabling students to attend the private high school, PEAK provides each student with a mentor. Each mentor commits to being a role model and significant part of the student’s life for the duration of his or her high school career. Mentors spend at least four hours a month with their students through a variety of activities based around shared interests of the mentors and mentees. Tyrina listed a range of activities the pairs do together—getting manicures, going to museums or libraries, fishing, even visiting a haunted house (several pairs are going this weekend for Halloween!).

Mentors are also in close communication with how their students are doing inside the classroom. Each week, students must fill out evaluation forms that list their progress in each class. Mentors receive a copy of these reports as a way to check in with students and support them academically.

In addition to support through mentors, PEAK students also have after-school tutoring sessions each day (which they can opt out of if their grades are high enough). These sessions provide homework help while also training students to build study-time into their daily routines.

I was impressed with how PEAK recognizes that helping a student through school requires a variety of components: financial support for programs, quality education, adult role models, academic support, parental involvement, and student commitment. I don’t know if all of these components always receive equal attention in the ways that people discuss the drop-out crisis in America. I encourage you to read Dan Bassill's blog article and then chime in your opinion on this forum on the T/MC NING page.

It was great to learn more about PEAK today and about what the program does to help youth both succeed and thrive in high school.

Chicago Youth Centers: Elliott Donnelley Youth Center

Swimming lessons, field trips to the Shedd Aquarium, gym games, healthy meals….if these activities sound like summertime fun to you, then you’re not alone! Today Bradley and I visited Chicago Youth Center’s (CYC) Elliott Donnelly Youth Center in Bronzeville to see their Summer Fun Day Camp in its final week of programming for 2010 (sorry folks, I think this means summer really is almost over!!).

We were greeted upon our arrival by Marcus Davis, Mentor Coordinator at Elliott Donnelley. Marcus gave us a tour around the center and introduced us to staff in many different departments to offer a taste of the programs CYC offers to youth year-round.

Summer Fun provides recreational activities and a safe place for kids ages 5 through 12 to spend their summer months. In addition to fun activities at the center (in my glimpses into various rooms, kids were happily playing basketball, checkers, and enjoying computers), the program also takes the kids on biweekly field trips to a variety of places like water parks and the zoo.

One of the most popular parts of Summer Fun is the swimming lessons. The Elliott Donnelley Center is equipped with a pool, and kids have the opportunity to receive swimming instruction all summer long. At the end of the program, parents are invited to a poolside show to watch their kids demonstrate their newly acquired aquatics skills. The swim instructor, Ms. Arleta Williams, has been coaching swim lessons at Elliott Donnelley for twenty years and she herself learned to swim at the center! Arleta grew up participating in the program and always felt called to give back to the Bronzeville community and contribute her time and efforts to CYC.

Bradley and I also had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Caneal Rule who has led the Teen Leadership Development program for more than sixteen years. He discussed how students' behavioral issues in classrooms often stem from kids falling behind in a subject then acting out to divert attention from their lack of academic confidence. This year, he plans to have clubs for teens that focus on academic subjects and also offer one-on-one tutoring for youth who need extra help in a particular subject area.

Later, we met Ms. Larissa Adams, College and Career Specialist at Elliott Donnelley. Ms. Larissa regularly meets with over thirty students in the College and Career Readiness Center to guide them toward formulating career aspirations, help them gain entrance into Chicago’s best high schools, and prepare students for college applications. I was amazed that this process starts as early as 3rd grade. As Larissa explained, the steps toward going to college begin in elementary school as kids take tests, learn about application processes, and begin to understand what it takes to land their dream job. For kids to go to college and launch their desired careers, they need to grow up with an ingrained understanding of what it will take to fulfill these aspirations.

Clearly, CYC does so much for youth by exposing them to opportunities, tutoring kids in academic subjects, keeping youth safe, and also allowing them to enjoy just being kids (in addition to the swimming pool and gym, the playground looked pretty tempting!).

Thanks to Marcus for showing us around the center—it really was a pleasure to catch a glimpse of so many kids enjoying their final days of Summer Fun.

From Sand Castles to Futures: BUILD

Looking at the morning newspaper is often disheartening to say the least. In the past few weeks, the Chicago-area headlines have been filled with tragic stories of violence perpetrated against the young and innocent. As much as I realize the importance of reading these articles, I fear becoming jaded or beginning to feel powerless. I never want to view violence in my city as inherent or unavoidable.

Yesterday, however, I caught an incredible glimmer of hope. Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development (BUILD), works with at-risk youth offering them positive alternatives to violence. The program “begins with identification of youth who may be gang affiliated, delinquent, and/or encountering risk factors,” then works to engage them in activities to “reduce risk-taking behaviors, set and reach educational and career goals, promote positive impact on peers, and encourage school retention and college/career prep.”

