Throughout the weekend, Project 43 participants were asked to make a Public Service Announcement surrounding the 43% dropout rate. Each of our eight groups produced a powerful and meaningful piece of work that could be released to any national viewer. Although every video was both thoughtful and influential, participants just had to choose a winner.
The UNITE Staff is extremely proud and honored to show the winning Public Service Announcement, "It Starts With Us", by Ashley Fleming, Vy Nguyen, Nick Hamersky, Rachel Pandazides, and Abigail Hamilton. Congratulations and job well done!
Thank you to all participants for your positive attitudes, hard work, and passion for urban education!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Redbull and Cheeseballs (and dropout stuff)
As we hit the home stretch, many participants are still wide awake... with a little help from some liquid friends... (see picture)Redbull, 5hour energy, and caffeine are propelling UNITErs as they work on their PSA projects into the wee hours of the night. And some skeptics don't think we actually stay up all 43 hours!
(As I am typing I overhear "THUNDERSNOW" followed by insanely loud laughter... it is 4am...)
Of course UNITE members know how to have a little fun while getting some work done...
Excitement is building as the groups edit their interviews, decide on movie transitions, and start the finalization process of their Public Service Announcements based on what they learned about the dropout rate and the communities impact throughout the entire weekend.
"If you had to cover your bedroom with wallpaper displaying someone's face, who would it be?" No really, we are asking you! Comment and let us (the late night crew) know!
As the morning draws closer, so does the end of Project 43... even though the laughs are loud and cheerful, we have still not forgotten the true purpose of our caffeine and cheeseball binges... 43% of Chicago Public Students are without their diploma...
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Behind the Scences of 43
While the 40+ participants are engaged in various workshops focusing on a wide variety of topics, some UNITE staff members are busy debriefing each other on what they have seen during the day and discussing new ideas for future UNITE events and workshops. We are not joking when we say that "we live and breath this urban education stuff." Feedback and new ideas are two key elements that have continued to shape and mold UNITE from a small university student group to a national non profit organization with members from five different universities and partnerships the nation.
It is Saturday night 11:40pm and we, teachers, are still talking about school, about education, about students, about how to make ourselves better teachers and how to make UNITE better... Do we have no life? Or do we thrive on the belief that all students, in every school, deserve a great education?
(Maybe a little of both...)
It is Saturday night 11:40pm and we, teachers, are still talking about school, about education, about students, about how to make ourselves better teachers and how to make UNITE better... Do we have no life? Or do we thrive on the belief that all students, in every school, deserve a great education?
(Maybe a little of both...)
These are our Confessions....
Check out the confessions of Project 43 Participants as they discuss community immersions in Chinatown, the Loop, and Pilsen during day 2!
Assimilating (taking over) to the CTA
48 UNITE participants (a few more have joined us as our day has continued) are packed into the Ashland #9 Bus on our way back to Auburn Gresham. The participants visited Chinatown, the Loop, and Pilsen- three very different areas of Chicago- in their quest to capture footage and interviews from community members about the dropout rate.
"We met lots of tourists in Chinatown, probably because the Chinese New Year Parade is tomorrow. While we were downtown we interviewed a man who was asking for money. He said he went to a deaf school in Chicago and the only reason he finished school was his speech therapist. One CPS parent we interviewed said that his son's school is starting a new program to involve parents and teaching parents how to help their kids finish homework. He thinks it is a great program that will help kids be more successful in school." -Natalie, UNITE at ISU member. Natalie is a freshman at ISU and this is her first UNITE event.
The Ashland #9 Bus is still packed with UNITE members all chattering about their experiences during the day. Normally when UNITE members gather together in Chicago and use the CTA, we are the minority, talking quietly, taking in the experience... but today we are the thorn in the side of the CTA. Bus drivers see 48 people waiting at the bus stop and can only shake their heads. One reason UNTIE uses public transportation during our events is to give our members a sense of Chicago and how community members get around the city. But today is anything but a normal bus ride... Community members scramble between UNITE members to get to the door at their stop... "Man get me off this bus" one gentleman called out as he tried to slyly move past some of our participants. One of our members joking comments that "UNITE needs its own bus!" (Any bus donors out there?)
"It is a bit long of a trip standing up... but I am used to being packed into the bus or the L everyday," said Joe. Joe is a senior at Indiana University and is currently student teaching at Amundsen High School. Joe takes the Brown Line train to school everyday. "On my way to school it is mostly students on the train and the bus... it is 'cool' to see students outside of school. I am a teacher outside of school and I still want my students to see me that way."
