LSC Members Needed at our Schools! Virtual recruitment event on 2/24/2022

Many of our South Side schools are in need of LSC members. The Hyde Park-Kenwood CAC is partnering with the Greater Bronzeville CAC to put on a virtual event on Thursday, February 24 at 6:30pm to raise awareness about this need. Details via the link below. Please spread the word! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RNfTG0UQ47HSmBvNt8SupNlFITjWvxpV/view?usp=sharing

Substitute Teachers Needed in CPS Schools

CPS is currently hiring substitute teachers as there is a substitute teacher shortage, especially at the elementary school level. Candidates must hold a degree from an accredited four-year college or university along with a renewable, registered Substitute Teacher License or Professional Educator License issued by the Illinois State Board of Education. Candidates can apply for the license at isbe.net/licensure. Once the license has been issued and registered, candidates can apply for the substitute teacher position at cps.edu/iwanttosub.

Next meeting of the HPKCAC on April 28 at 6:30pm

The next virtual meeting of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Action Council will take place on Wednesday, April 28, at 6:30pm via googlemeets. Here is the googlemeet link: https://meet.google.com/yxz-bbgu-qzi If you'd like to dial in by phone: (US) +1 803-999-5506‬ PIN: ‪682 585 190‬# Hope to see you there!

Pilot Light Food Education Program for Teachers

Pilot Light is offering professional development and support to Pre-K through 12th grade teachers who would like to introduce food education into their classroom teaching. For more information click here.

Covid Vaccine Available for Residents with South Side Zip Codes

Hello everyone, If you have not gotten vaccinated yet, you can find information about how South Siders can do so here.

100 graduating high school students to receive care packages for college on April 10

M.E.A.N. Girls Empowerment will provide care packages to 100 graduating high school seniors planning to attend college in Illinois from 12pm-2pm on Saturday, April 10 at Oliver Harvey College. Please click here for more details and the link to register.

CPS survey to assess types of mental health support that would be helpful for the community

The FACE2 Department is inviting CPS stakeholders to fill out the survey below in order to help them provide targeted mental health support through some virtual programming. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNVmlr8wJZ36q4Mih8n3sIit9_9u1M_p7ayUVHEfYkyz7dpQ/viewform

Next meeting of the HPKCAC on February 24 at 6:30pm

The next virtual meeting of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Action Council will take place on Wednesday, February 24th at 6:30 pm via googlemeets. Here is the googlemeet link: https://meet.google.com/fsu-xejm-eis If you'd like to dial in by phone: (US) +1 740-480-1367 (PIN: 492436924) Hope to see you there!

Scholarship opportunities for high school seniors

Please note the following two scholarship opportunities for high school seniors: Amazon Black Employee Network Scholarship http://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/amazonBEN/ Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/amazonfutureengineer/ The Gregory, Sr. & Betty Elaine Bush Scholarship Fund through the Greg Bush Jr. Foundation https://gregbushjrfoundation.org/?page_id=2002

One-page document describing the HPKCAC -- Join us!

The HPKCAC designed a one-page document to provide more information about our group and our work:

Nominate a teacher for WGN-TV's Teacher of the Month

Students age 13 and above can nominate a favorite teacher for WGN-TV's Teacher of the Month award. Parents are permitted to help. Please click here for the details.

Next meeting of the HPKCAC on January 27 at 6:30pm

The next meeting of the HPKCAC will take place on Wednesday, January 27 at 6:30pm. The googlemeet link is below. Agenda items include remembrance of Peter Johnson, HPKCAC outreach plans, discussion of CPS reopening plans. Join with Google Meet: meet.google.com/qmr-pwpr-ybq or Join by phone: (219) 315-0292 (PIN: 860036051)

