My Baby

My in depth package for my Urban newswriting class was months in the making. It made me incredibly happy to finally post this article on the funding shortages that may hurt adult education for people with disabilities.

I stumbled upon the story when I was working on a story first quarter about changes in private school enrollment. Gateway to Learning had been listed as a private school in the neighborhood I covered and I called them up. I was embarrassed to find out that while the school was indeed private, it was for a school for students with developmental disabilities.

But, said Cheryl Hennelly, the program's executive director. There is definitely a story here.

We talked on the phone - the first of many phone and in-person conversations - and Cheryl told me that Gateway had not received payments from the state's comptroller's office for the past seven months. This all happened toward the end of last quarter and when I decided I wanted to take Urban reporting, I knew this was a story I wanted to follow up on.

If you don't have enough time to read the article (singlehandedly the best editing and producing experience I've ever had), watch and listen to the audio slide show I created for it as well (singlehandledly the best multimedia production I've created thus far).

I'm ridiculously proud of it. My professor David Nelson made this the best article possible through a long editing process that I crave and hadn't seen in the program until now. This quality is something I now hope to execute in all my writing the first time around.

The quarter is almost over, but I get right back to it again June 22nd. Hopefully I'll find a way to juggle all of it and be a better poster. I've been more absent than I have been Chicago.

What I've Been Up To...

I've been so consumed with journalism school, I haven't had the time I would like to devote to my blogging. Enclosed are some links to stories I've worked on this quarter. I'm covering education in Chicago, a very huge and wily beast to be sure:

Some schools shelf traditional libraries

More debate on CPS oversight bill as it moves to Illinois senate

Stimulus funds to improve struggling CPS schools, Huberman says

Daley-backed schools not stand outs, study says

St. Matthias hopes new pre-kindergarten classes will keep school solvent

Third beat report. You have no idea how happy I was to file yesterday, I've been having such a hard time keeping up with the assignments and learning how to go out and find a "news" story. I was at my lowest Thursday when a story that took me weeks to confirm contacts was deemed not newsworthy. But, I dusted my shoulders off, pulled it together Friday, and turned in this story and got leads on three others.

Courtesy of State of the School Report and 2009-2010 Tuition Information.

St. Matthias Transfiguration School in Lincoln Square sees increase in enrollment despite overall decline in Catholic schools.

St. Matthias Transfiguration Elementary School in Lincoln Square is moving to secure its financial future by adding a new pre-kindergarten class next school year.

As other area Roman Catholic schools scramble to address stagnant or declining admission numbers and an unsure future, the addition of a new class continues a trend of increasing enrollment at St. Matthias.

“We weren’t able to admit any more people,” said Deborah Bukovy, marketing and admissions director at St. Matthias. “So that’s why we decided to open another class so that we could admit people [within and outside of the St. Matthias] community”

St. Matthias will add a new pre-kindergarten class for three- and four-year-old students for the 2009-2010 academic year, doubling its pre-kindergarten program: two PreK for three year olds (PreK 3) and two PreK classes for four year olds (PreK 4).

The idea to add another class first arose in October as families in the school applied for the following school year. St. Matthias had only one PreK 3 class and 20 children from existing families applied, taking up all the available space.

With the new additions St. Matthias will have two classes instead of one per grade up until 2013, when the school projects it will run out of room. “We’ll either look at doing a capital campaign or we’ll cut back the number of children that we enroll so we can use the space we have in the building,” Bukovy said.

The influx of students, which Bukovy attributed to gentrification in the neighborhood, will put the school on “a more stable economic footing,” she said.

“Since we’re one of the only private schools in our immediate neighborhood, they choose us,” Bukovy said. “What we’re seeing is … young people who have children are staying here longer instead of moving out into the suburbs.”

Parents with children in private schools are facing tough decisions during the recession, with some opting to move their children to less expensive Catholic or public schools. Catholic schools require families to raise $100-$500 for the school on top of tuition and fees, which can reach upwards of $8,550 at Gordon Tech High School, on the city’s Northwest Side.

“Everybody makes a sacrifice when they send their child to private schools,” Bukovy said.

Marie Neis, principal of St. Genevieve School in the Belmont-Cragin community, said financial aid needs have increased in the last three years as parents’ incomes are cut because of “reduction in hours and jobs being cut.”

While Neis said St. Genevieve is “very supportive and [tries] to work with families,” she said she is aware of the possibility her school will close if the Archdiocese of Chicago or donations did not continue to cover operating costs.

