IN THIS ISSUE:
*Events
*Volunteer Opportunities
*Internships, Jobs, and Beyond...
*In the Spotlight: Educational Enhancement through Academic Competition
EVENTS
M.L.K. Day of Service
Saturday, January 17
7:30am-4:00pm
For the MLK Day of Service, UCSC is partnering again with Chicago Cares for their Celebration of Service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Students, staff, and faculty will join 4,000 volunteers from across the region on Saturday, January 17 to honor Dr. King's legacy and build a stronger Chicago.
A Writers’ Congress: Chicago Poets on the Inauguration of Barack Obama
Tuesday, January 20
5:30pm
DePaul University Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave.
Join Chicago Public Radio’s Chicago Amplified and UniVerse of Poetry as seventy-five local poets gather to read their work celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama. Event is FREE. More info at http://www.chicagopublicradio.org
Panel on Public School Funding
Thursday, January 22
5:00pm-7:00pm
Swift Hall, 3rd Floor
Presentation and discussion of collective reports by Catalyst Chicago and the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability on public school funding formulas in Illinois and the resulting inequities across school districts. Prof. Charles Payne will serve as the moderator and Ralph Martiere (Center for Tax and Budget Accountability) will give the initial presentation along with Al Sharp (Protestants for the Common Good).
Launch Your Career as a Peace Corps Volunteer: Information Session
Thursday, January 22
6:00pm-7:30pm
Ida Noyes Hall – 2nd Floor (East Lounge)
University of Chicago held on to its No. 1 spot on the Peace Corps’ top 25 list of small schools producing Peace Corps Volunteers. With 35 alumni currently serving as Peace Corps Volunteers, University of Chicago is at the top of the ranking in its category for the second year in a row. Take this opportunity to meet local returned Peace Corps volunteers who lived and worked in international communities, hear their inspiring stories, and ask questions about being a member of the Peace Corps.
Mercy Housing Front’s Homeless Count
Tuesday, January 27
7:00pm
4946 N Sheridan
Mercy Housing Front is gathering volunteers for an accurate count of homeless people throughout Chicago; the figures from these counts determine allocations for homeless resources. The training session is at 7pm and the counting will occur around 1am. For more information, contact Steph at slane@mercyhousing.org
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Jumpstart AmeriCorps is a non-profit organization that pairs college students with preschool aged children in low socio-economic communities nationwide to give them one-on-one support in developmental literacy and language that is not often provided in low-income preschools. If interested contact Moriah Bailey Stephenson at Mstephe9@depaul.edu or via phone at (405)203-3675.
In January 2009, the Food Depository will participate in Feeding America’s National Hunger Study, Hunger in America 2009, a nation-wide hunger study that will be the most comprehensive study on hunger in the world. They need reliable, adult volunteers who can commit to a training session (multiple training sessions will be available at the end of January), and can visit at least two agencies over a three-month period. E-mail now to volunteer.
The Center for Economic Progress is looking for volunteers to assist in helping families with taxes. No prior experience is needed as training sessions will be offered beginning in January with the closest location in Bronzeville (4804 S. Cottage Grove). Please check www.economicprogress.org for a comprehensive list of site locations available positions along with the volunteer application. Contact Erica Maslanka, Volunteer Services Manager, at 312.630.0244 or emaslanka@economicprogress.org with any questions
The Dearborn REALTIST Board is an advocate for education concerning public housing matters ensuring Democracy in Housing for all. They are looking for any direction in obtaining volunteer assistance in updating their current website, www.dearbornreb.com. Please contact Tracey Taylor at 312-980-5182.
Murray Language Academy is seeking students interested in tutoring kids during the "Homework Club" program, which is Monday-Friday 2:30-3:30pm. Also looking for students willing to share their passion (art, singing, journalism, etc.) with their students (these types of enrichment programs occur Monday-Friday between 4:00pm and 6:00pm.). If interested, contact Megham Freytag at (773)619-0408 or Megham_Freytag@YMCACHGO.org
INTERNSHIPS, JOBS, AND BEYOND...
2009 Humanity in Action Fellowship
The HIA Fellowship brings together university students from the United States and Europe for a rigorous, interdisciplinary inquiry into human rights, diversity, and minority issues. Students participate in the five-week fellowship in one of six different countries: Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, or the United States. Upon completing the fellowship, Fellows join an active international network of young professionals and are eligible for internship opportunities at the United States Congress, European Parliament, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and other civic and political institutions. Check out humanityinaction.org
Global Engagement Summer Institute 2009
***Due: 1-15-2009 ***
The Global Engagement Summer Institute (GESI) is a two-course summer study abroad program focused on community development in a global context and will send 60 students to La Plata, Argentina; Udaipur, India; or Jinja, Uganda. For more information, visit www.mycge.org or contact Ryan Pederson (ryan-pederson@northwestern.edu).
