Category Archives: Feature

CTU (Chicago Teacher’s Union) STRIKE

September 20, 2012, by DC

On Saturday September 15, 2012 I was witness to  an enormous  protest rally.  As many of us know in the last few weeks Chicago Teacher’s Union has been on strike. On Saturday,  former teachers, students, parents of students, and other unions gathered to support the Chicago Teacher’s Union and Karen Lewis. Karen Lewis and other gather to speak on the issues and inform the teachers on progress. Below are a few photos that I took as well as the song that CPS students wrote about Chicago teachers and their opinion on what’s going on with the strike.

CTU Strike on PhotoPeach

Me, Myself, and Isadora Duncan

September 20, 2012, by DC

The purpose of this Endurance project was to connect ourselves and our missions to a character we felt drawn to. I choose to connect to Isadora Duncan because of her spirit, motivation, inspiration, and her drive. I am proud of the poem I wrote and the new style I used incorporating different punctuation techniques.

Here is my poem:

I. INSPIRING QUESTIONS:
How do you inspire people who have no hope left?
How can passion and motivation help create self-empowerment?
How do you use real life experiences to inspire and improve others’ lives?
How do you show women the light, when they are so use to darkness?
How do you give a wake up call to women who don’t know they are asleep?
How are you inspired to triumph, when everyone has proclaimed your failure?
How do you find the hope and energy to continually inspire and motivate others?
How are you inspired to succeed, when so many profess your failure and turn you away?
How can I inspire girls to increase their self-esteem, love themselves, and not let fears hold them back?[1]

II. INSPIRING ISADORA:
“Dance is the unity from which all diversities of movements are born.”
“If people ask me where I was born, I tell them by the sea, under the star of Aphrodite.”
My moves “are like most free spirited women, I move freely.” [2]

III. INSPIRING ME:
My whole life I have been a talker: loud and outspoken. My teachers use to turn to me and tell me not to speak out of turn but I would turn to them in return and tell them I’ll speak when I please because these words out my mouth could never be ceased until there’s no breath left in me…….and then I breath.
Breathe in experience breathe out poetry.

IV. INSPIRING ISADORA & ME:
DRAMATIS PERSONA:
Isadora = Italics
DC = bold
Isadora & DC = italics & bold
Dance like mother nature moves through you;
Speak like God blesses your tongue
Whatever you do,
Do it, like you and your higher power are one.
Every breath, you take, takes breaths:
Every move, you make, takes steps;
Whatever, you do, you do the best:
this is what separates you from the rest
A dancer does not dance to the music they dance with it; A speaker does not speak to the audience they speak for it. A dancer does not have a hard time finding the beat because a dancer dances to the beat of its own heart, the same way a Speaker is never at a lost for words for they speak the truth and nothing more is necessary. A dancer can some up a metaphor in one movement; the same way a speaker can some up a revolution in a phrase.

V. INSPIRING US:
[3]I am the voice of my time;
a strong woman of some kind,
I write on paper what women think in their mind.
Courage is what I help them find.
I give them that push that someone gave me,
offer support and try to help them see,
show them courage and help them believe,
that they too can be free.
[4]Settling is not for me:
Mediocrity will never be good enough.
Limitations will never stop me.
I am a free bird,
and your expectations will never cage me.
I was born to lead,
I was born to roam the world freely,
not be bound by the stereotypes of my community.
I refuse to be invisible,
when I have the potential…
and essentials to be invincible.
To push through when all the odds are pushed against you; to keep going even when you don’t know where you’re going. Having the faith to walk the road, even when you don’t know where it leads to. Believe, when you have no one left  to believe in you: Imagine when your imagination is empty; Hope, especially, when you have nothing, left, to hope for. And the impossible will become possible.

Voices of Thunder-Protest Song

November 3, 2011, by admin

My friend and I wrote this protest poem to talk about teen death in Chicago.  Some of the causes we saw for these problems are poverty, students not going to school, and gangs. In our poem we touched on all of those problems. We also talked about how the deaths are so common, that people are getting used to it and now are immune to it.  We are proud that we were able to portray our message through our song.

Building a Global Future through Local Connections

October 21, 2011, by admin

Today we went to Global Chicago. We spoke to Mia Luhtanen Arter, Christopher Juby, and Craig Kafura. We learned that Global Chicago was founded in 1922 after World War II and about the different things they do. They present 150 programs a year where they bring in experts from around the world. The experts discuss a certain global problem and make suggestions and come up with ideas or recommendations. They also help present Chicago to the world by conducting studies and surveys, then sending them to Congress and Senate. Their motto is “To bring the world to Chicago and to bring Chicago to the world.”

When we learned about some of the comparisons Global Chicago makes to different cities it reminded me of my two classes: Global Rap, Crimes Against Humanities, and the research we are doing on other cities. In Global Rap we are learning about the cultures of other cities by studying their music and poetry and finding connections with our own lives. In Crimes Against Humanities we are researching Crime, life, organizations, and environments of other cities to write a story about them.

I think Global Chicago is a lot like our school Global Citizenship Experience. We are all from different areas and backgrounds and we come together to learn from our teachers and each other. We try to find common ground with other people that we don’t agree with and take into consideration their perspective of the issue. We also tackle global issues. In our classes we have learned about Immigration, the Economy, Crime, and we are always comparing and contrasting Chicago to other Cities.

The Windy City Breathes

October 18, 2011, by admin

The Windy City, home of falling leaves, and shattered trees

F0- When the breeze temps you, a moment of doubt

but you have learned from the tree, to never just go with the breeze

F1-The winds stirs your beliefs, but does not change them

F2 –It may knock you off balance, but not knock you down

F3- The apple may be dropped, but never to far from the tree.

F4- You may feel like a black hole, is sucking the life out of you

but you still have life.

F5- Until the finger of God. Death

For the wind extinguishes candles

and fans fires.

Yet, it does not know right from wrong.

It tears away from us all

but the things

that cannot be torn,

so that we see ourselves

as we really are.

I do no resist nor accept.

Never loose my balance.

I may be pushed,

even swayed,

But I float above it all.

My moves flow.

I am one with air.

The

Windy city

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