Posts Tagged ‘chicago center staff’
July 8th, 2011
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Megan Crawford, LearnChicago! Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:
“I can’t believe it’s already my turn to write an Apprentice blog! That means our time as employees of Chicago Center is almost over. I have some amazing experiences as the LearnChicago! Program Coordinator. I have had a blast working with so many great colleges and diverse groups. I’ve loved participating in the programs and learning along with the students. I’ve been challenged and encouraged to take autonomy of my position, and my own abilities and career goals have, undoubtedly, been strengthened. Truthfully, I have loved every part of the past year and it still seems surreal that I get paid to work with such a fantastic group of individuals.
The Center is an amazing organization and, if anything, this year has showed me that it serves a different role for everyone. Each student finds something unique within its pedagogy. Some find answers to personal struggles within their class discussions; some find their vocation through internships; others arrive in the big city and find their future home. Regardless of the form it takes, each student who attends Chicago Center finds one thing: transformation.
Truthfully, I applied to the Apprenticeship program with very selfish reasons. I was at a point in my life where I needed change and I wanted to live in a city where I would be accepted. I wanted a job that would let me transform, both professionally and personally – and it has.
Chicago Center has become like family; it has given me the courage to start over, the confidence to live openly, and a supportive environment in which to question my beliefs. We are all different: not everyone on staff necessarily loves Barack Obama, holds the same religious beliefs, or even thinks the White Sox are God’s gift to baseball. But those differences [except maybe disliking the White Sox] are encouraged.
In my opinion, that’s the best part of Chicago Center and the highlight of my position as LearnChicago! Program Coordinator. I have been able to witness how the programs and activities I’ve planned have affected dozens of students. Whatever the class and wherever state they’re from, there’s always at least one student who voices how Chicago transforms him. I have seen so many students come to this city and find a community that meets their needs and interests and, for the first time, feel a certain acceptance. I’ve watched students face their fear of living, working, and navigating big cities and discover an independence they hadn’t thought possible. Some just leave with a more open mind and a better understanding of the world around them. I am so grateful to have been a part of it.
In one of his all-staff emails, Scott Chesebro, our venerated Executive Director, described a recent political change as “an affirmation of the value of inclusion in dialogue and of the recognition of the human experience of difference.” To me, this speaks to the heart of the Center. This program allows students to express and embrace the most important, and often vastly unique, parts of them. And, fortunately for me, it allows staff members to do the same.
So thanks, Chicago Center: hopefully the new Apprentices find their year on staff just as transformative as we did.”
We’d like to thank Megan for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!
June 3rd, 2011
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Okwara Uzoh, Marketing and Public Relations coordinator talks about his experience with Chicago Center:
“When I first came to the United States at the age of nine, I landed at O’Hare airport. The first American soil I touched was Chicago soil. My first passport came from Chicago. The second zoo I ever went to was in Chicago, and the first play I ever went to in a big city was at the Goodman Theatre when I was in 11th grade. Notice a trend here? So, although I lived only two hours away from Chicago in the little town of Berrien Springs for nine years out of my life, I had always wanted to experience the real Chicago. Yes, I had been downtown, been a tourist, saw the big city as an immigrant, and all that jazz, but I’d never gotten to explore the ‘real’ Chicago on my own.
The opportunity came when Emily Nelson and Tiffanie Beatty came to my Intermediate Acting class during my junior year of college. I was already looking for an internship to do following my junior of college and when I found out that Alma College had an off-campus Chicago program, I was hooked. Tiff and Emily caught me at the most opportune time; this was the moment I had been waiting for all my life – to actually live in Chicago and explore.
Being the college student I am, I rushed to get all my documents in the day before it was due. I did not want to miss this window. The year flew by quickly and summer 2008 rolled around. I was driving along with my friends Kristin and Beth in an SUV to experience something that I was not ready for. I can’t even begin to describe this feeling. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I finally arrived and ran into Scott, who directed me to the Drexel apartments. I got to my room, unpacked my belongings, breathed a sigh of relief and embraced that I was finally here. I was about to live in Chicago for the best two months of my life.
