Chicago Vocational Career Academy

Chicago Public Schools all over the city are suffering from false fire alarms.  These false alarms are dangerous because students reenter the building without checking IDs and without passing through metal detectors.  False fire alarms also cost the school a large amount of money: $500.00 for each false alarm.

 Finally, each false fire alarm removes students from class for 15-20 minutes on average.  In a guided discussion about current school issues, students express a wide variety of perspectives regarding these false alarms and their effect on student learning.  Students deliberate and then decide upon how best to manage their classroom environment under these circumstances. Clemente High SchoolIn response to a growing epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse, the Positive Peer Pressure Program was developed by Clemente High School students in collaboration with a junior high feeder school.  This mentoring program offers extracurricular activities and community service projects that allow students to apply what they learn about abuse prevention to real problems and situations of abuse. Clemente High SchoolClemente  high school seniors have worked with the community, a local neighborhood association, and the alderman to indentify and address the lack of housing in Humboldt Park.  The students have worked on a campaign to help enact the Inclusionary Housing Ordinances, including canvassing the neighborhood and encouraging people to vote in the primary, writing letters in support of the ordinance to city officials and Aldermen, and planning an education campaign and information booth for a block party in Humboldt Park.

Students find many useful  applications to their formal classroom instruction in principles in democracy, US government, history, law, and social studies.Curie Metropolitan High SchoolAt Curie High School, students do not have a safe place to hang out or to study before or after school, and are not allowed to hang out in the school due to security concerns.  This leads to congestion and conflict at the nearby CTA station, and encouraged other unhealthy behaviors.  Curie Youth Activists (CYA) have been working to  research the effects of having no safe place to go.  CYA's goal is to create a safe place within the school for students to hang out and/or study before and after school.  Eventually Curie Youth Activists wants to lead the effort to create a larger community center or talent house outsie of Curie High School, so that students from throughout the southwest side will have a safe place to go.King College PreparatoryIn order to keep urban high school teenagers in a safe place after school and off the streets, this class has decided to partner with Positive Outlook Systems, Inc.  NFP in order to create a student run cafe after school hours.  The goal is to have an internet friendly cafe with healthy snacks, coffee, and juice to serve the students of KCP from 3pm-7pm.

This is an attempt to lessen the anount of violent activity in the KCP neighborhing areas happening during the peak after school hours.Ultimately, the goal is to decrease teen violence in Chicago by starting a chain tht creates other similar cafes in many Chicago Public Schools.