Bradley and I had the opportunity to visit San Lucas United Church yesterday which is home to BUILD’s summer program in the Humboldt Park community. When we arrived, the 60 kids involved in the program were finishing lunch and preparing for an exciting afternoon. Throughout the week the participants stay active by going fishing, visiting the beach, and competing in softball leagues.

During our visit Bradley and I spoke with Coco Calixto, a Prevention Specialist who has worked for BUILD for 27 years and whose roots with the organization span even further back to when Coco himself was a BUILD participant and then a volunteer. Coco is the kind of person who walks kids home from the program if their parents cannot pick them up, teaches the guys in the program how to barbecue during BUILD picnics, and has earned respect from the gangs in the surrounding area.

BUILD's summer program runs from 9:00am-5:00pm Mondays thru Thursdays and participants are broken up by three age groups: the Peewees (ages 6-8), the Juniors (ages 9-12), and the Seniors (ages 13+). The importance of involving even young kids in the program cannot be overstated. As Coco told us, gangs often start recruiting kids as young as 6 or 7 because when little kids get caught with drugs, they get a mere “slap on the wrist” whereas older youth and teens are more severely punished.

During both the summer and school year programs, students are part of BUILD’s Life Skills curriculum which teaches kids street smarts to avoid dangerous situations and to make positive choices. Coco and the other BUILD staff members and volunteers find ways to keep this program engaging and high-energy . Oftentimes, they do role-playing games asking kids to navigate a difficult scenario. They challenge kids to think of positive ways to handle conflicts and to consider the consequences of each potential course of action. BUILD also brings in ex-gang members who talk about the value in staying out of gangs and professionals from the community who discuss their steps toward a career.

The school year program also focuses on academics. In addition to volunteer tutors, BUILD encourages peer-to-peer tutoring to reinforce leadership skills for youth participants. Kids also have the opportunity to participate in cooking classes, budgeting simulation exercises, and various sports leagues.

To finish our visit to BUILD, Coco took Bradley and I to the beach where “the Peewees” were collectively building a sand castle complete with a moat and river. I smiled realizing that Coco was once a kid in the program himself…his example speaks volumes about BUILD's positive impact in the lives of kids, adults, families, and an entire community.

In a galaxy not so far away...

A live teleconference between a group of students in Chicago and a group of NASA scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California might sounds like something from the future (or at least from the Sci-Fi channel). Yesterday, however, I witnessed a dynamic video exchange between over forty students who just completed the Imagine Mars Project and a group of seven NASA scientists who were genuinely impressed by the kids’ accomplishments in the program.

Last week Rose Mabwa from Mercy Housing invited me to attend a culminating presentation by students involved with the Imagine Mars Project in Chicago. This six-week program sponsored by NASA represents “a national arts, sciences, and technology education initiative that leads students to work together with scientists, engineers, artists, and environmentalists to design a futuristic Mars community.” This past summer, the Illinois Neighborhood Networks Consortium (ILNNC), a non-profit which enhances and sustains Neighborhood Networks in Illinois, organized this program in a collaborative effort between its centers.

Fittingly, yesterday’s presentation was held at the Museum of Science and Industry where video screens projected a live stream from JPL in Los Angeles. In her comments introducing the program, Rose explained that Imagine Mars offers an engaging way for students to learn about science, engineering, architecture, math, and green technology during the summer. The students are mentored by professionals from NASA, water conservation organizations, and green technology centers who help them to design sustainable communities fit for human habitation on Mars. Each group of students also built a model of their community using recycled materials.

In designing their imagined cities and towns, students discussed what they considered important aspects of a community given the opportunity to start from scratch. These discussions often led to revealing conversations. As Rose said, sometimes kids see things in a more “pure and uncomplicated” form than do adults. When debating whether or not to put a police station on Mars, one student felt it was unnecessary while another said that people immigrating to Mars might come with “bad habits.” I was fascinated by these types of insights and the thoughtful reflection the students obviously invested into their projects.

Students were encouraged to focus on making their communities sustainable. As one student explained, “We don’t want to destroy another planet!” The communities were designed with a number of environmentally-conscience innovations ranging from solar paneled heating to water filtration systems that recycled melted water from Mars’ underground glaciers. Upon hearing that one community featured movie screens that could only be powered by pedaling on a stationary bike, one NASA scientist jokingly asserted that this would probably cut down on her habit of watching bad movies.

I was really impressed by the students' hard work and creativity. I was also excited to see how the combined efforts of many organizations and community members resulted in a spectacularly well-rounded project. Imagine Mars truly demonstrates the value in kids interacting with an array of professionals who model a variety of career choices.

Rose plans to hold a workshop at our November 2010 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference discussing how Imagine Mars might be replicated by other programs in Chicago. As was evident today, it is definitely a project worthy of imitation.

Congrats to all of the students, ILNNC, NASA, and everyone else involved in the project. I know that next time I sit down to watch a movie, I will consider whether or not it would be worth several hours on a stationary bike...