Career Week 2011

Looking at babies

Looking at pastries

Looking at video games

Each year during Chicago Public Schools' Spring Break, Cabrini Connections organizes "Career Week" - a week full of trips to visit mentors in their workplaces. This year Jerman Beathea, Marcus Burks, Justin Fields, Dionte Herron, and Ana Tate visited a hospital, a grocery store, a scientific and educational association, and a university.

Columbia College Visit

On Friday, November 12th, four students (Kierre, NyShanell, Starisha, and Akeim) and I visited Columbia College in downtown Chicago. Each fall we try to visit one university or college per month because it is prime time for applications. However, while our seniors may get the most tangible use out of these visits, we encourage all students to take advantage of the opportunities. Even for our elementary school students, it is important to begin the visioning process now.

Northwestern University College Visit

Yesterday, on a day off from school (Columbus Day), 23 students from Cabrini Connections visited Northwestern University in Evanston. Myself, EL Da' Sheon, and Karina, all alumni of Northwestern, chaperoned the trip. We were also joined by former volunteer, and forever an advocate for the program, Stephanie Rogers.

This was the largest group we've ever had for a college visit, which I believe is a result of a renewed commitment to the program in 2010-2011 and is a testament to the success of our College Zone. Our vision is that every child who joins a tutor/mentor program in 7th or 8th grade is starting a job and career of his or her choice by age 25, and trips like this fit directly in with that. In order for our youth to fulfill this year's theme, "My Dreams are My Reality!", they need to see themselves on a campus, eating lunch, walking through a dorm, acting like any other student. This is the reality they some day hope to achieve.

Career Week: Day 1

During Chicago Public Schools' spring break, Cabrini Connections offers field trips to volunteers' workplaces. Our vision is that every child who joins a tutor/mentor program in 7th or 8th grade is starting a job and career of his or her choice by age 25. But for a dream to build in the mind of a student, it helps to visualize your goals. Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 20 years? Let's go there now!

Career Week kicked off today with a visit to Water Tower Place on North Michigan Avenue. Wednesday night mentor Anne Davies is an attorney and leasing specialist who works for General Growth Properties, the company that manages Water Tower Place. She introduced us to the property managers who gave us a behind-the-scenes tour!


Caryn, Katie, and Brian began by telling us about their jobs and educational backgrounds. Caryn has a communications degree and she is a Senior Marketing Manager. She recruits big name stores to the mall and (hopefully) keeps them there. Katie also has a degree in communications and she does marketing for Water Tower Place so you choose it over other shopping options. If you read about the mall in the newspaper or on the Internet, the message probably originated at her desk. Brian has a degree in business and he is in charge of in-house maintenance. If a light bulb is out, he's the one to tell. (Our students caught a few.)

Aside from the mall itself, we saw a lot of things that you may not have known were a part of the building, such as a theatre, The Ritz-Carlton, and a secret basketball court! Thanks again, Caryn, Katie, and Brian for this one-of-a-kind access. Our students' shopping experiences at Water Tower Place will never be the same!


Our second stop was DePaul University in the Loop. Wednesday night mentor Brea Adams is a graduate student in school counseling, but she also works for the university in the Office for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. She helps run the Supplemental Instruction program which "aims to help students in historically difficult classes master content while they develop and integrate learning and study strategies."

Brea showed us parts of the downtown campus including the student center, the College of Law, and the College of Computing and Digital Media. She also showed us the very desk she works at every week! Being just a few years out of college, Brea was able to provide great insight into postgraduate studies and career choices. This trip was especially fun for Brea's mentee, Crystal Townsend, who was in attendance, but much fun was had by all. Thank you, Brea, for the opportunity.

For continuing Career Week coverage, check out Cabriniblog for Tuesday's recap and Nicole's blog for Wednesday's recap. On Thursday, EL Da' Sheon and I will lead a trip to Loyola and Northwestern Universities. (Go U! NU!). Thanks for reading!

The School of the Art Institute College Visit

10 students, one volunteer (SAIC student Szu-Han Ho) and I visited The School of the Art Institute of Chicago today, one of the largest accredited independent schools of art and design in the country. (We also visited The Art Institute of Chicago.) From our first moments in the Columbus Building, we knew this wasn't your average college. Our first three stops were a room with giant kilns, a sculpture class, and a foundry equipped to pour bronze and aluminum. We then passed through the wood and metal shop to a performance area and painting and drawing classrooms. We also saw the photography, fiber and material studies, and film, video, and new media departments.

SAIC is an amazing school with incredible resources. Students have 24-hour access to studios and most of their materials can be purchased on-site at reduced cost. A lot of them don't receive grades; they have critiques - a group discussion in which you analyze, describe, and interpret art - and they simply pass or fail. Also, as part of a comprehensive liberal arts program, students take classes in humanities, mathematics, sciences, and other subjects, making them well-rounded 21st century artists.

After lunch, we spent an hour in The Art Institute, one of the world's greatest fine art museums. Its collection contains more than 250,000 works of art including paintings by Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, and Vincent Van Gogh. Most of the students had never been to an art museum, so it was my pleasure to walk them through the halls of this famous building. People travel from all over the world to see The Art Institute; all we had to do was take the CTA blue line.

I hope you see this unique experience as an example of the value of tutor/mentor programs like Cabrini Connections. Our learning and enrichment activities are designed to build social, team-building and leadership skills and encourage an interest in arts, technology and social service. This trip was relatively simple to plan and carry out and it cost less than $100 ($45 for CTA passes and $50 for lunch at Subway), but I guarantee their memories of it will last forever. It is important for young people to visualize themselves in college and today, if only for a few hours, that vision became a reality.

