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Elev8 News
Elev8 Chicago periodically publishes a newsletter that chronicles Elev8 activities.
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Telepsychiatry Brings Low-Cost Care to Underserved Communities
A new service arriving soon at Chicago’s five Elev8 schools aims to provide students with quicker access to psychiatric care in a more reassuring environment.
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Sex Ed: Schools Step Up, Parents Get a Break
The Atlantic Philanthropies, an international foundation supporting Elev8 programs in four U.S. locations, made comprehensive sex education a requirement for receiving the four-year grant — and this year, Chicago Public Schools did, too.
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Construction Begins on Elev8 Health Centers
While other aspects of LISC’s Elev8 program, formerly known as Integrated Services in Schools, have been in place since the summer, the most visible transformation of the five participating schools began this fall with the construction of the school-based health centers.
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Parents Light Up Extended Day Activities
On a recent visit to Orozco Community Academy in Pilsen, parent Gabriela Lucio was pleased to find advice on how to lower her blood pressure, improve her finances and brush up her typing skills.
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'Girls in the Game' Kicks Off in Auburn Gresham
As part of the Elev8 initiative sponsored by Atlantic Philanthropies to ensure middle school students succeed in school and their communities by providing them with multiple supports, the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC) and Perspectives Charter Middle School-Calumet Campus (PCS-Calumet) have partnered with a citywide organization called Girls in the Game.
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Saturday in School No Drag for Students
"Saturday" and "school" could be the worst two-word combination ever for youngsters eager to get away from teachers, homework and cafeteria food. But these unspeakable words recently sparked excitement at Reavis Elementary on the South Side as energetic students devoted time to beautifying their classrooms.
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Reavis Students Learn About Healthy Eating
On a late September morning, 33 Reavis Elementary sixth graders started learning about healthy eating by drawing their favorite fruits and vegetables on paper chef hats. They drew lots of nature's bounty – including watermelon, cherries, tomatoes, ears of corn, grapes, apples, green beans and a pickle. Slices of pizza, too.
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Perspectives Students, Speakers 'Keep it Real'
It’s not as if the 7th-graders at Perspectives-Calumet Middle School are strangers to street violence. But still, the man in front of their class a few weeks ago grabbed their attention in a way their teachers often don’t.
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Marquette Parents Kick Off Organizing Drive
On September 17, more than 100 parents showed up for open house. For a school with 1,700 students, that response may seem like a drop in the bucket. But, in previous years, "We only got a quarter this many," said Principal Paul O' Toole.
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Peace Circles Cool Tension, Warm Relationships
On an August afternoon at Ames Middle School, 15 students pulled their classroom chairs into a tight circle
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GADC's Health Fair on the Block
Several hundred Auburn Gresham residents and visitors attended Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation’s (GADC) 1st Annual Health Fair on the Block. This fair had participation from nearly 30 healthcare agencies and providers, service organizations, educational institutions, and local retail businesses all promoting some aspect of health and wellness in Auburn Gresham.
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Capoeira Teaches History, Music and Culture
As you get closer to the gym at Reavis Elementary School in Bronzeville, the music, singing, clapping and chanting swells. Inside, Marisa Cordeiro, a capoeira senior instructor (or “contra-mestre”), is leading schoolchildren through exercises and lessons designed to teach the Brazilian martial art—using music, a touch of a foreign language, and some history.
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Elev8 Managers Build Relationships, Share Strategies
Organizing from the ground-up rather than the top-down paid off for five NCP community teams that recently won an $18 million grant focused on middle-school services as part of a national demonstration project.
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Middle School Students Support Elev8 Goals
To keep off the streets and out of trouble—that’s one reason why kids themselves say they need more afterschool programs. In May, nearly 300 local students wrote postcards urging legislators to fund afterschool, health and social services like those already underway at five Chicago schools selected for a national demonstration project.
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Mariachi Band Connects Students to Their Roots
On a warm afternoon in late spring, Victor Pichardo rapped his baton on a music stand in an upstairs classroom at Pilsen’s Orozco Elementary. A semi-circle of middle-school aged kids clutching violins, trumpets and guitars regarded him attentively. With a grant through LISC/Chicago’s Elev8 program, Orozco was able to purchase $5,000 worth of mariachi instruments and hire Pichardo, who is also the music director for Sones de México Ensemble, a Grammy-nominated folk group.
