Rauner’s robotics club and Pritzker’s math team earned an unprecedented number of medals this year, and Noble Street students staged fundraising events for important causes. From community service, to academic enrichment to the arts, Noble Street students explore their interests and develop new passions every day. Clubs, community service and after-school classes are opportunities for students to develop unique relationships with adults and their peers and to develop personal skills for college. 

 

In January an indoor soccer tournament and a blood drive brought students, staff and families together for important causes. Twelve students from across the Network hosted the tournament to raise money for a service trip to the Grand Canyon that they will participate in for two weeks this summer as part of Northwestern University Settlement House’s Camp VIDA program. More than 100 students and teachers, including competing soccer teams, volunteers and fans, participated in the tournament. A junior girls’ advisory at the Noble Street campus held a blood drive and collected 73 usable pints of blood for the Red Cross from students, staff and community members. This amount far exceeded the normal expectation for a high school and is enough to save more than 200 lives! The girls will host another blood drive in May, and welcomes all donors to participate.

 

Many after-school activities are exciting opportunities for students to use academic skills in different ways that motivate their learning. Rauner’s Robotics team has won three trophies so far this year, and this year is only their second year of competing! Sophomores earned 2^nd place at the Illinois High School Robotics competition in December. The team entered three robots in the Wisconsin competition in January, and all three made the playoffs. The team earned two trophies: one 2^nd place finish and the Amaze Award, given for excellence outside the normal categories to Raune’s freshman team, which impressed the judges by the students’ maturity and ability to compete handily against more experienced students. Members of Pritzker’s Math Team experience the same excitement of competition and thrill of a win as student-athletes, but their “sport” is math. The team is competing for the first time this year and includes about thirty freshmen and sophomores. The team earned third place at their first-ever meet and have had several students place individually. Freshmen at Rowe-Clark are exploring careers in healthcare in the UIC Urban Health Program.

Sponsors for after-school activities support expenses necessary for students’ experiences and may provide volunteer support. This year, a grant from the Kraft Employee Fund is supporting some robotics team expenses, and the Actuarial Foundation is supporting the math team with a generous grant and volunteer support. If you are interested in volunteering with or supporting an enrichment activity, please contact us.

Thanks to you….
The impact of the many individuals who invest time and money in our students’ growth and success is immeasurable. Several of our partners have offered unique opportunities recently for Noble students:

-          Two anonymous donors are making it possible for two Pritzker College Prep freshmen to attend the Summer School at Exeter Academy this summer

-          Ms. Maria Segal, an architect at Holabird & Root, hosted two Noble Street seniors - one who will attend Oberlin College, where Ms. Segal graduated, and one who will attend Illinois Institute of Technology to pursue architecture - at her firm in February

-          Exelon Corporation hosted thirty Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy students to visit with Mr. Chris Gardner, author of The Pursuit of Happyness, and to hear him speak as part of the company’s Black History Month programming

-          KPMG employees are hosting student interns from each Noble Street campus this year, providing students unmatched exposure and experience in the workplace and compensating students with scholarship funds

-          A Bucktown couple that recently learned about and began supporting Noble Street has offered to introduce their friends and neighbors to Noble’s important mission by hosting a social gathering where students and staff will speak

If you would like to help Noble students by sharing your profession, sponsoring a special opportunity for students, or helping connect Noble to potential supporters, please contact Rachel Kramer.

Student Highlight: Rauner College Prep

My name is Jahmelia Carr. I am a sophomore at Rauner College Prep. When I was won a seat at Rauner in the enrollment lottery, I was ecstatic. I knew that this was an opportunity of a lifetime. Since I have been attending Rauner I have been involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. One of the best activities that I am involved in at Rauner is the KPMG internship.

I learn many different things in all of my activities. In knitting I learned how to knit scarves, hats, purses and how to enhance my color creativity. I was a board member in student council. In student council I organized pep rallies, dress down days, a talent show and two successful dances. Robotics was a club where I designed and built robots to compete in tournaments. Our team designed a robot that took second place in a state-wide competition in Wisconsin. In Early College Scholars I learn more about college, how to choose the college that best fits and how to apply. As part of ECS I attended college fairs. Earlier this year, I was honored to be chosen as one of the many students to get opportunity to visit a college over the summer. I’ve also taken a fashion drawing class at Marwen Art Institute. In the art classes at Marwen I learned to create art with more than a pencil and paper. I learned to appreciate art and to look at it from more than one perspective. 

When I was accepted to the KPMG internship I was so excited. I know that this will open up other doors of opportunity. When I’m at KPMG I file papers, handle digital distribution, and reconciliation, make copies and I enjoy it all.   While at KMPG I’ve met people that have traveled the world. When I’m at KMPG I think to myself now that I have the internship I have a chance to show scholarship, discipline, and honor to others and to be the best intern KPMG has ever seen. I am so grateful to be a student at Rauner College Prep and a KPMG intern.

The Noble Street Auxiliary Board includes young professionals and graduate students who support Noble’s vision to prepare students for college and want to spread the word about Noble’s important work to their peers in the community. The Board’s successful Bowling for Books event is becoming a local tradition, and their support of Noble’s traditional Classic 5K Fun Run & Walk, on May 31 this year, has widened participation in this celebration of Noble Street’s commitment to fun and fitness.