“We certainly [wouldn’t] be the only school in that situation if that were to happen,” Neis said.

Despite stagnant enrollments at schools like St. Genevieve, St. Matthias’ has grown considerably: Enrollment has increased 25 percent in the last five years, Bukovy said.

By securing students at a young age, the school is looking to retain students and keep its doors open.

“We want to keep them happy and satisfied,” Bukovy said, “and hope they stick with us through the duration of their elementary [schooling].”

St. Matthias Transfiguration School is committed to providing a well-rounded Catholic educational experience that emphasizes academic achievement and fosters spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical development among its students, thus enabling them to contribute effectively in a constantly changing world where faith in God, respect for self and others, and hope for the future are essential.

Logan Square ELL parents address ISAT worries

My third beat report story.

A mother takes notes on reading comprehension for English Language Learners in preparation for the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT). (Photo credit: Anthonia A./MEDILL)

Parents at seven Logan Square schools gathered Friday morning to voice concern with the upcoming Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT) testing of English Language Learners, saying it places unrealistic expectations on students still learning how to speak, read and write in English.

Over 80 parents, teachers, volunteers and administrators came to the meeting at James Monroe Elementary School to learn more about the test, which is now in its second year for ELL students.

Parents and teachers said students were visibly nervous with the test just a week away.

“They think that [taking the ISAT] is [punishment for] something they did bad so they have to retake it,” said Maria Marquez, a teacher at McAuliffe Elementary. “They’re nervous about not passing [and] going up to the fourth grade.”

Silvia González, resource and parent-mentor coordinator at McAuliffe Elementary School, added: “I see how they struggle, I see their frustration. My heart [breaks] for some of these kids.”

Students in the third to eighth grade will be taking the ISAT between March 2 and March 13. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the ISAT “measures individual student achievement relative to the Illinois Learning Standards,” testing students in reading, mathematics, science and writing. The scores are used to determine a school’s performance and if a student will be promoted to the next grade level. High schools look at a 7th grader’s ISAT scores to determine the student’s chances at enrollment.

Until March of last year, ELL students took the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English (IMAGE) test and the ACCESS for ELLs to judge their comprehension of the English language in social and educational contexts. ISBE stopped administering IMAGE after the U.S. Department of Education decided in November that the test did not meet No Child Left Behind standards. It was not immediately clear why the ISAT did not meet the standards.

ELL students taking the ISAT are eligible for accommodations such as having directions read to them in their native language and having more time to answer questions.

The change came as a total surprise to parents in the community, said Leticia Barrera, an education organizer for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA).

“We were receiving phone calls from parents asking us if we [knew what was happening],” Barrera said. She said the ISBE and CPS avoided answering parents’ questions; information of accommodations for ELL students trickled in, but not with the urgency or accuracy LSNA said parents needed.

“We have students here,” Barrera said. “We are in the community and they are over there … implementing all these things without our input.”

Last year LSNA brought the community together to teach parents about the ISAT as ELL students took the test for the first time. This year the meeting was comprised of two seminars led by Reading First reading teachers Maureen Hajduke and Carrie Busse, with volunteers translating for Spanish-speaking parents.

Hajduke and a volunteer translator went over the basics of the ISAT in Monroe’s auditorium, teaching parents how to navigate the Illinois State Board of Education’s Web site, what students will be tested on based on grade level, what the test will look like and how to help students prepare for the two-week long exam.

The importance of parent preparedness was stressed.

“Don’t wait for anyone to tell you [what to do],” Hajduke said. “Prepare them yourself.

During the meeting’s second seminar Busse taught parents how to stop students from “regurgitating” information without processing it. Parents took notes Friday and simulated how they would work with their children in groups, using charts, markers and Post-it notes.

“No matter if they’re an ELL learner or a monolingual student, if they’re not exposed to it, they cannot connect to the text,” Busse said.

Organizers said they felt parents left with a better understanding of the ISAT and their children’s concerns.

“At times parents don’t know the stress that the children are going through,” said González, McAuliffe Elementary School’s resource and parent-mentor coordinator. “They think ‘Oh, it’s just a test.’”

“They were given an idea of how to work with the children and how to help them prepare for this test,” Gonzalez said. “Some of these parents left with a lot of questions being answered.”

Monica Espinoza, a parent-teacher mentor at McAuliffe Elementary, said her son is excited to take the test after being transitioned from ELL to monolingual classes this year.

