Talent Show of the LISTO After School Program

Each summer, the children from LISTO present a talent show for the community. Artistic expression is an important component of the LISTO program, as the talent show well demonstrates. The performance reflects the cultural heritage of community children through the centuries. In June of 1999, the children presented folk songs from the 1920s, performed on instruments both old and new, and demonstrated ethnic folk dancing at the Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social celebrating Association House's one hundredth anniversary. Educators and parents know that children learn best by doing: the event gives the children a chance to understand the community's ethnic past while expressing themselves creatively. Thanks to the support of the JCCC, this annual event has sponsorship for the summer of 2000.

Young Artists Exhibit: Puppet Parade

Every fall, large-scale puppets made by Association House teenagers in collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development Summer Workers Program become the center of one of our community events. In September of 1999, the fifth annual Puppet Parade, a block-long procession of more than twenty puppets and elaborately masked children from ages twelve to eighteen, took place in conjunction with the tenth annual Around the Coyote Arts Festival. Hundreds of community participants joined the parade as it moved through the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. Association House fostered the community spirit of the day by providing a free family picnic with drumming and dancing following the parade. JCCC partnership has made this event possible for the fall of 2000.