gage park high school - 2010 jefferson awards students in action presentation

GAGE PARK HIGH SCHOOL

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Jefferson Awards Youth Service Initiative:

Where We Have Been &Where We Are Heading

1. THE TEAM: RECOMMENDED BY FACULTY

Mr.Davis, Faculty Coordinator Vanessa Flores, Sophomore Gloria Herrera, Senior Crystal Lane, SophomoreJasmine Corral, Sophomore

2. The Plan Seek nominations from faculty and students Award 10 students yearly, recognized at

intermittent assemblies Publicize via photos, videos and parent awareness

table at report card pick-up Seek parent, faculty and student donations for

year-end scholarship Fundraise via Students in Action/Celebrate Service

3. What is Service Learning?

Service learning is a teaching and learning methodology that connects classroom curriculum with identified community issues and needs. Service learning in engages students in projects that serve the community and build their social and academic capacities. “Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.

4. Gage Park Service Learning Hours

Freshmen- completed 1,081 hours

Sophomore- completed 4,344 hours

Juniors- completed 7,336 hours

Seniors- completed 17,893

Total Hours- 30,654

5. “Children First”

6. “ Soles for Haiti”

Gage Park High School students collected approximately 1,000 pairs of shoes. We also collected over $500 in donations for our “Bagels for Haiti” fundraiser. Afterwards we cleaned and shipped the shoes and money to Haiti.

7. Testing the Waters

Gage Park High School tested the rivers for clean water quality. We also picked up garbage around the lakes. Our goal is to ensure a clean and purified water and environment .

8. Student Leadership

9. Feeding the Homeless

Jefferson Award Student Leaders participate in the Chicago Food Depository. We packed cereal, can goods, fruits and vegetables, meats, etc to be shipped to various churches, homeless shelters, and senior homes across the Chicago land area.

10. Fundraising

1. Three on three basketball tournament.

2. Students vs. Faculty basketball game.

3. Donations from faculty, staff, parents, and students at Report Card Pick Up Day.

4. Received a Service Learning grant.

11. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Project

Gage Park High School students have been working on the MLK project for the past two years. We have been interviewing members of the community, collecting donations, and storing data to commemorate Dr. King’s march in Chicago through Marquette Park.

12. United We Stand

The Gage Park Community is comprised of Latinos and African Americans. We continue to work together to bridge any cultural differences.

13. Scholarship and the Road Ahead

For the past three years Gage Park High School has participated in the students in action program. We have awarded two $500 scholarships for the past two years at graduation. We were the regional winners for school year 2007-20008. We were silver leadership school for 2008-2009.