During my two months in Chicago, I had so many amazing experiences. I tried new foods and met different people — even some who had the same experiences I did as an immigrant. I attended multiple festivals and saw Snoop Dogg and 311 perform live. I went to my first baseball game, was exposed to tons of important issues others weren’t even aware of, and put myself out there to experience the real Chicago.
The Center challenged me on a lot of things, but there’s one that sticks out: my identity.
My identity. I always thought of myself as two things: Nigerian and black. Yes, I have black skin and I have all the attributes of being a black person in America, but I am a purebred Nigerian at heart. That is something I never took into consideration until I saw how segregated the city of Chicago is. It was staring me right in the face. I would be riding the bus on the south side with African Americans, but I never felt the part of being an African American. I speak, dress, and carry myself differently. I like rock music more than rap. I don’t fit all the stereotypes of your typical African American. I came to terms that I am a Nigerian. I am proud of my identity. The more I came to terms with it, the more I did research about my country and talked to my parents about the history of my country. I also went back home and made it my goal to learn how to speak my language, Igbo.
Thanks to all of the things I was exposed to, I was sad to leave this wonderful city. I had always wanted to live in a big city again after growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. Chicago felt like home. I didn’t know how I was going to end up here. As I was giving Scott a hug on wrap up, I stated, “I should be an apprentice.” He gave me the ‘Scott laugh’ (which all of you know) and said, “Apply and see what happens.” I nodded and said, “Yes.” Two years flew by and I applied for the apprenticeship program and got the job as the Marketing and P.R. Coordinator.
During my time as an apprentice, I have continued to add on from where I left off after my term as a student. I know the behind-the-scenes work of what went into my term as a summer student. It’s a lot of work. We have a small staff, but we get a lot of objectives accomplished. I have been able to use my computer knowledge in the office. I was able to help organize the 40th Anniversary, which turned out to be a great event. To see all the work that was put into a huge event and have such a great result was rewarding. I have also been able to meet resources that other classes participated in. The list goes on and on about the opportunities I have had as an apprentice. There’s still more to come with the amount of time I have left in my position.
I have been grateful for the chance to come back and be an apprentice and bring some of my ideas to the table as a Chicago Center staff member. I continue to explore this great city for what it has to offer. Some of it includes having Teyonda showing me the great deals on restaurants.com, Groupon and Poggled; I’ve experienced everything from baseball games and the Bears almost going to the Super Bowl to Rahm winning the mayoral election. There has been so much going on that I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for being in the city at this time. I continue to grow as a person being in this position and continue to learn from all the people around me.”
We’d like to thank Okwara for telling us about his experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!
May 19th, 2011
“We know many of our users would like to intern in a major urban cultural center like New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, but many are intimidated by the logistics and cost of moving for a temporary work experience.
This week, I discussed these issues with Lane Chesebro, admissions director at the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture. Chicago Center is a nonprofit organization that arranges internship experiences and student accommodations in Chicago’sHyde Park neighborhood, site of the University of Chicago and longtime home of President Barack Obama.”
Click here to continue reading.
April 13th, 2011
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Cameron Siefkes, Recruitment and Campus Relations Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:
“Rolling into the city with my mother and step-father in the front seat and all of my stuff piled up around me felt quite different the second time around. The sight of the skyline and thinking about my mommy leaving me all alone in this huge metropolis didn’t make me feel physically ill like when I was a student. Instead, it brought back the excitement, all of the fond memories I had from the two months I had spent in Chicago the year before, and reminded me of the change I had experienced within myself. I was back in the city I fell in love with and was ready to see the next way the Chicago Center would have an impact on my life.
