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...