Literacy is the key to empowerment. Deafness is the greatest barrier to literacy. Alexander Graham Bell Montessori School, a unique school where both hearing and deaf children learn together, uses a highly successful teaching technique called Cued Speech, a system for "making sound visible," allowing deaf children to visually acquire the same basics of language that hearing children do. Cued Speech is a very simple system of hand shapes and positions near the face which, in conjunction with the shape of the mouth in normal spoken English, gives the deaf visual access to the sounds - not just the concepts - of the spoken word. Deaf graduates read at the same level they would have achieved if they had not been deaf. Funding will be applied toward Speech Therapy staffing and related costs.

Roots--Artistic Heritage is a series of art appreciation programs and related creative workshops. The program consists of three thematic art exhibitions and discussions of original paintings, drawings and sculpture by ethnically diverse artists. Prior to the program, Art Encounter will meet with classroom teachers to determine ways to integrate the discussions into the curriculum. Following the exhibitions and discussions, students will participate in an art project integrating themes relating to the students' ethnic heritage or current classroom topics (e.g. Mexico). Funding will support the program for fifth graders in six Chicago public schools.

A program with three inner city Chicago schools designed to significantly increase K-8 teachers' abilities to help students develop higher order thinking and communication skills in Oral and Written Academic English, Reading Comprehension, Dialogue, and Artistic Communication. The program empowers teachers to reach these objectives through integrating Literature Circles (small discussion groups involving students' independent analysis of narrative, science, and social studies texts) with training students in Multiple Arts Communication Modes. The plan involves structural changes in the schools to support and sustain classroom innovations; parent involvement; program evaluation; and dissemination of information regarding teacher training, classroom process and impact on students.

Evanston Township High School students enrolled in Asian Studies and Japanese language courses for the 2000-2001 school year are working together to build a Japanese Zen garden on the grounds of the school. Creating a Japanese Zen garden will enable these students to gain a deeper sense of Japanese culture by understanding the utilization of nature and space; develop a deeper sense of compassion for humankind; and create an artistic self-reflective environment. Students research and analyze the design and function of Japanese gardens, and devise methods to utilize the garden to assist with their emotional and mental development. The Zen garden, which will also be open to the public, will provide a place for all students to sort out personal problems, talk to a friend in need, or reflect upon their own life.

The Family Focus Lawndale Primary Prevention program helps non-parenting teens and pre-teens explore positive life options and avoid too-early pregnancy, gang involvement, and delinquency. An additional Youth Entrepreneurship component will provide participants with training in entrepreneurial and computer skills. Participants will acquire enhanced math, reading, presentation and computer skills that will help them in later employment. The program seeks to foster a thoughtful approach to employment and an understanding of the business world.

The Chicago River Schools Network is a network of teachers in Lake and Cook Counties that Friends of the Chicago River organizes to use multi-disciplinary, river-based curriculum in their classrooms and to involve students in action projects along the Chicago River. This program connects students' studies with real world issues and inspires a sense of empowerment. Water quality testing is an important tool for teachers to use in this curriculum, but some schools lack the financial resources to buy testing equipment. They have devised a cost-effective loan program that will provide the necessary equipment to needy teachers at no charge.

Club Learn is a comprehensive, strength-based, youth development program designed to serve 4th through 8th grade students. This new program is a consolidation of our former award-winning Learning Connection and Youth Alternatives Programs. It build on the strengths of these programs while offering an innovative club model that offers greater potential for addressing each child’s unique needs. The core components include Academic Assistance; Positive Adult Mentors; Life Skills Education; Parental Involvement; Community Service; Sports, Cultural and Artistic Activities. Club Learn will utilize small group and individual tutoring sessions for each child.