It has been about eight months since that long drive from Kansas. Now I’m sitting next to my fearless leader – i.e. my supervisor – Mr. Lane Chesebro, in the Education Department at Coe College. We’re here recruiting the future students of Chicago Center. Being the Recruitment and Campus Relations Coordinator for the Center has not only brought me to this campus in Iowa, but also to places in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and of course, the great state of Kansas. I’ve also been fortunate to have a hand in all of the other recruitment trips we’ve sent staff members on and have become quite the negotiator on Priceline by bidding on hotel rooms like nobody’s business. I’ve been learning the ins and outs of what it takes to be successful in this aspect of our organization. It has been like getting a backstage look at one of my favorite shows in the theatre. You can’t have a show without all that goes on behind the scenes, and we certainly couldn’t have the Chicago Center without our students.
My professors from Southwestern College would be proud to see me utilizing the skills I learned from my communication courses. No matter how many times I got up in front of my peers, I would get nervous. Now, it feels like second nature to present to these students on each campus. Of course, there are always going to be the ones who roll their eyes at you when you begin to speak about coming to live, learn, and work in Chicago. For me, the rewarding part comes when you see that one student who gets a little sparkle in his/her eye when we explain the program. We can speak to hundreds of students on one campus, but the real excitement comes when we receive those one or two applications in the mail. It’s amazing to know that the words I spoke were possibly a small part of helping that student see that he or she belongs in our program.
Each presentation reminds me of my own experience as a student in the Summer of 2009. As with most students, the initial draw of the program for me was the internship. However, the seminar and being exposed to the faces, neighborhoods, and problems in Chicago were what really affected me the most. My naivety quickly reared its ugly head, and I realized that most of my understanding of the world had come from one perspective. In Chicago, I received the perspective of voices I had never heard or taken the time to listen to before. Exposure to people from all types of backgrounds helped changed the way I viewed the world and the perceptions I had of the people in it.
My time here as an apprentice has only been a continuation of that learning process and my growth as an individual. Every day when I go into work, I feel blessed to have been chosen to have this experience with the other four apprentices. These people have been a part of one of the most significant parts of my life and moving on will be difficult. I am thankful for the opportunity, for the new friends, and the further enrichment of my life. I feel more confident every day, more aware of what I am capable of, and more proud of who I am. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am a different person after this experience. Instead, I say that Chicago and the Center have helped me become the person I was always supposed to be.”
We’d like to thank Cameron for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!
Categories:
Alumni Highlights,
Apprentice Staff Highlights Tags:
Cameron Siefkes,
chicago center alumni,
chicago center staff,
chicago internship programs,
Chicago Internships,
chicago student programs,
chicago summer internships,
city living,
hyde park,
Southwestern College
December 13th, 2010
Boulevard Ribbon Cutting Ceremony ( L to R: Founders - Don and Eunice Schatz, Executive Director - Scott Chesebro, and Board President - Bruce Texley)
Carnivale - Location of the 40th Anniversary
Dinner at Carnivale
Chicago Center Founders (Bottom Right: Don and Eunice Schatz) with Chicago Center alumni
“The Chicago Center for Urban Life Culture has been a great experience to me with the help from the fellow staff. Not only has it benefited my life, but also, it has impacted other lives as well. This was represented in its entirety during the luncheon and the 40th anniversary. The luncheon had a great turnout with the alumnus, founders, staff, and current students. I think it was a great way to bring all the people who had gone through the Chicago Center, past and present, to exchange stories of how they have changed following this experience. Also, it was great to be around during the ribbon cut as it represented the 40 years of success. The founders of the Chicago Center and the others that kept it going for 40 years deserved all the gratitude they received. I couldn’t imagine what they had gone through to make it to this point, but I’m thankful they made it, so I could get the opportunity to experience Chicago. It was great for me to meet some of the alumni, to see how their lives are going and any other things that came to mind. I will say the food helped top off the luncheon right.
