June 2008 Newsletter Articles

Class of 2008 Raises the Bar

Noble Street College Prep’s Class of 2008 broke many school records by their achievements: they are the largest-ever Noble Street class yet, 100% will have graduated at the end of August and 95% are headed to college this fall. (One student has deferred her enrollment until next year.)  These outstanding achievements of Noble Street’s Class of 2008 are proof that Noble’s strategic focus on college and the comprehensive support provided to students during their senior year are models of excellence.

The success of the Class of 2008 can be attributed to Noble’s overall college-focused culture, to students’ strong relationships with their classmates and teachers and to the hard work of Noble’s college counselor, Adriana Villegas. Ms. Villegas, who grew up in West Town, was a trusted friend to students and their families and is herself an example of what Noble Street students can achieve with determination and commitment: Ms. Villegas attended Wells High School and earned her degree from DePaul University.

Several of Noble Street’s Class of 2008 are attending prestigious universities where no Noble student has yet attended. Salutatorian Sergio Rocha and Stacey Corrall are attending the University of Michigan, and Amanda Menjivar is attending Davidson College. These students will pave the way for future graduates. (Read more about Sergio here.)

The Class of 2008 earned nearly $2 million in scholarship funds, including many extremely competitive and high-profile awards. Elizabeth Burba is a Dell Scholar; Cynthia Montoya is a Gates Millennium Scholar; Luz Candelaria, Lorena Maldenado and Susan Rebolledo earned Golden Apple Scholarships to become teachers; and Cynthia Montoya will attend DePauw University and Daniela Medrano earned Posse Scholarships. Many of these scholarship programs not only provide financial support, but also provide resources, a peer group and adult support for students during college. Several colleges and universities also provided extraordinary support to Noble students: Beloit College, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Lake Forest College; Millikin University; Oberlin College; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Valparaiso University provided Noble Street students significant scholarships. For a complete list of colleges Noble Street students have attended, click here, and click here for a list of scholarships earned by the Class of 2008. 

 

From Jazz to Steel Drums, Noble Students Create Beautiful Music

Although most Noble Street Charter School students begin high school with little or no access to music, Noble campuses this year have staged outstanding musical groups and given students outstanding exciting to experience the thrill of performing. Music helps students in countless ways: it encourages creativity and self-expression, builds confidence and exercises students’ quantitative skills. Funds to establish and maintain a music program are not provided via public funds, but Noble Street is committed to supporting music programs for all of its campuses. Four Noble Street campuses had accomplished music programs this year; all Noble campuses will offer music by the time they are fully enrolled with grades 9-12. Private contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations are a great help to our music programs.

At Noble Street, a new choir director led the student choir and an after-school choral ensemble. Building on the long tradition of music at the founding campus, this year’s choir performed at many Town Halls, in the community and, finally, for Noble’s Sixth Graduation on June 7. 

At Rauner, two music teachers led freshmen and sophomores in concert band this year. Students learned how to read music, the history of pieces that they learned to play and the technique for playing a wind instrument. Students performed in large and small groups, and a Jazz Band was formed for students interested in jazz. Rauner’s bands performed at many Town Halls and hosted two concerts during the year. In addition, the Jazz Band joined the Pritzker Latin Jazz Orchestra and Staff Infection, the Network staff band, at a fundraising concert for the Right Angle Foundation in May. 

Opened in August 2006, Pritzker College Prep launched their music program this year with both freshmen and sophomores. All students participated in the concert band, where they learned to play a wind instrument and how to read music, and played in a large group with their peers. Interested students auditioned for the Latin Jazz Orchestra, which began rehearsing together in January. The Latin Jazz Orchestra sought out performance opportunities including the Right Angle Foundation’s annual fundraiser and Northern Trust’s volunteer reception. The group participated in the citywide high school jazz competition and earned excellent marks there; they were outscored only by selective, music-focused high schools. 

Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy freshmen had a unique opportunity to learn music this year from a talented musician who is also a rock star; Mr. Doug Corella’s band, The Verve Pipe, had a 1997 hit single called, appropriately, “The Freshman.” Mr. Corella teaches music through rhythm, and therefore Rowe-Clark students all learned to play different rhythm instruments including bongos, steel drums, xylophones and more. All students experienced performance at Rowe-Clark Town Halls. Students with a passion for music joined the Masai Ensemble, a small rhythm band formed near the end of the year. Mr. Corella also led the Rowe-Clark staff to form their own drum band, which performed at Noble’s end-of-year party for staff. 

