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Marisa Sepulveda said she sends her daughter, Karolina, to St. Francis de Sales High School on Chicago’s Southeast Side because the school offers “a true perspective on good morals and religious beliefs.”

Sepulveda said the small high school, which has 265 students, enforces “a lot of discipline and teaches values and morals.”

Tuition at the school is $600 per month, which Sepulveda said poses a financial hardship for her. Her older daughter, now in college, also attended St. Francis.

Nevertheless, Sepulveda said she will always be glad she has sent both her daughters to a Catholic school. She did not elect to have them attend the local public school, Washington High School, at E. 114th Street.

Sepulveda is one of many parents in Chicago who struggles to afford the tuition for their children’s Catholic school. Some parents say attending the local Chicago Public School simply isn’t an option for them; they select a Catholic school for its traditional education and exposure to Catholic teachings and values. And after many years of declining enrollment, the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago reports that Catholic schools are now holding their own.

Ryan Blackburn, marketing director for the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools, SAID 90,000 students attend Catholic schools in Chicago. That number is dwarfed by the 400,000 students in the public school system, making Chicago the third largest system in the country following New York and Los Angeles.

Blackburn said Catholic schools in Chicago last year lost 550 students, but that is a smaller drop than in previous years, when they shed 3,000 students every year during the past decade.

“The reason for the smaller loss of students is that the schools are getting better at telling their story,” he said. “They are getting better at telling why they provide great options — a value-based education, a high quality education and a great network of parents.”

Mary Ramirez, principal at St. Francis, said the school has lots to offer.

“We’re not close to closing, because we are a vital element of the East Side community, as well as the Archdiocesan Catholic School system,” said Ramirez.

Ramirez has worked at St. Francis for 26 years and has served as principal for three. She said she has seen dramatic changes in the school. “When I first started teaching here, there was more than twice the number of students,” said Ramirez in an e-mail.

She attributed the drop in enrollment to recent tuition hikes.

Sepulveda said she agreed, adding, “The tuition in a little bit high, and parents cannot afford it in today’s economy. It is very difficult to pay the tuition. It is a struggle because you have to make a lot of sacrifices.”

Ramirez said the school has lost enrollment because of other factors as well, including the development of magnet and charter schools across the city. In 2004, Mayor Richard Daley announced Renaissance 2010 — his plan to close dozens of poorly performing schools and create 100 new ones, most of them charter and contract schools, by 2010. These new schools are drawing students from private academies, according to the CPS website.

Other competitors to the Catholic schools are the secular private schools like the Latin School and Francis Parker, both on Chicago’s North Side.

Chicago educates a high percentage of its children in private schools, but about two out of three private school students in Chicago attend Catholic schools, according to AllBusiness.com. In 2000, Chicago ranked third among the 10 largest cities in the United States in the percentage of high school students attending private schools, according to AllBusiness.com.

In this competitive environment, Ramirez said that the school has to make up for revenue that has been lost because of the drop in enrollment She said St. Francis depends more on help from corporate donors and other outside funding sources.

“We have to increase our PR and attract more corporate sponsorships to assist families in affording tuition,” said Ramirez. “I believe that St. Francis de Sales is a truly special place that provides a wonderful educational and family experience for young men and women, and I am proud to be able to say I work here and I strive to be a good leader.”

Sepulveda’s daughter, Karolina, is also glad to be attending St. Francis. “I feel comfortable in the environment of the school,” she said. “I think it does provide a better education because being in a Catholic school teaches you morals and good manners that you have to use in the real world.”

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Chicago’s handling of crime and education may, to some, leave much to be desired, but city officials are doing a good job on one front, according to University of Michigan professor and scientist Don Scavia.

At an speech held at the Field Museum on Oct. 7, Scavia commended Chicago’s proactive approach in addressing climate change in the Great Lakes region. In front of a crowd of more than 100 people, Scavia applauded The Chicago Climate Action Plan for its leadership role in responding to and helping to curb climate change.

“Your action plan is a model for many other cities around the country,” he said, adding that the University of Michigan recently launched a climate change adaptation center, based in part on Chicago’s model.

Scavia said people in the Great Lakes region tend to see climate change as something happening far away, “where the polar bears live or on the Gulf Coast,” not in their own backyard.

But that is far from the case, Scavia explained. Chicago and other Great Lakes cities have already seen and will continue to experience hotter temperatures, more intense storms, shifting of prevalent species and various structural damage and other effects of changing climate.

Yaiyr Astudillo-Scalia, a Chicago resident and science major at Northeastern Illinois University, believes people need to be made aware of climate change and the most effective ways of responding to it.  “Education is crucial,” she said.