Even though the majority of people on each CTA ride was a UNITE member, the participants still got a taste of how their students get to and from school... especially the waiting in the cold air. After an hour of riding on the #9 Bus, we are finally back to Auburn Gresham. An hour long ride may seem long to some of us, but to our [future] students, this is everyday life...
"We met lots of tourists in Chinatown, probably because the Chinese New Year Parade is tomorrow. While we were downtown we interviewed a man who was asking for money. He said he went to a deaf school in Chicago and the only reason he finished school was his speech therapist. One CPS parent we interviewed said that his son's school is starting a new program to involve parents and teaching parents how to help their kids finish homework. He thinks it is a great program that will help kids be more successful in school." -Natalie, UNITE at ISU member. Natalie is a freshman at ISU and this is her first UNITE event.
The Ashland #9 Bus is still packed with UNITE members all chattering about their experiences during the day. Normally when UNITE members gather together in Chicago and use the CTA, we are the minority, talking quietly, taking in the experience... but today we are the thorn in the side of the CTA. Bus drivers see 48 people waiting at the bus stop and can only shake their heads. One reason UNTIE uses public transportation during our events is to give our members a sense of Chicago and how community members get around the city. But today is anything but a normal bus ride... Community members scramble between UNITE members to get to the door at their stop... "Man get me off this bus" one gentleman called out as he tried to slyly move past some of our participants. One of our members joking comments that "UNITE needs its own bus!" (Any bus donors out there?)
"It is a bit long of a trip standing up... but I am used to being packed into the bus or the L everyday," said Joe. Joe is a senior at Indiana University and is currently student teaching at Amundsen High School. Joe takes the Brown Line train to school everyday. "On my way to school it is mostly students on the train and the bus... it is 'cool' to see students outside of school. I am a teacher outside of school and I still want my students to see me that way."
Even though the majority of people on each CTA ride was a UNITE member, the participants still got a taste of how their students get to and from school... especially the waiting in the cold air. After an hour of riding on the #9 Bus, we are finally back to Auburn Gresham. An hour long ride may seem long to some of us, but to our [future] students, this is everyday life...
Climbing to 8000
As participants are traveling through neighborhoods in Chicago, we thought we would take a break to update everyone on the progress of our fund raising portion for Project 43! All participants have done a great job raising money and gaining sponsorships in support of the weekend. So far, we have a total of $6,893 from all of our generous sponsors. Thank you to those who have already donated. UNITE members are still working throughout Chicago trying to raise awareness of the dropout rate and can still use your help to reach our goal of $8,000! If you have not donated to Project 43 already and are able, it would be greatly appreciated if you visit www.urbanneeds.org/Project_43_Donate.html
Hitting the Grind with Ceasefire Chicago
It's bright and early here at Project 43 and UNITE members are already gathered in a large 45 person circle. Everyone is zeroed in on Rudy Arroyo, a supervisor at Ceasefire Chicago in Little Village, who is engaging participants by sharing stories about violence prevention, how gang life can influence the dropout rate in Chicago, and how we as teachers can make an impact.
Ceasefire is an organization that works with communities to stop the shooting. Rudy explains, "Our job is to keep individuals busy who may be in a gang. Whether that means talking with them for a few minutes, which may turn into a three to four hour conversation, or taking them to dinner...either way it is keeping them off of the streets." So how can teachers do the same?
Many people come in and out of the lives of young people but a teacher spends more time with a child than most. Rudy says, "Teachers can be the roadblock for a student considering entering a gang. Teachers need to be the inspiration to rise above gang involvement or gang influence. If you can't become someone in their life that is a pillar...something a child can aspire to become...you need to rethink your profession."
To all participants and all teachers:
Give each child a fair opportunity. Care about every individual student's life. Don't label them. Challenge their thinking. Do not let them fail. Excuses? There are none. No matter what your students are facing, be their inspiration.
http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/
Ceasefire is an organization that works with communities to stop the shooting. Rudy explains, "Our job is to keep individuals busy who may be in a gang. Whether that means talking with them for a few minutes, which may turn into a three to four hour conversation, or taking them to dinner...either way it is keeping them off of the streets." So how can teachers do the same?
Many people come in and out of the lives of young people but a teacher spends more time with a child than most. Rudy says, "Teachers can be the roadblock for a student considering entering a gang. Teachers need to be the inspiration to rise above gang involvement or gang influence. If you can't become someone in their life that is a pillar...something a child can aspire to become...you need to rethink your profession."