SPN/IHS Koch Summer Fellow Program
Due: 1-31-2009
SPN/IHS Koch Summer Fellow Program at the Illinois Policy Institute offers a 10 week program featuring workshops in career building and policy analysis at James Madison University in Virginia and the Illinois Policy Institute here in Chicago. Fellowship compensates for travel costs and offers a $1,500 stipend. For more information and an application visit the Institute for Humane Studies website.
Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship
Due: 02-15-2009
Sponsors six-to-nine month fellowships for recent college graduates (including graduate students) in Washington, DC. Fellows serve as full-time junior staff members working on peace and security issues, at participating organizations. Includes a stipend of $2,100 per month and health insurance, plus travel expenses to Washington DC. For more information: http://scoville.org/.
The Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC), a prospective International Baccalaureate school that offers a relevant, engaging, and challenging educational program, is seeking interns to assist with fundraising development. The internship requires students to research donors, compile a database, and manage fundraisers. Compensation is included. Email resume and cover letter to: sarahelizabeth@agcchicago.org.
Jeff Metcalf Fellowships are up on line - over 150 Jeff Metcalf Fellowship positions are posted on Chicago Career Connections and many more are sure to come. The Jeff Metcalf Fellowship Program provides University of Chicago 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students the opportunity to spend the summer learning by doing. You will be paid a minimum of $10/hours for 400 hours of work. Deadlines for Metcalfs run from early January through mid February.
Federal Work Study (Off-Campus)
UCSC seeks out and posts part-time and summer work-study positions with Chicago area nonprofit and public sector organizations. Opportunities are geared toward identified interests and skills of our College, graduate and professional school students. View this list for the most current off-campus works study positions.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
An Alternative Approach to Academic Engagement
Mutisya Leonard, Staff Writer
One of the goals of the University Community Service Center at University of Chicago is to foster meaningful partnerships between the University and our immediate community that enrich the academic lives of students both at the University and in our immediate community.
The idea to partner with the Chicago Academic Games League (CAGL) was born of a UCSC program, Educational Enhancement through Academic Competition. CAGL, now in its 30th year, was started by then teacher and now retired, James Wilson, as a Hyde Park/Kenwood community initiative based at Ray Elementary School. Wilson, still Director of the program says that CAGL’s greatest asset is the “gang of kind volunteer teachers and parents that make tournaments run, unrewarded almost.” “But with increasing economic demands and hence greater opportunity costs for time,” he regrets, “our volunteer levels are getting a big blow and it’s harder to serve as many schools as we’d set out aspiring to.”
Through weekly math club meetings at local schools and monthly math competitions, CAGL encourages young people to practice logical thinking, math skills, pride in academic achievement, and sportsmanship. CAGL accepts applications from South Side middle schools throughout the year to take part in the competitions, and at the University an administrative student staff liaises with CAGL and the schools to organize competition meet ups, manage agendas at Board Conferences of involved parties, and follow up on contacts.
CAGL’s Program Manager, Third Year Anthropology and Fundamental double major Race Wright takes pride in the fact that CAGL “represents an excellent opportunity for middle school students to engage in an exciting, and intensive hands on manner.”
“One of the challenges with the United States’ public education system is that it is, frankly, producing less results. For a number of reasons there seems to be a shift away from competitive strife for intellectual dominance, to an extent that is risky to performance. School is becoming less rigorous. CAGL is a great way for South Side middle schools students to exercise their mental capacities in a demanding but healthy environment that is creative, fun and rewarding. Plus it exercises our students’ team work and participation skills.”
Ten schools will take part in this year’s tournaments, among them Hendrix, Black, Shabazz, Washington, Carnegie and Cadwell – local middle schools that have been actively sending teams to CAGL. Wright says that one of CAGL’s goals for this year is to expand their influence to reach more schools quantitatively, and more types of schools, celebrating Chicago’s racial and ethnic diversity.
CAGL Tournaments are lined up for the Saturdays of January 17th, February 14th, March 21st, April 18th, and May 16th. The May 16th Tournament deliberately coincides with Summer Breeze on our Quads, and is the year’s culminating invitation-only tournament.
“In past years” says Aviva Rosman, a Third Year in the College and Public Policy Studies major and last year’s Program Manager, “we have brought our winning students to the Quads for Summer Breeze and they really enjoy the honor.”
Rosman added, “ In the past, we have organized to collect gift cards from Macy's and Target to reward generous teachers that volunteer a good deal of unpaid hours to coach teams. The reception to that was great. We are, looking forward, going to have to do some grant searching. We also need to streamline the tournament process.”
CAGL will be looking to recruit college volunteers to work with the Program Manager in making richer, and running better the tournaments.
The University Community Service Center (UCSC) fosters the development of civic-minded students by providing substantive community service opportunities through community partnerships based on mutual trust and respect. If you have questions - how to get involved as a student or how to connect to students as a community organization - please contact us.
University Community Service Center
5525 S. Ellis Ave., Suite 160
Chicago IL, 60637
Tel: 773.753.4483
Fax: 773.834.1160
ucsc.uchicago.edu
