Money Museum for ISP class

Hi all, this week was our first full week and it was one of the most interesting week I have had during my college years. I think that for each of my classes we went for a field trip and visited a lot of cool places. One of those places was the Money Museum for my ISP (independent study project) class. It was really mind blowing, I guess the most amazing part for me was the money box (pictured below). This box contained $1,000,000 in dollar bills and weight 2,000 pounds!!! 

Another interesting thing that I saw at the museum was the $500 bill (on the right side). Imagine if we still had $500 bills today, I am sure that would have made quite some difference.

This next pile of money was worth $1,000,000 as well but in $20. I would encourage anyone visiting the city to drop by this museum, it is really fascinating and it is FREE!!

Author: Tsiry R.

First Official Week!

Hello all! This is Maria writing again! It’s been a super exciting week, and I cannot wait to share it with you! First, I will start by saying I got an internship!! That’s a huge relief off my shoulders. I will be interning at an organization called Girls in the Game. Girls in the Game is an organization that teaches young girls how to live a healthy lifestyle. I will be involved in a lot of organizational stuff as well as getting some hands on experience and interactions with the girls! I cannot wait! Because I have not started my internship yet, I had this past Monday and Wednesday free. I got a chance to explore my own neighborhood (Hyde Park) and go to Chinatown. I am proud to say I ate my entire meal in Chinatown with only chopsticks J I had never done that before, sooooo I was pretty proud of my myself.

Some of the beautiful buildings at the University of Chicago!

 

                On Tuesday we had our seminar, where we learned about Peace Circles. Peace circles are a type of restorative justice practice that is being implemented throughout Chicago, especially in the schools. It was a really rewarding experience full of trust and respect. I definitely felt closer to the other students in my seminar. This experience sparked my interest, and I would love to learn more about Peace Circles and restorative justice during my time in the city.

                On Thursday, we had our ISP (Independent Study Project). For the first part, we went to Mikva’s Challenge. Mikva’s Challenge is an organization that challenges high school students to become active in the political process.  For the second part, we went to a rally against Women’s Violence. We got to participate in a flash mob there! Even though we did not know the dance very well, it was pretty cool! There were a couple speakers after the flash mob and then everyone marched a couple miles to a dance party. SO AWESOME.

Two girls from the program learning the flash mob dance!

 

                On Friday, we had core class. For the morning session, we went on a trolley ride throughout parts of the city. We went to the west loop, Bridgeport, and Taylor Street, just to name a few. It was a heated trolley, so it was nice to stay warm and be able to see parts of the city J For the afternoon session, we discussed the demographics of our neighborhoods. It was interesting to learn things about where we are living. Hyde Park is such a cool and interesting place, which you could see just by looking at the maps. After discussing the demographics, we watched a documentary by Oprah called Louder Than a Bomb. It is about Chicago high school students that work hard throughout the school year to compete in a spoken word poetry competition. The documentary was really amazing and made me look at poetry in a different light, as something that can be therapeutic. However, by the time the film ended, it was already 5 pm on a Friday night. To top if off, they said that we were going to discuss the film after. I was so ready for a nap! But instead of discussing, one of the students from the film walked through our door! I was so surprised and overwhelmed! I thought he walked right out from the TV! So that made the extremely long day totally worth it J We had a chance to ask him questions and learn about where he is now. Once again, SO AWESOME! 

I feel like this has been a really long post, so that is all for now! I cannot wait for all the adventures planned for next week :)

 

New Ambassador: Maria

Hey all!

 

My name is Maria Wagenhofer, and I am a Chicago Program ambassador, specifically for the urban studies aspect.  Just a little about me: I am currently a sophomore at Valparaiso University, majoring in psychology, with an urban studies minor. I am hoping use my psychology major to continue to grad school in either counseling or social work. But I’m still a little unsure, so only time shall tell J

I am SO excited for the rest of the Chicago semester to get underway. We just finished a week of orientation, which was jam packed with lots of new information. But I loved every second of it. I also had an interview for my internship! We have two days set aside every week for us to be involved as in intern for a company or organization. It is a great way for us to dive deeper into our interests, while learning more about the city. We also take a core class, a seminar, and have an independent study project, but I will go into more details about those as the semester goes on. J  

That is all for this post. I am going exploring in my neighborhood tomorrow so I hopefully have lots of things to talk about in my next post! Until then J

Orientation Week (not boring at all)...

When I heard orientation week my mind was already thinking about long boring talks about things that you will learn eventually anyways. But surprisingly, orientation at the ACM Chicago Program is far from boring. The first couple of days were getting to know each other days which I thought was very productive, then the other two days were meant for you to learn about the classes you will take and what you will be doing over the course of the semester. I think can speak for many of the students when I say that there was a lot throw at us this week but at the same time it was exciting stuff that I think we are all looking forward to doing. The classroom setting and method of learning here is very different (in a good way) from the learning methods I have had in the past. I am really looking forward to a great semester of fun and hard work throughout the progression of this program. 

New Ambassador!!