To all participants and all teachers:
Give each child a fair opportunity. Care about every individual student's life. Don't label them. Challenge their thinking. Do not let them fail. Excuses? There are none. No matter what your students are facing, be their inspiration.
http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/
"It is a War Zone out here!"
Project 43 is off to a great start! Participants arrived excited and eager for the commencement of the weekend. Maybe a little too excited...
After socializing through an ice cream sundae mixer, all 45 UNITE members took to the "streets" to begin their overall project of making a Public Service Announcement and familiarize themselves to the area of Auburn Gresham. The large mass of "outsiders" attracted a lot of attention as we trekked down 79th street at nine o'clock on a Friday evening. The community response was varied... Some residents were thrilled to have teachers coming to their community and were eager to get on camera! Others simply gave us the cold shoulder (literally cold... it was 17 degrees outside!) And one woman showed a little too much concern for our group... telling us we were "crazy" to be out at night in "THIS" community! Auburn Gresham "is a war zone out here" and we should not be walking the streets at night and even escorted us back to our headquarters... A few policeman also shared her overall concern as they stopped various members of our group and asked us if we "were lost."
Upon returning to St. Sabina Bowman Center, the participants had their first heart-to-heart circle debrief about the varied reactions by the Auburn Gresham community members. For most, the experience tonight was simply an pump of "urbanneeds medicine" into their social justice thirsty veins. We will need more of this mix to fuel us for the remaining time of the 43 hours.
After an introspective look at some CPS individual high school drop out rates, stories from CPS dropouts, discussing our own high school Alma maters, and our own communities, the Project 43 troops seemed even more focused to get to the bottom of how the dropout rate impacts the community. No one even knew it was already midnight!
Late night team building closed the night for some... but many are still awake writing letters to educational reformers, working on their PSAs, and discussing urban education.
Something has brought these 45 UNITE members here together in Chicago... it definitely is not the nice winter weather we are sacrificing ourselves too... maybe it is the love for our future students, maybe it is a deep burning inside ourselves that tell us we were fortunate to graduate from high school and know that not everyone has that opportunity...
As the group continues to bond and grow, so will our desire to push past all the obstacles standing between us and the reasons that 43% of Chicago students never receive their high school diploma...
After socializing through an ice cream sundae mixer, all 45 UNITE members took to the "streets" to begin their overall project of making a Public Service Announcement and familiarize themselves to the area of Auburn Gresham. The large mass of "outsiders" attracted a lot of attention as we trekked down 79th street at nine o'clock on a Friday evening. The community response was varied... Some residents were thrilled to have teachers coming to their community and were eager to get on camera! Others simply gave us the cold shoulder (literally cold... it was 17 degrees outside!) And one woman showed a little too much concern for our group... telling us we were "crazy" to be out at night in "THIS" community! Auburn Gresham "is a war zone out here" and we should not be walking the streets at night and even escorted us back to our headquarters... A few policeman also shared her overall concern as they stopped various members of our group and asked us if we "were lost."
Upon returning to St. Sabina Bowman Center, the participants had their first heart-to-heart circle debrief about the varied reactions by the Auburn Gresham community members. For most, the experience tonight was simply an pump of "urbanneeds medicine" into their social justice thirsty veins. We will need more of this mix to fuel us for the remaining time of the 43 hours.
After an introspective look at some CPS individual high school drop out rates, stories from CPS dropouts, discussing our own high school Alma maters, and our own communities, the Project 43 troops seemed even more focused to get to the bottom of how the dropout rate impacts the community. No one even knew it was already midnight!
Late night team building closed the night for some... but many are still awake writing letters to educational reformers, working on their PSAs, and discussing urban education.
Something has brought these 45 UNITE members here together in Chicago... it definitely is not the nice winter weather we are sacrificing ourselves too... maybe it is the love for our future students, maybe it is a deep burning inside ourselves that tell us we were fortunate to graduate from high school and know that not everyone has that opportunity...
As the group continues to bond and grow, so will our desire to push past all the obstacles standing between us and the reasons that 43% of Chicago students never receive their high school diploma...
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Less than 24 hours!
We are so excited for the arrival of all UNITE Members from Illinois State University, Indiana University, Michigan State University, and Northeastern University! Project 43 starts in less than twenty-four hours! Get ready for an intense weekend of community building, workshops, and empowering yourself to become a better educator!
Thank you to all who have donated to the weekend and sponsored individuals as they go on this 43 hour journey. A great thanks to all who are persevering through the blizzard to make it this weekend!
Thank you to all who have donated to the weekend and sponsored individuals as they go on this 43 hour journey. A great thanks to all who are persevering through the blizzard to make it this weekend!
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