Following the luncheon, I went to set-up for the Gala. Upon arrival, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The building exterior and interior were marvelous. They had a great mixture of colors and decorations to coincide with each other. When I walked in, I could sense it was going to be a wonderful night and indeed, it turned out that way. The Chicago Center had a lot of supporters, as represented at the Gala. There were 202 guests at a facility that had a capacity of 200. This just proves that the Chicago Center has changed so many lives over the years. 40 years is a long time, but through thick and thin, they stuck around to change lives time after time. As for me, I’m glad I made this decision because this experience as given me a new perspective on life. Coming from a place where different perspectives rarely differ, this experience really gave me a much in depth insight to life, and I plan on sharing that when I venture back home. Because of the Chicago Center, I have become a well-rounded individual in all aspects of life and upon my completion here, I plan on taking what I’ve learned here, back home and sharing it with others. 40 years and still going strong till this day. This is a such a great accomplishment for the Chicago Center. Because of my experience with the Chicago Center and the city of Chicago, if it all works out, I plan on returning to the City of Chicago to make a difference where it’s needed. I just want to thank you for this life changing experience. It’s well appreciated.”
~Austin George Smith, Bethel College, Fall 2010 Urban Academic Practicum Student
Arvis Averette recieved a First Voice Lifetime Achievement Award for his unwavering commitment to teach and organize for racial and economic justice
Scott Chesebro was presented a suprise tribute video
Phyllis Cunningham recieved a First Voice Lifetime Achievement Award for her vision and action in breaking the mold of traditional education for non-traditional students
Chicago Center Alumni and Friends
First Voice Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients and Presenters
“Today was such a lovely day. I’m not going to recount the day for you because you were there and I have plenty of pictures to help me remember, but I will say one thing. I feel so blessed to be a part of such an incredible organization. I didn’t realize how many people you have touched or how far the Chicago Center’s reputation has reached. I have met some of the best people EVER here and I am dreading leaving. I have never been so close to a group of people and felt so at home. I really hope we are able to stay in touch, because these people are better friends than people I’ve known for years. If anyone was debating whether or not to come here I would tell them that this has been the most amazing semester of my schooling. This is not a just a program it’s like a home. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be one of your kids for a semester!”
~Ryann Bird, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Fall 2010 Urban Academic Practicum Student
The Chesebros
Chicago Center Staff 2010-2011
40th Celebration
Dancing the night away
December 13th, 2010
Jessica Junke, Academic Program Coordinator
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Jessica Junke, Academic Program Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:
“I received the email inviting me to apply for an apprentice position with the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture on Tuesday, February 23rd. It was a typical Northwest rainy day, but it was a day of celebration for me. I had just spent the past six months not only finishing my undergraduate degree, but also working 60 plus hours a week to pay for the many consequences that came from an incredibly irresponsible decision I had made the previous summer. But, I was finally done. That Tuesday, with the words of my peers and counselors still echoing in my ear from a different sort of graduation, I opened an email that ended up marking the beginning of a hopeful, new chapter in my life.
I knew immediately that I wanted to apply for an apprenticeship. The last time I had been in Chicago I was a student with the Center and I had never quite gotten the city out of my head. Leaving her was extremely hard. She had taught me more about myself in those three short months than an entire lifetime had before and saying goodbye to Chicago was like being ripped away from someone you had only just realized you loved. It seemed like I had just arrived to the windy city when my dear friend Emily, a student teacher while I was an academic student, drove me to the airport at the end of the semester to go home. As I hugged her goodbye, I told her that I wasn’t ready to leave.
I recognize now that I wasn’t permanently saying goodbye to Chicago. I was simply returning home to finish out that chapter of my life. A chapter that was really important for me to experience fully and see through to the end. The two years I spent back in the Northwest allowed me to return to Chicago willing to completely give myself back to the city that I had grown to love so much through the Center.