Among other evidence, Scavia presented a study by the National Arbor Day Foundation showing that the last frost is getting earlier and earlier in the spring and the first day of fall is getting later and later. The growing season has extended and agricultural yields have increased in the last 100 years due to this warming, he said. Climate change in the Great Lakes region has meant water temperatures increasing at twice the rate of air temperatures.

“By the end of the 21st century, Illinois is going to feel like Texas and Michigan is going to feel like Arkansas,” he said.

There were a number of skeptics at the Field Museum talk, who stepped to the microphone to question the validity of the models and research regarding climate change.

But even if not all residents are believers, city leaders have demonstrated with the Climate Action Plan that they believe climate change is caused by human activities and needs to be taken seriously. The plan includes city agencies working with hospitals and community organizations to establish an emergency response plan for key populations most at risk during warm seasons. The plan also involves research to identify innovative ways to eliminate “hot spots” in the city’s infrastructure vulnerable to deterioration caused by increased floods, storms and higher temperatures.

Meanwhile, Astudillo-Scaila said residents should be more assertive about preparing for and demanding political action around climate change.  “We should not view politicians as supermen and superwomen by waiting for them to create solutions while we become victims in need of rescue,” she said.   “Communities should get together and create solutions to this problem.”

Lance Grande, senior vice president at the Field Museum, noted that especially with the degree of public skepticism, continued scientific exploration around climate change is crucial.   “As humans we wait until there is a huge crisis and then we agree with science,” Grande said. “You can only lobby on an issue like climate change, if you have the science to back it up.”

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VOYCE students

“Si se puede!” – or “Yes we can!” –  was the anthem chanted by Albany Park residents in the crowded basement of Our Lady of Mercy Church on Sept. 30, as the Albany Park Neighborhood Council celebrated 10 years of community activism.

The room was full of youth in green T-shirts ready and willing to create a change, not only in their own lives but in their community. Gov. Pat Quinn and other elected officials attended the anniversary meeting to hear the group’s concerns.

Founded in 2000 with the belief that people have the ability to learn, act and reflect together, the Albany Park Neighborhood Counci has strived to create a community where problems are solved by the residents themselves.

As one of the most diverse communities in the Chicago area, Albany Park is composed of 80 percent immigrants from more than 50 countries who have found a way to put differences aside to come together and face their community’s issues.

One of the hot topics during the anniversary meeting was whether or not funding for the VOYCE program under the Put Illinois to Work Act would be continued.

VOYCE: Voices of Youth in Chicago Education is one of the most successful programs implemented by the APNC,  said Diane Limas, an APNC volunteer and board member.

VOYCE is a youth-led collaborative that brings students between the ages of 14 to 18 together with teachers and parents to discuss and implement solutions to promote school reform. The program has involved more than 150 people at Roosevelt, Von Stueben and Mather high schools.

Approximately 50 youth in the program and numerous other graduates of VOYCE participated in the 10-year anniversary convention. Out of these students was Noeme Roman.

Roman, 18, started as a youth member of VOYCE three years ago in her junior year at Roosevelt High School. She began by going to the VOYCE office and from there started to attend meetings and retreats. Her involvement in the organization continued beyond her own self-interest when she attended an APNC meeting with Rodney Renim, where members discussed securing more government funding for the program. Roman told Renim why she thought VOYCE should receive more government funds, and asked him to make that happen. Roman says that the experience was “incredible.”

Looking back on her time and involvement with VOYCE, Roman, now a freshman at DePaul University, says, “I wouldn’t have made it to DePaul without the APNC.”

In response to APNC members’ demands for more funding, Quinn, said he would “look at the requests tonight, and do my best.”

“We will make the will of the people, the law of the land,” he promised.

Residents said they would wait to see whether Quinn would indeed secure funding for the VOYCE program and other community needs. Group leaders said they are overall confident their concerns will be addressed.

“We are very positive about the outcome of our event tonight,” said Limas. “It was important that our voices were heard and I am hopeful that the governor will look into our requests.”

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Last Wednesday, Oct. 13, more than 200 people crowded into the Humboldt Park Field House to be part of the Humboldt Park Smart Communities launch of its new community portal. The event, which had more than 12 tables staffed by Humboldt Parks Smart Communities organizations and selected technology vendors, showcased both some of the extraordinary work taking place in Humboldt Park and the promise of the increased collaboration between community residents, agencies and local elected officials.

To continue reading and to watch the video, click here.