 

 

Student Highlight: Noble Street College Prep, Class of 2008

When Sergio Rocha graduated from Noble Street on June 7, he said goodbye to his second home. While at Noble Street, Sergio was extremely involved in athletics and student groups, and he was also committed to his studies. Any afternoon that he wasn’t on the practice field or in the classroom, Sergio was nearby at Erie Neighborhood House being a mentor to a neighborhood eighth grader. In the fall, Sergio will head to the University of Michigan, where he will undoubtedly become an active member of the student community.

To be involved at Noble Street and in the community, Sergio developed an important skill: multi-tasking. During lunchtime, he and two friends brought their food to a senior classroom where they worked on physics or math problems or helped one another with scholarship applications. Sergio worked hard for his own success, and was also a supportive friend to others. During football and rugby season, Sergio was diligent about making time for his studies while also being a leader on his teams. He was captain of the rugby team this year, and particularly enjoyed the camaraderie he experienced with other rugby players over the past four years. Sergio was awarded the Golden Tiger Award for his leadership on the rugby team.

Beyond Noble Street, Sergio is concerned about his community, both locally and nationally. Sergio was a founder and Vice President of a student group committed to raising money to assist in Darfur, and he participated in many community service activities with his advisory and other groups from Noble Street. Sergio enjoyed being a tutor in Noble Street’s writing center, where he helped other students succeed on their writing assignments while also improving his own writing skills. Most important to Sergio was his involvement at Erie Neighborhood House, where he began attending after-school study hours and, as a junior, began mentoring an eighth grader. Sergio was a powerful role model to his mentee. He helped him with academic subjects, and also connected with him on the football field. He felt proud that his own intellect and personality were helping his mentee improve his grades and set and achieve personal goals.

Sergio grew up in West Town with is mom and two sisters. One of his sisters is a Noble Street graduate now attending Carleton College, and his other sister graduated from Southern Illinois University. Sergio’s family is committed to education. Sergio has dreamed of going to the University of Michigan for a long time, and passed up a full scholarship at the University of Illinois in order to attend the University of Michigan. Sergio earned several scholarships, including the Northern Trust/Right Angle Scholarship, awarded for Sergio’s participation in a summer abroad program and a summer program at the University of Denver through the Right Angle Foundation; the Erie House TEAM Scholarship in recognition of Sergio’s service as a mentor; and the HACIA scholarship. Sergio also took a part-time job at Payless to help contribute to his college expenses.

Sergio plans to study aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan. He describes himself as curious and dedicated. He loves to find out how things work and to solve difficult problems. He feels that the world revolves around physics and math, and looks forward to using skills in these areas in his career. Sergio is a dedicated person who sets goals and achieves them and never makes a promise – to himself or others – that he does not keep. The Noble Street community is extremely proud of Sergio, and looks forward to seeing the success he achieves.
  

Tradition Continues at Sixth Annual Noble Classic

On Saturday, May 31, nearly 300 runners and walkers from all five Noble Street campuses and the community, plus fifty volunteers, participated in Noble Street’s oldest athletic tradition: the Noble Classic 5K Fun Run & Fitness Walk. This year’s race, held in Humboldt Park, celebrated the community and friendly competition that are growing among Noble Street’s campuses, and the event’s success was a wonderful victory shared by students, staff and volunteers. Noble Street’s Auxiliary Board, a group of young professionals dedicated to raising awareness and funds for Noble Street, supported the race by identifying sponsors, securing donations of food, prizes and more, and spreading the word to their networks. 

This year, runners from all five campuses participated in the 5K race. Students competed for the honor of having their mascot shown winning the race in the 2009 race logo. Rauner College Prep earned this exciting honor – the first place students finishing in both the male and female categories were from Rauner. After the race, the top twenty student finishers in both the male and female divisions were presented with medals, and racing teams that finished were entered in a raffle to win one of three team prizes to enjoy together: a trip to a Cubs’ game; a trip to a Chicago Rush arena football game; or an afternoon at the movies with free ice cream. New this year, a special raffle was held at the 5K for an iPod nano, raising additional money for race beneficiaries. All participants enjoyed a picnic lunch after the race.

Proceeds from this year’s Noble Classic went toward community service programs at Noble Street, including the Camp VIDA summer service trip to the Grand Canyon. Camp VIDA is sponsored by the Northwestern University Settlement Association and will include students from all five Noble campuses and a Noble teacher. Participants will provide more than 80 hours of environmental service in Grand Canyon National Park. If you are able to support Camp VIDA with a donation, please click here. A portion of Noble Classic proceeds also go toward costs such as bus transportation and supplies for student trips to provide service throughout Chicagoland.
 