The most exciting aspect of our jobs as Chicago Center apprentices is that we get to re-live our own personal discoveries that we had as students through the current students’ experiences. We’re all continually witnessing how the students are growing by not only learning copious amounts about the city itself, but perhaps more importantly, about themselves. I am speaking to who they understand themselves to be in the world they live in. I’m sure that students often end up leaving more confused about that understanding than when they come to us, but to me, that signals that we have done our jobs right. I am still processing things I witnessed and conversations I had years after my time as a student had ended. The Chicago Center made my world a lot more complicated than it was before, and that may be the biggest compliment that I can give to an educational institute.
The most important skill that I learned as a student was to listen. The Center introduced me to voices in the city that I would have never otherwise had the opportunity to hear. Without those narratives, I would have continued living my life only knowing my own version of the world. With close to 3 million people living in Chicago, how can any one of us claim to know what is going on with the people we huddle up against at the bus stop if we never stop to actually listen to what they have to say? Too often, we rely on the so-called experts to tell us how to think and feel about things like immigration, racism, and the LGBT community (to name only a few). While reading those perspectives has an undeniably important place in education, I would argue it is as equally important to actually engage in a dialogue with those who are living through those issues first hand. Utilizing first voice is simply an incredible tool that not enough people have the opportunity to learn from.
As the Long Program Coordinator, I am currently in the process of finishing up my first semester-long program. During wrap-up this past Friday afternoon, I told all of the students how appreciative I was of them. They did not realize coming in to this, but they were the first big lesson we all had as new apprentices. We learned how to manage large groups of students in the city, improvise when adequate class planning did not suffice, parallel park a 15-passenger van, and we were constantly reminded why we fought to return to the Chicago Center. That’s what being an apprentice has been for me, coming back to finish out my CCULC chapter. A chapter that countless other people also hold dear to their hearts, as evidenced by our incredibly successful 40th anniversary celebration.
I can only hope that in another 8 months when I have to say goodbye to the Center for perhaps the final time, that I will be ready. That is my goal. I have a daunting amount of learning, living, and experiencing to do between now and then. However, I am extremely fortunate, as I have one of the coolest jobs in the world to transition from my college self into adulthood. I am the Long Program Coordinator for the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture.”
We’d like to thank Jessica for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!
October 28th, 2010
Ben Cook, Housing Coordinator
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Ben Cook, Housing Coordinator talks about his experience with Chicago Center:
“My name is Ben Cook and I am the new Housing Coordinator at Chicago Center. One of the great things about studying at Chicago Center is the group living arrangement at our new Boulevard building, here in Hyde Park. Students experience firsthand life in a diverse, urban environment while they participate in academic internships, student teaching programs or social work practicums. My job is to be a group living resource and support for students, to help ensure that every student gets the most out of his or her time spent living in Chicago.
I came to Chicago Center in the Fall of 2009 in part because I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and to experience life in a big city. More importantly, I came because I studied Sociology at my university and I found it fascinating, but abstract – it was disconnected from my experience. My semester at Chicago Center was the most important part of my college education because it gave life to those academic concepts and ideas which I found so interesting. It’s one thing to read about gentrification; it’s something very different to meet a community organizer who is actively trying to protect thier neighborhood’s way of life. It’s one thing to study how immigration law affects immigrants; it’s something very different to have conversations with friends and family of undocumented workers who live in constant fear of deportation. For a whole semester, I regularly met people who are on the front lines, fighting misunderstanding and intolerance. The best part: Chicago Center watered nothing down.
But Chicago Center had a profound impact on me for another reason as well. It introduced me to Renee, the amazing, beautiful woman who would become my wife. Renee came to Chicago to participate in the student teaching program. She and I hit it off right away during the intense week of orientation activities. We love to reminisce about our first memories together – all of them at Chicago Center events: the Latin American Music Festival, the Chicago Architecture Tour, Barrel of Monkeys… Renee had an incredibly rewarding experience student teaching choir at two schools in Chicago Public Schools during her semester here. It’s safe to say that we are both very appreciative of Chicago Center. After my year as an apprentice, we hope to stay involved as alumni and friends of the Center.”