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• We Come In Peace

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  Ray Noland and Hebru Brantley
  Wicker Park, Chicago, IL

  

• The Belgravia Arms

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• Lake Michigan

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  9.26.2010

  

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• Nature Boardwalk at the Lincoln Park Zoo

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  Chicago, IL
  9/28/2010

  

• Neko Case, The New Pornographers

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  Lollapalooza 2010

  

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  Photo by Nancy Bechtol, 2010
  Showing at ARC Gallery, opens Oct 1, Friday. Chicago:Urban/Convergence. A collaboration with David Bechtol.in a photo essay on” Bensenville: reclaimed”
  Selected from photography of 2009 and 2010 taken in Bensenville–area taken over for the O’Hare Expansion

  

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  Photo by Nancy Bechtol, 2010
  Showing at ARC Gallery, opens Oct 1, Friday. Chicago:Urban/Convergence. A collaboration with David Bechtol.in a photo essay on” Bensenville: reclaimed”
  Selected from photography of 2009 and 2010 taken in Bensenville–area taken over for the O’Hare Expansion

  

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Kate McGroarty of Chicago was revealed as the winner live at the Museum the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 6—with the help of a fun chemistry experiment. All five  finalists performed a seemingly identical experiment in front of the packed Museum Rotunda—but only McGroarty’s experiment, mixing hydrogen peroxide, dish soap and sodium iodide, elicited a giant chemical reaction (and a lot of foam), revealing her as the Month at the Museum winner.

Two Chicago residents — a Flash developer/blogger and an aspiring comedy writer — are in the running to spend a month inside the Museum of Science and Industry.

After weeding through more than 1,500 applications, MSI leaders announced five finalists this week for their Month at the Museum contest.

Now, the decision rests with the voters. The public can vote online at monthaththemuseum.org from now until 5 p.m. on Oct. 4. The website contains applicant’s entry video, bios and an excerpt from his or her entry essay. The public’s vote will be taken into consideration by the MSI panel of judges, and the winner will be announced live at the museum on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

“We were blown away by the overwhelming worldwide response to this contest,” said Rob Gallas, the museum’s vice president and chief marketing officer. “The entrants were so creative—and so enthusiastic about science and this Museum—we decided we had to go out to the public with five finalists, two more than we originally planned.”

The finalists include a musician, a Flash developer, biology major, a window display artist and a theatre artist. All five candidates have agreed to give up an entire month of their lives to eat and sleep science at the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere.

The finalists are:

• Alexandra Dainis, a biology major from Mansfield, Mass., who plans to prove that you can be both a rock star and researcher.
• Felix Jung, a Flash developer from Chicago, Ill., who is recently married and enjoys documenting the world around him on his blog.
• Krispijn Larrison, a window display artist from Seattle, Wash., who has dreams to be a children’s book illustrator.
• Kate McGroarty, most recently a high school theater teacher from Chicago, Ill., who aspires to write television comedies.
• Johnathan Wilson, a musician from Lake Charles, La., who plans to get a degree in biology and later work to eradicate land mines.

The winner will keep a blog during their month at the museum and will take home $10,000.

Spend a morning making the rounds with Keith Muhammad and you’re reminded why even the mightiest bridges – think Golden Gate, or maybe Brooklyn – rely on their smallest parts.

Muhammad is NCP organizer for Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. and a builder of human bridges between mostly Latino East Humboldt Park and mostly African-American West Humboldt Park.

Little things – nuts-and-bolts things – make the difference. On this May morning it was making sure the Kedzie, Albany, Franklin, Troy For Unity Block Club (KAFT) was getting some help mowing the grass and weeding flowerbeds in the parkway between sidewalk and street. And sure enough, Kenneth Taylor from the city’s Greencorps job training program was getting it done at the corner of Troy and Ohio streets.

To continue reading, click here.

Second- and third-graders from the Academy for Global Citizenship brought giant peace doves to the festivities in downtown’s Daley Plaza, while McCutcheon’s choir sang “This Day of Peace” and “Make a Difference” for the lunchtime crowd in Daley Plaza.

Peace Day in Chicago has been celebrated annually since 1978 and focuses on building peace in ourselves, our families, schools, communities, cities, nations and the world.

Here are images from the event.

A student from the Academy for Global Citizenship holds up a wing of one of the giant doves they created for Chicago's Peace Day event. Photo/Sarah Ostman

Flags are presented during the ceremony at Daley Plaza. Photo/Sarah Ostman

Academy for Global Citizenship students attend Peace Day. Photo/Sarah Ostman

McCutcheon Elementary students get ready to perform. Photo/Sarah Ostman

McCutcheon students sing at Peace Day. Photo/Sarah Ostman

A student from Holmes Junior High School hold up the wing of a dove. Photo/Sarah Ostman

A dancer performs at the Peace Day event in Daley Plaza. Photo/Sarah Ostman

A dove head is left behind after the crowd disperses. Photo/Sarah Ostman

Older teens tip off during one of the games in the tournament, held Aug. 21 in Seward Park near Cabrini-Green. Photo/Ivan Villafuerte, Neighborhood Sports Chicago.