The Family Literacy 2001 program provides in-depth family literacy services to 125 families with 165 children at two locations, Instituto del Progreso Latino and Irma Ruiz School. In addition to classroom instruction for both parents and children, the focus of this initiative is to work with parents through home visits to create environments that promote literacy and engage all family members in the educational process. The purpose of the family literacy initiative is to strengthen the family support infrastructure for school age children and break the cycle of educational underachievement among school age children in the community.

  Over the Rainbow is a three-year project by grade-school students and two professional artists to create tile and carved-clay mosaics for eight exterior archways of the school. Each year for an eight-week period, fifth graders will be the primary creators of two or three archway murals. Third and fourth graders will also participate. The final phase will include work by parents, teachers and staff. The project gives participants the opportunity to shape their personal and collaborative artistic vision around significant themes, and to share with the community in a permanent artwork.

Most teachers have never been asked to really consider the nature of art and how it can enhance their students' lives in so many different ways. Instead, teachers remember the hand-shaped moon and stars or spring bunnies they made as children. These art experiences are of little merit to their students today because these activities represent such a small fraction of what art can be. Kohl Children's Museum proposes to create a partnership with pre-schools, day care and early childhood care centers to enhance professional development in visual arts and develop an understanding of the virtues of process-oriented art by early childhood care providers in the Rogers Park community of Chicago. The program, called Getting A Headstart Through Art, will result in an increased understanding and willingness of pre-school teachers to create process-oriented art experiences, create designated art learning centers within the learning facilities and provide teachers with appropriate support and effective tools for facilitating the art experiences with young children.

The Malott Family Zoo Intern Program recruits under-served teenagers from Chicago’s public high schools for training in environmental science and communication skills. The program includes a paid summer work experience as well as opportunities for school year study for academic credit and for academic year paid internships. With input from the public schools and community groups, zoo educators identify and engage at-risk youth in a fun and unforgettable learning experience that helps them bridge the gap between school and work. Interns develop critical work skills while building their science literacy and serving the community.

The 180° "Turnaround" Club is a collaborative after school mentoring program designed to support seventh and eighth grade students who are at-risk of being retained in their current grade. Students stay after school 3 days a week for 90 minutes, and receive assistance with homework in a small group, structured environment. Mentors, along with volunteer student teachers and National Honor Society students, provide skill and team building activities. Parent involvement is mandatory, and several evening meetings are held to encourage positive parental support.

This program works with school age children from first to twelfth grade to promote academic achievement, prevent negative behaviors, and to encourage and prepare students for college. JCCC Foundation will support the science learning component of the 2001 Junior/Senior Scholars Summer Camp. The science-related goals of the camp require students to be able to understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems; understand the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections of life science and physical science; and understand the relationships among science, technology and society in historical and contemporary contexts. The science component will culminate in a science fair on the North Central campus. About 30 high school students and over 100 elementary school students will attend the summer camp.

Park View has planned for an extended day Kindergarten initiative that is designed to be an individualized intervention program for students who are lacking preliteracy experiences. It will be a balanced program that integrates technology, literacy activities and higher order thinking skills. The students will be interacting on a daily basis with "Earobics," an interactive software program that promotes phonological awareness. Over twenty years of research has shown that phonological awareness is the strongest indicator of future student success in reading.

St. Joseph’s Carondelet Child Center (SJCCC), the oldest child welfare organization in Chicago, provides special education classes to students considered too disruptive for Chicago’s public schools. Many of SJCCC’s children come from backgrounds so impoverished and neglectful that even remedial education methods fail to reach them. The Activity Therapy program helps these children overcome learning disabilities, academic delays, depression and disruptive behavior, by providing an experimental environment, where each child can strengthen his/her academic and problem learning skills.

San Miguel School, a private junior high school which serves the educational needs of at-risk children, has initiated a new social studies curriculum that combines a multicultural approach to history with advanced technology. Children learn history in specific units designed to work together over a period of years that teach students the linear consequences of different historical events. Students use Microsoft PowerPoint to develop reports on historical topics that will then be used to teach other students what they have learned.