 
 

We thank the following Noble Classic sponsors: KPMG LLP, Tampico Beverages, Inland Graphics, and Janik’s Café. If you would like to learn more about Noble Classic sponsorship opportunities for 2009, please contact Rachel Kramer. 

 

Noble Street Students Take Big Steps Toward College-Readiness

Every teacher, administrator and staff member at Noble Street is committed to preparing our students for college, no matter how far behind they may be academically when they begin high school. The majority of Noble Street students begins high school far behind their peers across the country, and therefore must cover a lot of ground during high school. Noble measures students’ growth by comparing their achievement on ACT-series standardized exams taken in the fall and then in the spring. This year, the average rate of student growth was 2 points, indicating that students had made nearly twice the expected amount of progress this year.
 

Noble Street’s unique Interim Assessment program guides teachers to cultivate this remarkable rate of growth among students. The program is designed by teachers for teachers, and includes a scope and sequence describing which college-readiness skills will be taught in each grade and subject each quarter. At the end of each quarter, students take a standardized test, that has been written by teachers to measure students’ mastery of the skills taught. The results of each quarterly assessment give teachers immediate feedback on the impact of their teaching, and also show students how they are progressing toward college-readiness. After each test, all Noble Network teachers gather together and share techniques for teaching.

Teachers appreciate the Interim Assessment program because it is a source for immediate data that they can use to improve their teaching. The program gives teachers autonomy in their classroom while at the same time coordinating the skills that will be taught throughout the year. This is possible because only skills are dictated, and teachers can use whatever content or method they choose to guide students to mastering those skills.

Noble Street Charter School is not alone in its focus on academic data as a tool to improve teaching and learning. Many innovative schools, and also traditional districts, are examining how to gather data to help teachers and students. Noble Street has shared its program with principal training programs, other charter school leaders and educators from throughout the country. 

  

Staff Profile: Noble Network Support Team

Angelica Alfaro joined the Noble Network staff as the Alumni Coordinator in July 2007, but she has been a part of the Noble family since the beginning – Angelica was a member of Noble’s first graduating class. She graduated from Noble Street in 2003, and went on to the University of Illinois. She was one of the first Noble graduates to earn a college degree in 2007. 

Angelica’s responsibility is to keep in touch with Noble Street’s growing group of graduates, so that Noble Street can be a source of support and encouragement that the students may need to persevere in college, and also so our alumni can participate in Noble Street’s current success by speaking to students and potential supporters. As a Noble graduate who succeeded in college herself, Angelica knows the challenges that our current alumni are facing, and can also anticipate the support they may need in terms of college success and job preparation. Currently, Angelica is working closely with Michael Milkie and two volunteers from the Boston Consulting Group to design a database to house alumni information and to determine the most effective communication tools to encourage alumni to keep in touch with Noble Street.

Angelica grew up in West Humboldt Park, and is the youngest of five children in her family. She is the first in her extended family to graduate from college, and is proud to have started a new tradition of college graduation in her family. Angelica’s niece is a freshman this year at Golder College Prep. Angelica credits the personal attention and support she received at Noble Street with her success. She was active in the Noble community; she played basketball, softball and volleyball and was a leader in student government. As a student leader, she enjoyed sharing her experiences at Noble with others. She participated in visits to elementary schools to recruit 8th graders to apply for enrollment at Noble Street and traveled often to Springfield to talk to legislators about charter schools. 

Like many students, Angelica came to Noble Street without the notion that she could go to college. She visited many colleges during her time at Noble Street, and also spent two summers on college campuses – Penn State and Northwestern. These experiences, plus the many opportunities she had to talk about college with her teachers and visitors to the school, convinced her that college was possible. Throughout college, Mr. and Mrs. Milkie and others at Noble were a source of support for Angelica, and she is excited to be providing similar support to Noble alumni who are in college now.

Angelica is glad to be spending this summer as a Network employee. She learned at Noble that summers are meant to be productive. In addition to the summers she spent on college campuses, Angelica participated in the East Village Journalism program.

Angelica is just one of several Noble Street alumni who are now employed by the Network and Noble Street campuses. Her presence is a powerful reminder of what current students can achieve, and she is a source of pride for Noble Street.   

**Angelica is currently seeking summer job and internship opportunities for Noble graduates who are in college or home from college for the summer. If you have an opportunity for a Noble alum, please contact Anglica Alfaro.