Hello everyone,

My name is Tsiry Rabemahefa and I will be one of the Ambassadors for the Chicago Program this spring semester, which means some of the posts you will read will be from me. Just a little bit about myself, I am a senior at Concordia College in Moorhead MN and I am majoring in both Biology and Business. On the Chicago Program, I am on the Entrepreneurship track for both my ISP and seminar. 

Fun facts about me would be that I am originally from Madagascar. I am also able to speak 3 languages fluently and a couple of more not so fluently :). I enjoy cooking, reading, walking (when it is sunny outside), listening to music, meeting new people, and a bunch of other fun stuff I can't think of right now. Well that is a little bit about myself and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences here in Chicago and at the ACM Program with you all. 

Hope you have a great rest of your weekend :)

Architectural Boat Tour

 Last day at CP for Spring 2012! We ended the day with an architectural tour down the Chicago River and out onto Lake Michigan.

 Our tour guide was entertaining, the weather was beautiful, and you were a great group. Even the tour guide commented that the ACM CP group probably knew more about Chicago than he did!  We will miss you students of Spring semester 2012!

Miguel del Valle visits Chicago Program

This semester CP students were honored to meet with Miguel del Valle.   del Valle was City Clerk of Chicago until 2011, the first Latino elected to the Chicago City Clerk’s office.  Prior to his City Clerk position, del Valle was the first Hispanic Senator elected in the Illinois General Assembly where he served for 20 years.   In 2011, del Valle ran for the office of Mayor of Chicago. In the election he came in third in a field of six, with about nine percent of the vote.

del Valle spoke to CP students about an issue he is passionate about:  education.  He is currently chair of the Illinois P-20 Council.  The Council is working to improve birth to adulthood education in Illinois.  The goal of the P-20 Council is to increase the proportion of adults in Illinois with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by the year 2025.  del Valle talked about a curriculum designed to take students through all of their educational years, from pre-K through grad school.   

 

del Valle has been working for many years on issues facing Chicago Public Schools, including inequities in funding, and a lack of commitment to fully support neighborhood schools.  His first speech was to fight off an amendment to strip bilingual funding.  He ran for office to work on education issues; attempting to improve life for his constituents.

His first experience with the school system in Chicago was when he failed in the third grade.  He was born in Puerto Rico, and, at the time, he spoke only Spanish, and no one in the school could communicate with him.  He spoke of the importance of teachers, and the importance of supporting them.  “Effective teachers connect with students,” he said.  He remembers a particular teacher who saw potential in him, and inspired him.

He is passionate about making career options available to students.  He tells students there are many other roads available to them; if one doesn’t work out, “take another [road]; don’t stop, don’t go backwards.”

Cubs win!

CP students visited the friendly confines of Wrigley Field on Monday.  The weather was a little chilly, and an eerie fog began rolling in over the field in the last few innings.  But the Cubs beat the Braves, 5-1, and we all had a great time!

CP Pitch Presentations

Chicago Program Entrepreneurship students have been working hard to craft an innovative start-up business concept to present to an external review panel.  Each team came up with an idea for a new business startup,  a mission for the venture, market, a business model, industry analysis, a plan for testing the new business, and a positioning strategy. 

This week the business plans were presented to an external review panel.  The panel provided feedback for the student entrepreneurs.   

On the review panel were CP Director Robyne Hart, John Geis, COO of Dabble, Inc. a community marketplace offering classes across a range of topics; Candi Carter, former Senior Producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show, and CEO of her new production company, New Chapter Entertainment; Tyler Spaulding, co-founder of StyleSeek.com, a mass-personalization e-commerce platform; Lori Edwards, founder of Impact Challenge, offering business consulting; and Tom Cassell, adjunct faculty member of the Chicago Program.

Faculty from Beloit, Colorado College and St. Olaf visit Chicago Program

Chicago Program welcomed three faculty from ACM colleges April 18-20. Corina McKendry (Colorado College), Carol Wickersham (Beloit College); and Ted Thornhill (St. Olaf College) became Chicago Program students, as they toured Chicago’s neighborhoods, including visits to LVEJO (Little Village Environmental Justice Organization)  and Growing Power’s Iron Street Farm, an urban farm growing produce on the bank of the Chicago River in the Bridgeport neighborhood.  

The faculty joined Chicago Program seminar groups in a tour of The Plant , a vertical farm and food-business incubator housed in a former meat packing plant in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.  The goal of business residents in The Plant is not to waste anything.  Small businesses are raising fish and growing organic produce in such a way that waste from one operation is recycled into another. An anaerobic digester is in the works, which will use food scraps to provide heat and electricity for the building. 

The visiting faculty shared their expertise with the students as well.   Carol Wickersham led a workshop with Chicago Program students on learning experiences and how to transfer skills and knowledge between campus and community.   Professor McKendry led a discussion on sustainability with students participating in Chicago Program’s  Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Human Rights and Social Justice seminars.   And, Professor Thornhill lectured on "New Racism in the Post Civil Rights Era:  Interpersonal vs. Institutional Racism.:"