 

The auxiliary board hosted Bowling for Books on January 31 to raise money for books and other literacy supplies for Noble campuses. More than 140 guests came out to Seven Ten Lounge for the event, despite blizzard-like conditions! Guests mingled, bowled and learned about Noble from graduate Silvia Diaz and Pritzker principal Pablo Sierra, who spoke about their experiences with Noble STreet. An exciting raffle added to the funds raised from the successful event, and many people learned about Noble Street for the first time.

 

The Auxiliary Board will collaborate with Noble Street staff and volunteers to host the Noble Classic 5K Fun Run & Walk on May 31, 2008. Auxiliary board members co-hosted the race with Noble Street for the first time last year, and race profits increased by more than 100%. More importantly, Auxiliary Board members expanded the event to community members, who learned about Noble Street by participating in this fun Noble Street tradition alongside students, families and staff.

Noble Street Auxiliary Board members use their skills and talents and develop new ones in their work together to host these events. They also participate in the life of Noble Street by volunteering to tutor students, attending Town Hall assemblies and other events and connecting Noble Street staff and students to resources offered by their places of employment. Board members are concerned about public education in Chicago and enjoy learning about the role of Noble Street and other charters in solving it. The board is a fun-loving, creative and caring group and Noble is grateful for their involvement! If you’re interested in joining or know someone who may be, please learn more.

Noble Street Students Connect with Careers 
Thirty-two Noble Street College Prep juniors and seniors have access to remarkable mentoring and networking opportunities focused on expanding their view of career possibilities through an exciting new partnership between Noble Street and Chicago Professionals for Youth (CPY). CPY is a network of young professionals focused on improving the lives of underprivileged youth in Chicago. Each participating CPY Scholar is paired with a young professional who serves as a mentor. Mentors talk with students about college and career choices, assist with college essays and other preparation and provide access for students to explore and learn more about college and career interests. On Saturday, December 8, seventeen seniors met their mentors at Google offices in Chicago where they networked with CPY members and received help on their Gates Millennium Scholarship essays.  On Saturday, February 2, all thirty two CPY Scholars went to the Aon building to hear a private speech given by John Rogers, founder and CEO of Ariel Capital Management.  Students then attended career sessions where they learned about different careers from young professionals in the field.  This spring CPY will host a college fair where Noble’s CPY Scholars will have an opportunity to learn about the schools their mentors and other CPY members attended.

The opportunities are endless in this exciting partnership, and CPY is working with the Noble Network to extend this exciting opportunity to juniors at Rauner College Prep and Pritzker College Prep next year, and other Noble campuses when juniors are enrolled.

Right Angle Foundation’s Taste of College Supports Noble Students 
On Friday, March 14, many Noble Street staff and supporters attended the Right Angle Foundation’s 7^th annual Taste of College event. The Right Angle Foundation was founded by Michael and Tonya Milkie in 1997 in 1997 for students in the Wells High School AP Calculus program, and now serves students from Noble Street’s campuses. The idea of the organization is that sending first-generation high school students to summer college programs is the “right angle” to expose them to the college; since 1997, the Foundation has sent nearly 500 students to summer programs on college campuses and 85% of these students have gone on to four-year colleges. Noble Street Charter School is grateful for the support provided to students from all campuses by the Right Angle Foundation. The evening included a performance by Pritzker College Prep’s Latin Jazz Orchestra and remarks from Michael Milkie and several alumni. A fun night was had by all at the Taste of College!

Golder College Prep civics teacher Jessie Stewart was so inspired by Noble’s belief that every student can graduate from college, that she stopped her job search upon finding Noble and immediately applied to teach at a Noble campus. She says that teaching at Golder is different from any other teaching experience she has had in that the entire staff is completely dedicated to doing everything possible to ensure that each child receives the best education possible. 

 

Ms. Stewart finds Golder students smart, savvy and thirsty to learn and says that even if she feels tired, the students energize her. She remembers the challenges of remaining focused on school amidst the social and personal challenges that confront all high school students and capture their attention, and this motivates Ms. Stewart to make her lessons relevant and engaging. Her commitment to helping Golder students develop strong writing skills also comes from her own life experience: she credits her sophomore history teacher with engraining in her the skills to construct and write a paper, and says that writing is among her most important skills.

 

As a founding member of the Golder College Prep staff, Ms. Stewart has taken on many roles at Golder this year. In addition to teaching civics and serving as an advisor, Ms. Stewart collaborates with other Noble Network teachers to work on the school’s student assessment program. She is also sharing her belief in the importance of athletics and her skills in running with Golder students as the cross-country coach and teacher for the Running for Strength enrichment class. Ms. Stewart was a student-athlete at the University of Michigan, and hopes that some of her students may have an opportunity to participate in college athletics, too.

In March, the students in Ms. Stewart’s civics classes will be studying the election process, campaigning, voting reform, major issues in the 2008 election and the impact of the media on politics. At the end of the unit, the students will work in small groups to create a political commercial on a major issue that utilizes four propaganda techniques studied in class. Overall, Ms. Stewart hopes that her students begin to see the relevance of what they are learning in civics class to the real world, and that this realization inspires them to pursue college graduation. Her goal is to help her students continue to be critical-thinking citizens and life-long learners.