 

Generous Donors Make A Difference in All Areas

Noble Street Charter School depends on private support to cover many important costs, from facility renovation to the launch of a music program to the provision of important supplies like graphing calculators for students. We thank the following individuals and organizations, who have provided or pledged support this spring:

  • The Osa Foundation provided a generous grant to cover the costs of a hot and cold food cart to be used to serve healthy and nutritious breakfast and lunch to the students and staff at UIC College Prep.
  • Marty and Molly Heilmann hosted a fun cocktail party where their neighbors and friends learned about Noble Street from students and staff in attendance. We welcome several of those who attended to Noble’s family of donors.
  • Noble board member Jean Sheridan will lead a fundraising drive among her colleagues at Northern Trust to cover the costs of graphing calculators for next year’s students.

Noble Street Sports Huddle

Noble Street athletics finished the year strong, with teams and individual athletes from all campuses achieving their best. Noble campuses offered baseball, softball and soccer, and students also participated in 5K running clubs, special basketball and softball tournaments and Noble’s annual celebration of fitness and fun, the Noble Classic 5K Fun Run & Fitness Walk. With the growth of Noble Street Charter School to five campuses this year, the school held the first annual sports tournaments. Noble campuses played one another in baseball and softball this spring.

All Noble Street students completed a fitness test this spring, and all took a written health exam as well. As part of Noble Street’s commitment to fitness and health as necessary for academic success, these two assessments are required for students to be promoted to the next grade level. 

Noble Street campuses celebrated the following sports achievements this spring:

  • Rauner’s baseball team won their junior varsity division in the CPS Carlton Fisk League, and won the first-annual Noble Network baseball tournament.
  • Rauner fielded a softball team for the first time this year, and the team achieved a record of 4-1.
  • Noble Street College Prep’s Road Runners, a group of about 40 students who run 5K races throughout the year, achieved many first place victories this spring: at the Lake Geneva Marathon Relay; Lake Geneva 10K; and Wrigley Start Early 5K.
  • Noble Street College Prep’s girls’ soccer team finished the year second in their division.
  • The Chicago White Sox Charities awarded Noble Street a grant to support the baseball and softball teams at Rowe-Clark and Golder College Prep. Ms. Sheridan Lane and Mr. Marlon Tobin, Athletic Directors at Golder and Rowe-Clark, respectively, and Golder students Allan Pena, Corali Caro, and Angelina Valencia attended the May 9 White Sox game to accept the check (photo credit: © 2008 Chicago White Sox/Ron Vesely) 

Success on a Grand Scale at First Annual “Noble Serves!” Network-Wide Day of Service
Noble Street’s community service program is designed to instill in students the value of civic responsibility and demonstrate the powerful impact they can have as active members of their community. Students on all campuses are required to provide at least 40 hours of service before graduation, and some campuses require 80 hours. Noble Street Charter School students volunteer at more than 100 organizations and events across the city. This year, our students provided more than 20,000 hours of meaningful service.

 

On Saturday, April 26, nearly 100 students, faculty and staff from all five Noble campuses provided almost 300 volunteer hours to five different nonprofit and government agencies in Chicago on the first annual Network-wide day of service. The event was called “Noble Serves!” and was an inspirational day where the strength of the Noble Network was clearly seen. Five teams included staff, students and family members from all five campuses, so volunteers got to know one another as they worked together and built a greater sense of Noble community.

 

Since “Noble Serves!” occurred near Earth Day, all of the projects had to do with the environment. Volunteers at the Cook County Forest Preserve removed an invasive species called Buckthorn, which was choking development of other plant species in a forested area. At Peabody Elementary, which located next door to the Noble Street College Prep campus, volunteers moved hundreds of boxes, books and classroom supplies out of a room that will soon be transformed into a computer lab. Volunteers worked with the East Village Block and Garden Club to clean public walkways, streets and sidewalks, and also helped by making posters for an anti-violence rally planned for the following weekend. With the West Humboldt Block Club Association, volunteers removed trash and debris from an area along the Metra tracks. At the Eden Village Nature Preserve, volunteers gardened, weeded, raked and prepared the preserve near US Cellular Field for spring planting.

 

Surveys collected from the participating students confirm the value of a Network-wide service day. A student who helped in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood said, “We learned a lot of positive life values during our discussions…we had a lot of fun. It was a great experience.” Another student, who helped make posters in the East Village neighborhood, said that she was proud that she was able to make five posters “about unity, helping people, improving the community and fixing its problems they will be shown at the parade.” Noting the special opportunity to volunteer with students from all Noble campuses, one student said that he “got to meet new students from the other campuses, but failed to get a date.”