We’d like to thank Ben for telling us about his experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!
Categories:
Alumni Highlights,
Apprentice Staff Highlights,
Student Programs Tags:
Apprentice Staff Highlights,
chicago center alumni,
chicago center staff,
chicago internship,
chicago student programs,
chicago student teaching,
city living,
hyde park,
living in chicago
August 6th, 2010
Today marks the last day of work for our 2009-2010 apprentices! After completing a year long contract with the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture, Amy VanBecelaere, Emilie Lewandowski, Kevin Zabel, Michelle Bess, Steve Broadwell, and Whitney Voss will be moving on to the next chapter in their lives.
2009-2010 Apprentices (Not Pictured: Amy Vanbecelaere)
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have recently graduated college. More than a job, it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center.
Michelle Bess, LearnChicago! Coordinator reflects on her experience: “Being the LearnChicago! Coordinator has been the most phenomenal job! I have learned so much about the city, life, and most importantly myself. It’s not often that one can find a place of work that encourages you to grow and learn, pushes your boundaries, and inspires you to make a difference. The Center does such amazing work; it was an honor to be on staff.” Following her apprenticeship, Michelle will remain in Chicago working as the Assistant to the Director at the Chicago Posse Foundation, a leadership scholarship program for public high school students. Learn more at http://www.possefoundation.org/about-posse/
Steve Broadwell, Recruitment Coordinator plans to move back to Oberlin and spend time thinking about graduate school. Steve shares, “I’m proud of the infinitely talented students I’ve seen come through the Center this year, and it’s been a pleasure to be a part of their experiences.”
Marketing Coordinator Emilie Lewandowski says, “Working at the Chicago Center has been a really great experience for me. I have learned so much, and grown tremendously as a person. I have really enjoyed being a part of the Chicago Center staff and watching students grow as they complete our programs. It is wonderful to have been a part of that.” Emilie will begin the Master of Social Service Administration program at the University of Chicago in September.
Amy VanBecelaere, Housing Coordinator, is still living in Chicago, and attending graduate school at Columbia College Chicago where she will acquire her M.A. in Dance Movement Therapy and Mental Health Counseling. Amy says, “The Chicago Center Apprenticeship inspired me to become a more articulate, cultured, well-informed individual. I am so grateful for the richness of experiences I have been graced with in the past year, and intend to use all the tools I have gained at my time there in life, in relation with others and undoubtedly in my graduate studies. Through the Chicago Center, I have not only discovered so much about cultures different than my own but have gained an enhanced understanding of my own culture as well.”
Administrative and Special Events Coordinator Whitney Voss says, “I want to say thank you to the Chicago Center for giving me the opportunity to work in the city and extend my time in Chicago for another year. This experience has taught me so much about the different communities and cultures throughout Chicago, and the injustices in our society. My time here has far surpassed my expectations, and I know that I have grown into a better person because of the Chicago Center! ” Whitney plans to travel home to Michigan and enjoy the rest of summer relaxing by the pool. She is looking forward to spending time with family and making plans to attend graduate school in the next year.
Kevin Zabel, Long Program Coordinator, is heading to Knoxville, Tennessee for an Experimental Psychology PhD. program at the University of Tennessee. He says, “My experiences with the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture, both as a student and as an apprentice, have provided me unique opportunities to hone invaluable work skill sets. Collectively, my experiences will forever affect the ways I think about not only my perceptions of others, but the ways in which others perceive me. In short, my experiences have forever impacted me. I am grateful for the many class resources, co-workers, and students I have had the opportunity to meet, engage with, and learn from along the way!”
Our apprentices have all worked really hard this year and contributed a great deal to the accomplishments of the Center. A new set of apprentices will join the Chicago Center during the upcoming week.
