U.S. Department of Education Senior Official Visits Chicago to Address Equity and Achievement Gap
Contact:
Julie Ewart, U.S. Department of Education (Chicago), (312) 730-1703, cell: (312) 282-4864
Melissa Trumbull Mitchell, The Federation for Community Schools, (312) 629-4992, cell: (773) 562-3746
Event Date 1 : July 07, 2010 12:00 pm - July 07, 2010 01:00 pm
Event Date 2 : July 07, 2010 01:30 pm - July 07, 2010 02:25 pm
Event Date 3 : July 08, 2010 06:00 pm - July 08, 2010 08:00 pm
Event Date 4 : July 09, 2010 11:30 am - July 09, 2010 01:00 pm
Alberto Retana, U.S. Department of Education's director of community outreach, will visit local schools, meet with community organizations and lead two youth forums in Chicago, Wednesday-Friday, July 7-9. Tomorrow (Wednesday), he will visit Orozco Academy and Perspectives-Calumet Middle School where he will interact with students and parents benefitting from the schools' community resources and summer programs from noon to 2:25 p.m. Both schools are full-service community schools that develop partnerships with community organizations to provide comprehensive services and supports for children and young adults. The school visits are hosted by the Federation for Community Schools, which supports community schools throughout Illinois, serves as a clearinghouse for community schools' best practices, and facilitates the professional networking of community school practitioners.
Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), a youth-led organizing collaborative comprised of students from seven community organizations and 12 Chicago public high schools, will host the first forum on Thursday, July 8, from 6-8 p.m. at a local banquet hall located at 1039 E. 43rd St., Chicago. The second forum will be hosted by the Federation for Community Schools, and will take place Friday, July 9, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Lyric Opera House, Chicago. These forums are designed to engage diverse students in a dialogue about creating a college-going culture at the family, community and school levels.
Over the next few months, Retana will visit several cities throughout the United States where he will help organize nationally coordinated service activities and events, hold 10-15 youth forums with high school students, visit local schools and community based organizations, and meet with local community members to spotlight examples of courage in improving education and successful efforts toward closing the achievement gap and meeting the President's goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
Event 1
| Who : | Alberto Retana, director of community outreach, U.S. Department of Education |
| What : | Visit to Orozco Academy |
| When : | Noon-1 p.m., Wednesday, July 7 |
| Where : | 1940 West 18th St., Chicago, Ill. |
| Who : | Alberto Retana, director of community outreach, U.S. Department of Education |
| What : | Visit to Perspectives-Calumet Middle School |
| When : | 1:30-2:25 p.m., Wednesday, July 7 |
| Where : | 8131 South May St., Chicago, Ill. |
| Who : | Alberto Retana, director of community outreach, U.S. Department of Education |
| What : | Youth Listening Forum |
| When : | 6-8 p.m., Thursday, July 8 |
| Where : | "Room Forty-Three," 1039 East 43rd St., Chicago, Ill. |
| Who : | Alberto Retana, director of community outreach, U.S. Department of Education |
| What : | Youth Listening Forum |
| When : | 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Friday, July 9 |
| Where : | Lyric Opera House, 20 North Wacker Dr., Chicago, Ill. |