“He’s like, ‘Mommy, I’m very excited because I know I’m going to do well,’” Espinoza said. “And I’m like, ‘I know you’re going to do well.’ But in the back of my mind I have that concern. [I’m just] trying to help him as much as I can.”

M.I.A.

I have been so swamped with life, school, and learning time management (which has never been my strong suit) that I've fallen behind on updating my blog. What can I say about journalism school, now that I've been at it for five weeks? It's been equal parts exciting and disappointing, for reasons I'll explain on a one--one, not over the internet where teachers/fellow students can read, basis. But here's a quick run down of what I've been up to:

• I've been assigned the education beat in my newswriting class turned newsroom. Right now I feel like I have to do so much research to even begin to understand the beast that is Chicago Public Schools and their programs, but I have a couple of stories lined up already and I think I'll learn a lot during the next five weeks. After they've run on our interschool website (and if I pitch them to a newspaper/magazine), I'll post them on my blog.
• I've changed direction. Going into the program I was positive I wanted to get on the magazine journalism track, create a magazine prototype (the main reason I loved Medill's program), and take the optional fifth quarter to study abroad either in Paris or Lagos, Nigeria. Now I'm 90% sure I'm going to switch my major to Interactive Storytelling, which would focus on using text and multimedia to tell stories, skills I think will be invaluable no matter which direction journalism heads. I would still take a class in long-form narrative writing and non-fiction to get a solid foundation in writing, but my interests are definitely taking me toward multimedia. Also, since the optional 5th quarter has a mandatory extra tuition payment, I'll graduate in four quarters. Still deciding what my last project will be: DC, magazine prototype, or Interactive Innovation.
  
• I'm a writer for Honey Magazine online! I have a blog on the website that once I get my act together will feature profiles, events, and issues targeted at a multicultural, mostly African American female audience. I'll post a link on here when I put something up.

Story Telling

I was always a consumer of media before I started journalism school, but now it seems my hunger for news and new media has reached dizzying heights.

As part of the program, lecturers in different fields (i.e. broadcast, radio, etc.) talk to my class about where media is going. In an information heavy age where bloggers can get press passes, what is journalism? Who are journalists?

My definitions seem to be a lot more pliable than some of my fellow classmates. There seems to be a print, hard news bias that I can understand but don't necessarily consider a hard fast rule. One of the things I like most about journalism and new media is the storytelling aspect. You get to hear other people's stories and share them with others; your audience can take that information and apply it to their own lives however they choose, whether as a story to share around a dinner table or as a point of reference for whatever they're experiencing.

With all this in mind, my interests have shifted in the two weeks I've been at Medill. I originally wanted to do long-form features writing. Now I'm hoping to get a foundation in good writing, ethics, and how to find a story, but focus more on how to package information for online audiences. Videography, audio/video slide shows, web development, etc.

Because things like Tumblr version 5.0 get me ridiculously excited (there's that word again) of where journalism can and will go.

Introducing: Tumblr v5 from David Karp on Vimeo.

Put It On the Refrigerator

I'm going into Week Two at Medill, and it is as hard as everyone said it would be. My first week was a very humbling and eye-opening experience; I'm more excited about going to school and learning than I have been in a really long time. I'll go as far as saying Border Star Elementary was the last time I was this amped to go to class. Despite the weather and other issues I won't blog about, the experience has been great in the "Please sir, may I have another?" kind of way.

I'm getting spanked by AP style and I kinda like it.

Anyway, I have less time to devote to blogging about Chicago but I'm trying to stay disciplined. The blog will more often act as a online refrigerator for me to stick up my work at Medill on. I want my family and friends to see what I'm up to.

So without further ado, I give you a link to my first multimedia project: a 1-min audio track made on Audacity (which I learned in, like, an hour and was expected to create a product shortly after).

I did man on the street interviews in Albany Park last week, asking residents if they thought Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be convicted. Listen to the final (but very rough) cut here.

My Day in Albany Park

Nanook of the North Side.

Footsteps on the Metra North Line Platform at Ravenswood.



The first people I interviewed today. The question: Do you think Governor Rod Blagojevich should be convicted?



I can't read what this says, but I like how the cracks in the stencil makes the characters look like rib cages and bones.



"Kiss me, I'm Serbian!"



Outside the Kimball Brown line stop.



Dresses at Grisel's Bridal Shop.



This was spinning and colorful in all the gloom.

Honk.

Give Me A Beat!