UIC College Visit

On Saturday, November 14th, I accompanied nine Cabrini Connections students to University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for a college visit. At the start of this quarter, our objective was to offer one college visit per month and so far we've followed through with that goal. In September we visited Northwestern University and in October we visited DePaul University. All of these trips are part of our College Application Assistance Program (a.k.a. the College Zone) which provides learning opportunities and support related to college admissions.

Once again, our trip began in a dining hall. Thanks to UIC Dining Services and Sodexo, we were treated to "All-You-Care-To-Eat" breakfast in the East Cafe of UIC Student Center East, and we all left satisfied. (There was even a competition to see who could make the best Belgian waffle. Kierre won.) Special thanks to Roslyn Pitts, Director of UIC Meetings, Conferences, and Dining Services, for helping arrange our visit. We like to instill positive associations with college and buffet-style dining halls are a great way to do so!

After lunch we went to an information session. We ran late because of some confusion regarding its location, but we made it in time for a Q&A session with current students which was informative. Soon it was time for our campus tour led by the wonderful Ana. Our group was comprised almost entirely of high school students (one parent) which relaxed her and allowed for a more casual tour. She prompted our students with questions throughout the tour and they always replied promptly. "What do you want to study?" got answers like architecture, English, chemistry, and computer engineering. For each answer, she was able to connect it to an actual area of study at UIC. It was a great way to show that in college you can study whatever you want!

Ana led us through most of East Campus, including The Quad, a classroom in Douglas Hall, and the Student Recreation Facility. We ended in Student Residence & Commons South where we got to tour three different types of dorm rooms with actual students living in them. UIC is one of the most diverse schools in the country. There is not a single racial/ethnic group which represents a majority. It's nice for our students to see people that look like them at a university. Ana herself, a first-generation college student, was a good model for what it takes and what it's like to attend college.

Now, usually, our visit would end here, but UIC invited us to a Flames basketball game! Volunteers, students, and their friends met at Cabrini Connections to board a bus for a free ride to the game. At UIC Pavilion, those of us who went on the college visit met them to witness the UIC Flames defeat the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) Prairie Stars 72-59. UIC held a commanding lead throughout in their first game of the 2009-2010 season. Thank you to Megan Sparks of UIC Community Assist Program for providing this exciting experience. A lot of our youth currently play sports at school, so I'm sure it is was a pleasure for them to witness competition at the next level.


Your donations to Cabrini Connections make visits like this possible. Please consider making a small donation on our web site. Thank you!

Chicago Sky WNBA game

Last night, I, along with new volunteer Joanna Michelson, accompanied seven of our students to a Chicago Sky WNBA game. The Sky played Western Conference-leading Phoenix Mercury. The game was close throughout, with many dramatic drives to the hoop and deep 3-pointers, but the Mercury pulled away in the last minute for a 106-99 victory.

A special thanks to Mike at the Chicago Sky for offering free tickets to Cabrini Connections. We were able to reward students who have been using our center over the summer. Savon meets with his mentor every Wednesday, Melissa joined the new Video and Filmmakers Club, and Ana, Malina, and Crystal frequently stop by to make use of our technology center. Though our regular tutoring scheduling runs during the academic year, our center is open all summer and we encourage students and volunteers to make use of it. At least 4x as many students have come this summer compared to last, but there's always room for more!

We were also about to reward new students in the program such as brothers Shaquille and Cantrell. Within a week of signing up, they met their mentors and joined the Video and Filmmakers Club. We are happy to see them immediately interact with Cabrini Connections and all it has to offer. We look forward to their success!

Lastly, I would like to commend the Sky for their work in the community. Last night they honored Women of Inspiration at halftime, and The Sky Cares Foundation supports the Sky's mission of building girls' self-esteem and providing girls and young women with positive mentors. Tutor/Mentor Connection could be a great resource for fulfilling that mission, so we will be in touch with them. Go Sky!

Six Flags Great America

Yesterday, EL, Chris, and I chaperoned Cabrini Connections' annual trip to Six Flags Great America. Almost 30 students with at least 75% attendance in our program during the third quarter of 2008-2009 were invited to attend. 15 were able to make it and we all had a great time!

I spent the bulk of my day with some familiar faces from our Tech Club: Savon Clark, Charles Hill, and Sean Mayfield. With a nice mix of clouds and sun, we were able to enjoy some great roller coasters (Raging Bull, American Eagle, and Viper) and two water rides (Roaring Rapids and Yankee Clipper). Joshua Vera joined our group, too, which was great because he has a working knowledge of the park. He's been coming for years and his mom even bought a season pass!

Later in the day I met up with the other group of boys: Marcus Burks, Gregory Hatchett, Charles Kilpatrick, Patrick Mitchell, and Josue Rosque. We walked around for awhile but by the time we were in line for Superman, it started raining. The boys discovered a great alternative (bumper cars), but, unfortunately, as soon as we sat down in the cars, rain started blowing onto the track. We had to give in after that.

Despite rain at the end of the day, all the students remained in high spirits. We got a good five hours in before bad weather and everyone got to ride their favorite attractions. The girls even took time out to play games and win prizes, including giant inflatable balls and stuffed animals (snakes to be exact).

We have incentives throughout the year to help keep our students motivated, from small things like juice to big trips like Six Flags. Trips like this provide a unique experience and help instill students' positive associations with our program. Thank you for supporting Cabrini Connections and all that we do, from big to small. Please consider making a donation in preparation for the upcoming school year. We know 2009-2010 will be a challenge financially, but we want to maintain our excellence here at Cabrini Connections. Help us reach our goal!