August 6th, 2010
Whitney Voss, Administrative and Special Events Coordinator
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Whitney Voss, Administrative and Special Events Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:
“Hello! My name is Whitney, one of the six apprentices finishing up our final week at the Chicago Center! I am amazed by how fast the time goes by and sad to be ending this wonderful opportunity to live in Chicago. I am grateful for my time at the Chicago Center, and now feel equipped with the tools to take on any adventure that comes my way!
My hometown is Sterling Heights, Michigan, about a half hour north of Detroit. I am an alumna of Albion College, Class of 2009, where I received a liberal arts education graduating with a degree in Interpersonal Communications and Dance.
I attended the Chicago Center my last semester at Albion, coming to beautiful snowy Chicago in January 2009 to participate in the academic term. To complete my credits to graduate, I wanted to find an Internship in dance in which I could learn the behind the scene facets of a dance company. After interviewing with several theatre and dance companies, I was excited for the opportunity to work as a Development Intern at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, a contemporary company internationally recognized for their innovative, groundbreaking movement. I was also lucky to receive the Kemper Arts Fellowship, a program that allowed me to extend my work into the city, gaining hands-on experience in arts management and non-profit leadership through promotion of diversity in education, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. Coming into a dance internship, I never dreamed that I would have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of inequality throughout our communities, but my time spent with Hubbard Street opened up my world and made me realize how much I still have to learn.
Working at Hubbard Street Dance gave me a taste of the struggles non-profits face and the importance of cultivating strong community-based partnerships. I also learned the ground work for fundraising and event planning, which is what I have been doing for the past year at the Chicago Center!
Participating in the Communities and Culture seminar as a student was probably the most invaluable experience I received while in Chicago. Having the opportunity to be exposed to diverse urban neighborhoods forever changed the way I see and understand the world. Visiting the Southwest Youth Collaborative and meeting Camille Odeh is one experience that sticks out above the rest. Meeting the at risk youth at SWYC made me realize the pressure on urban adolescents and the need for organizations and activities that give youth an outlet to be creative, get help with school, talk to mentors and meet friends. Working with the youth at SWYC for my research topic, allowed me to personally interact with urban teens and gain a better understanding of how an activity like dance could keep youth involved and off the streets.
I enjoyed my time as a student at the Chicago Center so much that I decided to apply for the apprenticeship program. It was easy to fall in the love with the city and I really wanted to extend my time in Chicago. I was excited to be chosen as the Administrative and Special Events Coordinator for the 2009-2010 year, and was even more excited to learn that I would be helping plan the 40th Anniversary gala.
Staffing the student’s events is one of the best parts of the job, you continue to learn about the city and travel to hidden gems and neighborhoods that have so much culture and history. A big part of my position this past year has been managing the Fall and Spring Fundraisers. Donations and gifts play a big part in keeping a non-profit company running, and I was happy to manage two successful fundraisers, and hope to have laid the ground work for more successful fundraisers to come.
Aside from providing administrative support for office function and maintenance, along with organizing and updating the Chicago Center database, I have most enjoyed working with my supervisor, Althea Conyers, on planning the 40th Anniversary gala! Celebrating Chicago Center’s 40 years of service is a very exciting time, and I was proud to be a party of the planning committee. The 40th Anniversary celebration will be held on November 6, 2010 at Carnivale! After viewing several different locations to find a venue, I am absolutely positive that we have found the perfect place to celebrate the Chicago Center and bring together four decades of alumni! I cannot wait to celebrate the 40th Anniversary and meet so many of you whose lives have been enriched because of the Chicago Center!
I want to say thank you to the Chicago Center for giving me the opportunity to work in the city and extend my time in Chicago for another year. This experience has taught me so much about the different communities and cultures throughout Chicago, and the injustices in our society. My time here has far surpassed my expectations, and I know that I have grown into a better person because of the Chicago Center! A quote that has been heard several times this year perfectly wraps up my feeling about the Chicago Center.
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand. -Confucius
Thank you for helping me understand. I still have so much to learn.”