My Journalism Methods: Newswriting class met for the first time today and I am beyond excited. We were assigned our beat: Chicago's Northwest Side (i.e. Logan Square, West Ridge, etc.) with a focus on stories that will appeal to baby boomers. Our first assignment is to get twelve audio interviews of people reacting to the Blago drama. Along with those interviews, we're expected to get a feel for our assigned neighborhoods (my group of four will be covering Albany Park or Korea Town), taking pictures and jotting down notes for an audience report presentation to be done weeks later.

Can I just say my general anxiety has been replaced with overallexcitement? I'm getting practical journalism training at arguably the best journalism school in the country from professionals who are genuinely passionate about giving us the best and most true to life experience possible. Ah, I can barely contain myself!

Ok. Back to reading about interview techniques and Albany Park. And if anyone out there knows anything about the neighborhood they'd like to share with me, definitely let me know.

[Panic Attack] or My First Medill Post

I start journalism school next week as many of you who read this blog know. I've drained all meaning out of the word "excited" because, although I'm technically supposed to be some sort of wordsmith, I have a very hard time explaining how incredibly excited I am to take my life and passions to the next level. I felt like I was in suspended animation (another phrase I constantly repeated to anyone who asked) waiting for the day I left my job so I could start classes at Northwestern. Now that the day I've been so antsy about is mere days away, I am freaking the eff out.

My train of thought?

Oh-my-god-who-told-me-I-was-a-good-writer-why-would-they-lie-like-that-oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-be-in-debt-for-the-rest-of-my-natural-life-I'm-going-into-journalism-oh-my-god-there's-no-money-in-that-I-have-no-money-now-oh-my-god-everyone-but-me-seems-to-be-prepared-for-this-they've-already-bought-the-software-we-need-I-don't-have-any-money-for-any-of-that-I-barely-have-enough-left-in-my-savings-for-this-month's-rent-what-if-financial-aid-just-barely-covers-school-fees-and-I-have-to-take-out-another-loan-just-to-get-by-oh-my-god-I-think-I-forgot-how-to-write-what-if-I've-been-wrong-for-the-past 14-years-maybe-I'm-not-supposed-to-be-a-journalist-what-if-I-suck-oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god [mental flatline]

So, the rest of this weekend will be devoted to me creating the kind of mental preparedness and physical comfort I need to even approach getting over this panic attack. Meaning, I'll be cleaning my apartment (because when I'm freaking the eff out, messes just make me feel more ill at ease), creating To-Do lists (because I love making lists and crossing things off said lists means I'm doing something right), planning and mapping my daily schedule so I won't feel completely lost when I'm on campus, and doing Lamaze-style breathing to keep myself afloat and from throwing myself into a full out fit.

So far I've gotten my class schedule...

2009 Winter Schedule Class Schedule JOUR 400-1-20 LEC (32661) WeThFr 9:00AM - 10:30AM Fisk Hall 311 JOUR 400-1-60 LAB (33945) Tu 6:00PM - 9:00PM Fisk Hall 306 WeThFr 10:30AM - 5:00PM Fisk Hall 306 JOUR 400-2-22 LEC (32666) Tu 1:00PM - 4:00PM Fisk Hall 308 JOUR 400-3-20 LEC (32631) Mo 9:00AM - 12:00PM Fisk Hall 311 JOUR 401-0-20 LEC (32668) Mo 1:00PM - 4:00PM Fisk Hall 311

Oh-my-god-they-weren't-kidding-this-IS-like-journalism-boot-camp-oh-my-god-am-I-ever-going-to-see-my-boyfriend-and-friends-again?

...I've applied for Medill Business Cards, called my parents about Immunization records, and uploaded a bio and picture for Medill Winter 2009 MSJ's Face Book called "Who's Who"...

During her undergraduate years at the University of Chicago, Anthonia discovered her love for journalism as a writer for the Chicago Weekly. Soon after becoming the Weekly's managing editor her third year, Anthonia helped transform the paper from unfocused student life articles to an arts and entertainment publication focusing on the often overlooked South Side of Chicago. After interning for the Urban Flavor and UR Chicago (and currently freelancing for Venus Zine and Honey Mag online), Anthonia hopes to explore other mediums and topics outside of lifestyle and entertainment reporting.

Oh-my-god-I-look-hideous-the-picture-is-too-dark-everyone-else-looks-better-oh-my-god-I-went-over-the-word-limit-my-bio-is-longer-than-everyone's-oh-my-god-I-look-like-I-think-my-experience-is-better-than-theirs-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ahem. I really hope this hyperventilating voice inside my head won't be following me around for the next year.