This program increases the reading, writing, listening, speaking, organizational, cooperative, computer, and photographic skills of Special Education Learning Disabilities/Behavior Disordered students at Alessandro Volta Elementary School. The students attend seminars and workshops that teach them to write and produce an Albany Park Community newspaper, and write, produce, and film a news broadcast detailing important events with members of the community. By becoming involved in their community, the Learning Disabilities/Behavior Disordered students develop a sense of belonging and pride that serves to further encourage them to become involved constructively in community activities.

A computer manipulatives math center for third grade students increases the academic performances in math and students' confidence level towards math.  The computer center is set up in an area of the classroom where the computer and color printer are available for students daily.

The Algonquin Corporation and Intergenerational Advisory provides middle school students with the academic, social, and emotional experiences necessary for future success.  The creation of jobs within the school provides real work experiences, teaches responsibility, and develops employability skills.  Students create resumes, complete applications, and participate in interviews as they deal with real-life employment situations.  A membership program with area senior citizens and a student advisory program provide opportunities to participate in service learning activities within the community.  The program provides a much needed link between the academic world and the business world.

Science Scene: Kids and Teens is a collaboration between the Academy, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), Northwestern Medical School and several local social service agencies.  Teens from Chicago public high schools study ecology at the Academy and cell and molecular biology with graduate student mentors at Northwestern.  Teens then apply what they learn to leading the Kids component--weekend workshops and summer science camps for 5^th through 8^th graders from CHA developments.  For two years, teens work 8 to 10 hours weekly as exhibit interpreters on the museum floors, as well as design and teach science lessons for the kids.

The multiracial, multicultural Chicago Children’s Choir has created two new in-school choral training programs for Chicago elementary schools located in under-served and economically disadvantaged communities.  These programs provide the only music education opportunity for children greatly in need of the proven academic and spiritual benefits of exposure to the arts as a part of the learning process. 

The project implements a revolutionary new technology into Cove’s school day for students with a receptive language impairment.  Fast ForWord computer exercises help children process fundamental sounds of speech, slowing them until the child hears each sound separately.  After mastering one level, the child progresses to the next level.  The brain learns how to process sounds faster, allowing children to process language at a speed closer to his/her age level.

The Wiz Factory Creative Learning Experience consists of five problem-based creative learning laboratories led by subject matter experts, or "Wizards."  The after school program serves about 200 students from kindergarten through high school with activities including homework, creative learning laboratories and production workshops.  The learning laboratories cover such topics as: math, motion and light, wellness, performing and studio arts, natural science, computer science, and field excursions.

The "After School is Cool" program provides 50 academically at-risk students with the extended educational support they need to succeed in school.  The program helps kids reach grade level standards in the subject that is the foundation of all learning - language arts.  This after school program engages children in meaningful literacy activities to improve their reading, writing, and thinking skills.  Activities are conducted in either one-on-one or small group settings.  Each day, time is also designated to help students with the assistance they need to complete classroom assignments that are language arts related.

The Student-Community Newspaper Initiative involves Dundee-Crown High School students in an unique school-to-work experience offered in collaboration with the Hispanic community newspaper, Reflejos.  Students assist in writing of news stories, editing, and publication of the newspaper, while learning  valuable life/work skills such as punctuality, appropriate dress for the work place, business skills and etiquette, and the value of post secondary education. 

DuPage Easter Seals provides training for area child care providers on caring both for children with disabilities and for typically developing children.  By having child care providers take courses designed to develop the skills necessary to care for children with disabilities, they will be better qualified and more inclined to accept children with disabilities in their classrooms. DuPage Easter Seals has also established an advocacy program for parents of children with disabilities to provide them with the necessary tools to make informed decisions, and takes an active role in identifying appropriate child care solutions.

Fenger Academy has articulated a five year Community-Based Technology Plan to move the school and its surrounding community into the 21st Century.  Knowing that technology is the place where the arts and science meet, the Vocal Music Department at Fencer Academy has created a computerized MIDI keyboard and computer laboratory.  With the use of engaged learning activities in this laboratory, students are encouraged to develop independent, high-level thinking; strong personal values; creative artistic flow; enhanced understanding of science; and therefore, an enhanced knowledge base that will improve their academic achievement.

In 1993, Governors State University (GSU) and representatives from School District 169, the Ford Heights Community Board, Prairie State College and the Community Economic Development Agency of Cook County, Inc., organized a communiversity--a social structure committed to combining resources to affect change in Ford Heights, a  community in which 85 percent of residents receive public assistance and 50 percent live below the poverty line.  The communiversity’s “Learning in Context" program offers Ford Heights public high school students the opportunity for a free college education.  Each student who attains a high school diploma or passes the GED examination is guaranteed complete tuition toward a bachelor’s degree.  Qualifying students begin studies at Prairie State University and complete them at GSU.

Drive to Learn provides incentives for native Japanese families living outside the Oak Park area to enroll their children in InterCultura, a second language-immersion Montessori school.  Early childhood bilingualism fosters greater cross-cultural understanding and respect; it increases the probability that individual and cultural differences become opportunities for creativity, adaption and fulfillment.  Expanding the Japanese language immersion program to include more native Japanese families provides profound educational benefits to InterCultura’s already diverse community, and enables the school to transform itself from a local kindergarten to a truly international school serving both local and international families.

The nine week Camp-on-Wheels Adventure Education program guides Chicago public school students through a series of carefully planned initiatives and problem-solving activities which are designed to help them achieve specific measurable outcomes.  Each course is tailored to build on the strengths and abilities of each group.  The program teaches students the value of cooperation, strategies for effective communication, and conflict resolution, while encouraging individual growth.

Students call the school after hours to listen to a recorded reading.  These readings are recorded by teachers, administrators, the P.T.A., and Local School Council members.  After arousing students' interest, books of the same title are available.  During the summer, students are encouraged to utilize the public library to check out the recorded book they hear, or other books by that author.

Onward Neighborhood House used the JCCC Foundation grant money to create a Computer/Video Learning Center for their after school Learning Center and Summer Day Camp, which serves elementary school children ages 6-12.  This Computer/Video Learning Center serves the dual purpose of improving educational deficiencies and promoting positive self concepts of disadvantaged children.

The Modular Technology Education Center, which integrates science, mathematics, technology and business education,   includes 12 stations that provide the middle school students with challenging, self-paced units in areas such as robotics, aeronautics, and fiber optics.  As a cornerstone for the middle school exploratory program, all students have formal access to the new Center program a minimum of one quarter per year.  In addition, the core science program is enriched as the Center becomes a valuable resource for the integration of science and technology throughout the curriculum.  The Center has also become the core of a new parent and community education program created to increase the home-school partnership.

St. Scholastic Academy’s Junior Field Experience Program provides students hands-on experience working with people in different economic circumstances and people of different abilities, ages and health needs.  Students journal their activities and write papers reflecting on the problems their volunteer activities address and how the program has touched their lives.  As they process their experiences, students develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills required for successful living in the 21^st century.

School District U-46 has created a World Languages and International Studies Academy at Streamwood High School.  The two languages taught to academy students are Japanese and Spanish.  JCCC Foundation funds were used to secure equipment and materials for the language lab, to support field trips, and to provide outreach activities in order to identify and welcome our Japanese community.