As the jubilant members of the East Garfield Park basketball team celebrated, straining to touch the trophy they had just claimed, it was clear they had won more than a basketball game and a gold statue.

The 2010 Hoops in the Hood Cross-City Tournament winners for the major division also had won a victory for their neighborhood, and the spirit of teamwork, sportsmanship and safe streets, that’s a hallmark of the Hoops in the Hood program.

The fourth annual tournament, held on Aug. 21 at Seward Park, featured 250 players, and teams from 10 different Chicago neighborhoods. There were three divisions: Major (15 to 19 years old), Minor (11 to 14) and Pee-wee (8 to 10).

East Garfield Park took home the major division title, while Little Village won the minor division and the pee-wee champs hailed from North Lawndale.

But winning wasn’t the only triumph on a hot Saturday afternoon. Just being at the tournament, which was the culmination of summer-long basketball leagues where athletes, parents and community members reclaimed the streets of their neighborhoods, was a significant achievement.

“Programs like Hoops in the Hood bring communities together, which is so important when many people worry about violence in our streets,” said Keri Blackwell, senior program officer for LISC/Chicago, which organizes and supports Hoops in the Hood. “There are so many young people in Chicago looking for safe and fun activities, but often they have to overcome large obstacles to participate in them.”

To continue reading click here to be directed to Neighborhood Sports Chicago.

Related ChicagoTalks coverage:

Basketball Takes Over the Streets in North Lawndale

Basketball Leagues, Street Markets and Festivals Bring Different Look to Some Neighborhoods

Children frolic on the unusually and creatively landscaped tot park in Palmer Square. Photo/Ed Finkel

About a dozen staff from community, environmental and architecture-related nonprofits toured and learned about West Side “Parks & Boulevards” on Aug. 6 to kick off “Round Two” of LISC/Chicago’s Community Showcase Tours.

Funded through a partnership with the City of Chicago Office of Tourism and The 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods, the tours are picking up where 2009 Burnham Plan Centennial tours of Albany Park, Auburn Gresham, Pilsen, Quad Communities, South Chicago and West Ridge left off.

They will continue with community-specific tours of Humboldt Park on Aug. 20, North Lawndale and Chicago Lawn on Aug. 27, and East Garfield Park on Aug. 28.

The “Parks & Boulevards” tour retraced the steps – or bicycle tracks, if you will – and recalled the spirit of last summer’s “Open Streets” event, during which the boulevards were blocked to motor-vehicle traffic for several hours.

To continue reading click here to be directed to LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.

State Senator Jacqueline Collins (R) acknowledges several youth who participated in the Southwest Side's Smart Communities Initiatives at the Martin Luther King Skating Rink in Auburn Gresham. Photo/Ernest Sanders

As part of its Smart Communities initiative and efforts to sustain the greater Auburn Gresham community and nearby neighborhoods, the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC) employed and contracted with youth between the ages of 14 – 19 to increase the quality of life of its businesses and residents.

Digital Youth Summer Jobs (DYSJ)

In partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC/Chicago) and the City of Chicago, GADC received federal stimulus dollars through the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) to support a comprehensive broadband adoption campaign in its community.

As part of this campaign, GADC led a Digital Youth Summer Jobs (DYSJ) program to serve 12 youth for eight weeks. The program’s purpose was to provide an opportunity for youth to obtain digital life skills training, work readiness training, work experience and career knowledge through classroom training and internship opportunities within businesses, governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations in technology-related fields.

To continue reading click here to be directed to LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.

Photo/Ivan Villafuerte, LISC Chicago's New Communities Program

The Chicago Police Department’s 10^th District police station on Ogden Avenue usually hosts plenty of negative action in the North Lawndale community.

But on a recent Thursday night, the action was quite the opposite. The smell of grilled hot dogs and energetic tunes from a DJ drew residents out of their houses and into the station’s parking lot, where youngsters shooting hoops took center stage.

It was a striking counterpoint to the predictable references to youth violence, and a tribute to NCP lead agency Lawndale Christian Development Corporation’s (LCDC) elegant solution to late summer teen angst — a basketball and a set of portable hoops.

For the previous four years, LCDC hosted its basketball program, “Summer Slam,” indoors at Lawndale Christian Health Center. But this summer, NCP director Tracie Worthy thought it was the right time to show the neighborhood in a more public way that positive activities can keep the youth in the area out of harm’s way.

To continue reading click here to be directed to LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.

Online registration opened at 9:00 a.m. on Monday. If you were unable to register today, the Chicago Park District has reserved walk-in spaces. Walk-in registration will take place on Saturday, at each park’s field house at 9 a.m.