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Parent Development Program
July 2001-June 2002
Chicago Connections
A Program for Strengthening Families,
Schools and Communities
Summary
A literacy development program for parents around topics important
to a family’s life in the city—culture, education, work,
health, media, politics, environment. The objective is to improve
parent’s effectiveness as family educators through developing
reading, research and workforce skills, and strengthening school-community
connections. Monthly 3-hour workshops will be held at museum sites
with transportation provided from each participating school. Classes
are bi-lingual (English and Spanish) and involve hands-on activities
and small group work. Lunch is provided. The workshops are led by
Imagine Chicago, a civic organization that challenges people and
institutions to understand, imagine and create the future they value--and
to find ways to link their talents to the communities in which they
live.
Objectives:
- To improve parents’ effectiveness as family educators by
- Developing reading, research and workforce skills
- Focusing on organizing and understanding information
central
to their life in the city
- To strengthen school-community connections by increasing parental
involvement in both school and community activities
- To leverage school funds spent on parent development by attracting
family literacy support from corporations and foundations
Target Schools
Any school may apply, but should have someone available
to serve as parent coordinator.
Cost
Each participating school will be asked to contribute $10,000,
payable in September of 2001 to participate in the citywide workshops.
This covers the costs of program staffing, museum fees, associated
materials, transportation and lunch provided at the workshops for
as many parents from that school as want to participate. Any school
that wants additional in-school workshops will be asked to cover
the costs for services requested. Additional funds will be sought
from local foundations and corporations to cover the cost of program
incentives.
Sponsoring Organization
Imagine Chicago is an award-winning non-profit organization founded
in 1992 to cultivate hope and civic commitment in Chicago. For the
past five years, Imagine Chicago has been the external partner for
the Urban Imagination Network — the largest Annenberg funded
school-community partnership — which has involved seven schools
and six museums in improving reading comprehension and developing
schools as centers of community learning and urban imagination. An
essential component of this work has been engaging Chicago public
school students and their families in educational programs that build
literacy skills and connect them in meaningful ways to the broader
communities of which they are a part. This program will further develop
and expand an already successful parent program and continue to build
long-term support and interest in family literacy in Chicago.
Time Table and Curriculum
|
Month
|
Topic
|
Location
|
Family Connection
|
Workforce Skill Developed
|
September
2001
|
Program
Orientation,
Reading strategies
|
Newberry Library
|
Strengthening reading at home
|
Literacy skills,
Public speaking
|
October
2001
|
Environment:
What sustains or threatens life
|
Notebaert Nature Museum
|
ID community
resources that strengthen families
|
Researching and organizing information,
Understanding systems
|
November
2001
|
Culture:
Stories that shape our lives
|
Field Museum
|
Communication/
story telling
|
Valuing diversity
|
December
2001
|
Computer
Technology
|
DePaul
Computer lab
|
Using internet for homework- monitoring sites
|
Computer
literacy
|
January
2002
|
Education
|
One of the participating schools
|
How to strengthen parent
/school
|
Lifelong learning
|
February
2002
|
Work-seeking and maintaining a job
|
Quaker Oats
|
Preparing our children
for work |
Resume writing
|
March
2002
|
Media-using and interpreting news stories
|
Chicago Historical Society
|
How to use the daily newspaper as an educational resource
for work |
How to write a news release
|
April
2002
|
Politics: Active citizenship
|
City Hall?
|
Connecting to public resources |
Understanding and shaping policy
|
May
2002
|
Community health
|
Chicago Botanic Garden
|
Family health issues
Primary care |
Stress management
|
June
2002
|
Celebration/ Graduation
|
Chicago Historical Society
|
Family recognizes accomplishment |
Accomplishing development goals
|
Goals
Chicago Connections will create meaningful
lasting patterns of civic engagement by parents by applying lessons
learned from effective youth engagement, namely:
- To present opportunities where parents are respected, both
in the process and for the results achieved;
- To address significant issues and opportunities in parents’
and family’s lives, and in the larger community in which they live
- To enable parents to provide consequential input into decision
making and to produce tangible products (as opposed to offering meaningless exercises)
- To enhance parent’s development through high expectations, sustained by peer and mentor
support with explicitly positive values
Parents treated according to these principles learn to treat their
children this way and thereby become effective long-term educators
of their children’s civic development and engagement. As part
of the program, each school will have opportunities to identify
local community connections that will enhance family development
and education.
“My family used to spend more than the usual time watching
T.V. but now we spend more time communicating with one another and
doing family things together. I was not aware of the things about
cultures in the trips we have taken; I’ve expanded my activities
and opinions. Now, I participate in my child’s schooling, in
school and out.”
“Now I can express myself better and it makes me feel like
a free person. Education should be our first priority. The city
is a great place to learn. Everywhere I go now I learn more about
the world.”
—2000-2001 participants in the
Imagine Chicago parent development program
Register
For Program
To get your school involved, please contact
as soon as possible.You can email Edith Njuguna by clicking
here or contact Edith at our office:
IMAGINE CHICAGO
35 East Wacker Dr., Suite 1545
Chicago, IL 60601
312-444-1913 phone
312-444-9243 FAX
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