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Elev8 Explores Opportunities with The Field Museum
For most educators, The Field Museum has traditionally been perceived as one of Chicago’s premiere field trip destinations. But, as several representatives from the Elev8 program recently learned, The Field Museum holds a multitude of resources and opportunities for students, teachers and administrators.
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LISC/Chicago Adds One Staffer, Two Board Members
LISC/Chicago has added one new staff member and two new board members.
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Middle School in the U.S.: Too Often the Missing Link in the Chain of Student Success
The familiar sounds of the famous Mexican songs “Cielito Lindo” and “Los Machetes” filled the air at Orozco Community Academy in Chicago, as eighth grader Adan Ramirsez strummed his guitarrón with fellow students in the school’s new Mariachi band before an invited audience of civic, educational and philanthropic leaders. I was privileged to be there, and to listen to the first tangible results of a major Atlantic investment in strengthening supports for young people in the critical middle school years.
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Catalyst-Chicago Covers Elev8 (formerly ISS) Program
Five schools get $18 million to raise performance through longer school days, enrichment classes and on-site health clinics.
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Elev8 Project Director Bios
LISC's Elev8 project is led by project directors at each of the five school sites plus the overall Elev8 Project Manager, who works for The Federation for Community Schools.
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Download the ISS school plans here
All of the ISS school transformation plans are available for download here.
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$18M Grant Funds Integrated Services in 5 Schools
Five NCP neighborhood groups and their school partners in December won a four-year, $18 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to transform local schools with world-class health, education, social services and economic supports. The initiative, known as ISS, for Integrated Services in Schools, is part of a national demonstration that has already rolled out in five New Mexico schools.
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ISS Hits the Ground Running
The Integrated Services in Schools program, launched earlier this year by LISC in five Chicago schools with support from the Atlantic Philanthropies, is seeing progress on all fronts.
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Orozco Parents Get Facts About Immigration
To help dispel the many myths about public benefits and immigration law, Elev8 Orozco – a partnership among the school, The Resurrection Project, Alivio Medical Center and Instituto del Progreso Latino – held a parent workshop.
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Elev8 Schools Threatened by State Budget Crisis
"Doomsday" cuts to the state budget that would result if the legislature fails to pass a plan for the upcoming fiscal year would directly and seriously impact Elev8 community partners.
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Reavis Students Showcase Afterschool Talents
More than 200 parents turned out for an event showcasing Reavis Elementary’s Elev8 after-school programs, which kids say keep them out of trouble, help them develop new interests and, in some cases, even increase motivation for schoolwork.
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Marquette Parents Tour Field Museum
As part of the growing relationship between the Field Museum of Natural History and the Elev8 program, nine parent mentors from Marquette Elementary School in Chicago Lawn recently participated in a special tour of the museum.
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Rollin', Rollin', Rollin': Van Drives Oral Health
Students at the five middle schools participating in LISC's Elev8 program are receiving services from an Illinois Masonic mobile dental van, tricked out with two dental chairs, an X-ray machine, a waiting room, an office and the myriad lights, machinery and utensils required to provide professional dental services.
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Students to Springfield: More $ for Health Services
Sixty students from Ames Middle and Reavis Elementary recently boarded a yellow bus bound for Springfield to lobby for more school health centers. Convincing legislators to increase public funding for school health services is among the goals of LISC's Elev8 initiative.
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Orozco Students, Joffrey Ready to Boogaloo
The Wah-Watusi and the Boogaloo are coming to Orozco Academy in Pilsen this fall thanks to its new partnership with one of the country’s premier dance companies.
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Elev8 Goes Streetside With Health Fair, Art Show
Perspectives-Calumet Middle School in Auburn Gresham, which opened its Elev8 health center in June, launched a major community outreach effort on July 23 with its Health Fair and Gallery Walk along 79th Street near Racine Avenue.
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On-Site Health Centers Open at Elev8 Schools
All five schools in the LISC/Chicago's Elev8 program are offering comprehensive health services for students and families through newly opened, on-site clinics.