Volunteer judges needed for CPS Decathlon on February 20, 2021

Volunteer judges are needed to judge student performances on Saturday, February 20 for the Annual Academic Decathlon. The Annual Academic Decathlon is a nationwide competition that promotes academic excellence through teamwork. Students of all achievement levels are tested on various subjects, such as Art, Economics, Music, Language Arts and Literature, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science. Proficiency in Speech, Interview, and Essay writing is included as well. Students receive training and coaching throughout the school year in preparation to compete on a citywide and national stage. The specific content varies from year to year and is determined by the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) Board of Directors. The 2020 topic is The Cold War. To ensure the safety of everyone and to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the competition and volunteer roles have adopted a virtual format. This year they are in need of Interview and Speech Judges for the 2021 Academic Decathlon City Championship on Saturday, February 20, 2021. Specifically, they are looking for 40 speech judges and 40 interview judges for the City Championship. Your help would be greatly appreciated and would ensure a successful competition. It’s a great way to connect with students and support months of hard work. Confirmed volunteers will receive information regarding roles and responsibilities as well as training on Friday, February 5th. If this opportunity interests you, the online volunteer registration link is here. Please feel free to forward this information to family, friends, and colleagues who could benefit from this opportunity to support our youth. Also, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Anthony Mosley at amosleyjr@cps.edu. Please click here for important information regarding CPS Volunteer policy and procedures. Click here for the flyer for the event.

New Officers for the HPKCAC and CPS updates

Thank you to those who were able to join us for Wednesday night's HPKCAC meeting and congratulations to our new officers: Zanette Sanders (Chair) and Vicky Long (Secretary). As a follow-up, below are some upcoming events, resources, and opportunities to share: - December 14th Press Release on CPS High School Strategy - CPS Weekly Reopening Marketing Package (additional resources can be found at https://www.cps.edu/school-reopening-2020/) - New CPS Virtual Series: Ask the Expert! Ask the Expert is a weekly program offered by FACE. Ask the Expert is on Thursdays from 4 p.m.- 5 p.m. All sessions are recorded and later uploaded on the FACE YouTube channel. - Malcolm X College Project MPACT - December 19th Chicago Park District Winter Wonderland (various locations) - My CHI. My Future COVID-19 Resource Guide (health, food, housing, etc)

Next meeting of the HPKCAC on December 16 at 6:30pm

The next meeting of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Action Council will take place on Wednesday, December 16 at 6:30 pm via googlemeets. Here is the googlemeet link: https://meet.google.com/ssi-dpbi-aeh If you'd like to dial in by phone: (US) +1 347-696-8107 (PIN: 228792161) We are going to hold elections at this meeting. If you plan to run for chair or secretary, please be prepared to say a few words about your interest in the position. We'd also like to work on a one-pager about the HPKCAC that we can share with people in order to increase the number of active participants. Please see the attached drafts and come with suggestions for additional bullet points and/or other improvements.

Seats available for 8am-5pm remote learning supervision at Till Elementary Child Learning Hub

CPS is staffing a few schools around the city to offer supervision for remote learning from 8am-5pm Monday through Friday. One of the locations (Till Elementary, 6543 S. Champlain) has open spots. Click here for more information.

Help with college essay and financial aid forms for HS juniors and seniors on December 3

The Maroon Tutor Match program at the UofC's Neighborhood Schools Program is offering assistance with writing college essays and filling out the financial aid forms on Thursday, December 3 from 6-7pm. Click here for the flyer. The flyer has the link to rsvp.

Resources for families during the pandemic

Please see this page of links for resources from the Illinois Department of Human Services: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=123529

Next meeting of the HPKCAC on Wednesday, November 18 at 6:30pm

The HPKCAC usually meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month. Because Thanksgiving falls the day after the 4th Wednesday in November, we are moving the meeting to the 3rd Wednesday, November 18, at 6:30pm. In addition to our regular school updates, we would like to discuss the future of this CAC. It is coming time for us to hold elections for officers, but as part of that process, we want to take a look at the road ahead and assess/reassess the direction of this group and whether enough people want to keep it going. We'll start the meeting off with a short recap of our history along with the reasons why the CAC was founded and why we've kept it going. We'll then open up the floor for discussion of the following: -- Attendance at our meetings has not been robust. Should we continue to keep the Hyde Park-Kenwood CAC going? Relatedly, what would folks like to see the CAC do to make it something that more people want to participate actively in? -- There are other groups that do education-related support in the community -- LSCs, HPKCC... Is the work of the HPKCAC distinct enough that we should remain a separate group? If the HPKCAC were to fold, would it be missed? Here is the link for the meeting: https://meet.google.com/meu-dqky-vip Or dial in by phone: +1 385-404-5367 (PIN: 648327301)

Sign-up form to become a member of the HPKCAC

To become an official member of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Action Council, please fill out this form and email it to Carl Hurdlik (cchurdlik@cps.edu). N.B. The small print at the end indicates that members should commit to spending 10 hours per month on CAC business. Don't let that number scare you away -- this can be as big or as small a commitment as you can make.