We’d like to thank Whitney for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!
June 25th, 2010
Kevin Zabel, Academic Program Coordinator
The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job, it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.
The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Kevin Zabel, Academic Program Coordinator talks about his experience with Chicago Center:
“For the past ten months, I have had the privilege to work at the Chicago Center as the Academic Program Coordinator. At the Chicago Center, we have three student tracks: Urban Teaching, Social Work, and Academic. Our students utilize our program for a host of reasons, of which a few most popular are opportunities to fulfill college requirements (e.g., student teaching placement, social work field work placement, or academic internship) in an urban environment, the diversity of Chicago, the opportunity to live independently in an urban environment, and the staff support that we provide our students. As class assistant to our academic, student teaching, and social work programs, I have come to better understand the inner workings of the various tracks, as well as the first-voice method of learning our program utilizes. By first-voice, I mean that instead of our student teachers reading about teaching strategies for urban classrooms, or our academic students reading about different communities and cultures in a textbook, our students get the opportunity to engage directly with our learning resources and individuals. For example, recently, our student teachers met directly with Greg Michie, an author and educator who has written several books on urban education techniques. Moreover, as academic class assistant, I have scheduled such events as a meeting with representatives from the Center on Halsted (LGBT center on the north side of Chicago), a mural tour of the Pilsen (predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American) community in Chicago, and immigration discussions with Korean American Resource & Community Center and Latino Organization of the Southwest representatives, as well as attended such events as the Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, and Puerto Rican Day Parade with students. These events and meetings are just a few of the resources and events we typically utilize throughout our terms.
I attended the Chicago Center as a student during my Fall 2007 semester at Albion College. I grew up in a small, rural community and attended college in a very similar environment. As a result, I attended the Chicago Center in large part to experience living in an urban setting for the first time, but also for the wide range of internship possibilities that the Chicago Center provides. While these expectations were met, I found my experience to be so much more than the conventional reasons that students often choose to study off campus. Using public transportation and a sense of taking ownership of my internship were fostered by the Chicago Center, and provided skills that continue to benefit me to this day (e.g., comfort with navigating in a city environment, interview and networking skills). At the same time, through the class component of the experience, I was introduced to communities and cultures in Chicago that I never (or rarely) had the opportunity to interact with growing up or on my college campus. These experiences encouraged me to reevaluate my beliefs and opinions about different groups of people, and gave me a foundation with which to question the “truth” I had known growing up.
In addition to the class component of the program, I also interned at Merrill Lynch. I entered the program as a business and psychology double major, planning on a career as a financial advisor. Although I enjoyed the work provided me during my internship, I became disenchanted by the amount of salesmanship necessary to succeed as a financial advisor. The internship provided me an opportunity to engage one-on-one with professionals that had worked for years in the business, in some cases working at Merrill Lynch for over forty years. Their knowledge, as well as the opportunity to learn from their stories and experiences, persuaded me to focus exclusively on my psychology major field of study upon my return to school.
Upon graduation, I knew that I wanted to take a year off from school and get work experience. The Chicago Center apprenticeship provided the perfect opportunity to extend upon my experience as a student, while simultaneously honing valuable organizational skills and communication workplace skills that will aid significantly in my future work endeavors. In Fall 2010, I will begin graduate study in the social psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. Working with our students as class assistant, as well as working with fellow staff members and class resources has provided me invaluable experience that will aid in my future research and teaching endeavors. In addition, the events and discussions I have been privy to both as a student and class assistant have forever affected the ways in which I form opinions about issues or groups of people. I feel privileged to work for an organization and with staff whom I respect very much, and I look forward to the new challenges that graduate school will bring. It is my hope that in addition to my fellow incoming Fall 2010 UT classmates, I can bring a fresh perspective to research and learning. Through my experiences as a student and as an apprentice, the Chicago Center has prepared me exceptionally well to accomplish this goal.”
We’d like to thank Kevin for telling us about his experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!
