This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and leadership at each campus has worked to make this week meaningful and joy-filled for our educators. It cannot be overstated that we are in deep admiration and appreciation for our KIPP Chicago staff who consistently bring determination, compassion, joy, and love to their teaching everyday.

I am so inspired by our KIPP Chicago teachers as I reflect on what is possible in education. There are only rare examples of our communities being first in line for technology and innovation so we are working to ensure that our students have access to the most cutting edge, advanced technology. Just last month, some of our top leaders attended the ASU+GSV Summit, an education and technology conference in San Diego.

In deep appreciation,
April

Revised Opening Letter (Tuesday 2:56)

Dear KIPP Chicago Champions, Eductors, and Supporters:

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and leadership at each campus has worked to make this week meaningful and joy-filled for our educators. It cannot be overstated that we are in deep admiration and appreciation for our KIPP Chicago staff who consistently bring determination, compassion, joy, and love to their teaching everyday.

I am so inspired by our KIPP Chicago teachers as I reflect on what is possible in education. Last month, some of our top leaders attended the ASU+GSV Summit, an education and technology conference in San Diego. There are only rare examples of our communities being first in line for critical resources, so it is with great optimism that I look to the future. I am confident we have some of our country’s most talented teachers and I’m enthusiastic about the future as we bring cutting edge technologies to our classrooms.

I hope you share my enthusiasm and I look forward to sharing more about our pilots in future editions of our Whole Child Review.

In deep appreciation,
April

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In a continual effort to provide more wraparound services for students and families, we recently launched the KIPP Closet. Housed in our Children’s Museum of Art and Social Justice, we’ve been organizing donated clothing for all ages. For now, the KIPP Closet acts as a quick way to distribute clothing on a case-by-case basis for students and families with a need. We look forward to expanding our offerings to allow families to visit and shop for what they need regularly.

Alumni-Owned Businesses

We are so proud of these alumni and their entrepreneurship! From bakeries and hair care products to movers and skin care, our alumni are showcasing their skills, passion, and drive through their businesses.

Paris Clark (KIPP Ascend Middle School, class of 2011) baker and owner of And She Bakes Too

Jazmine Walton (KIPP Ascend Middle School, class of 2018) owner of 7 Decades Promised

Deshawn Nelson (KIPP Ascend Middle School, class of 2017) co-owner of Nelson Movers

Maurice Henderson (KIPP Ascend Middle School, class of 2017) owner of Rhygro

Robert White (KIPP Ascend Middle School, class of 2017) Founder of Chicago Fathers for Change

Shamika Hall (KIPP Ascend Middle School, class of 2012) owner of The Queen Mek Collection

Brenda Gilbert (KIPP Ascend Middle School, class of 2011) violin performances Windy Indie

Stedman Graham Workshops

In February, Mr. Graham launched his new Parent Identity Learning program, designed to raise self-awareness in order to lead a life of choice. The virtual workshops, held on February 9th and 22nd, brought KIPP Chicago families together to learn about the tenets of building a life designed around an individual’s identity.

Family and staff participants gained a lot from the conversations, sharing positive feedback about Mr. Graham’s approach and presentation.

“I love the idea of turning inward and capitalizing on what makes our identity OURS.”

“I learned new information because Mr. Graham gave a 9 step process to get to self identity, which organizes it in a way that makes sense and helps me to know what to master first before moving forward.”

“Stedman encouraged us to define ourselves, instead of letting the world define us. We should put ourselves at the center and build the image we want.”

“It was wonderful! I really appreciate the way Mr. Graham explained everything and breaking it down to where it’s evident that everyone can do this if they truly put their mind to it. Also by explaining how we get into an everyday pattern which puts us in a state of being stagnant. It helped me to identify where I was and where I need to go to reach my full potential.”

Penn Foster Program Launch

In partnership with Penn Foster, a regionally and nationally accredited program that offers completion of a high school diploma (instead of a GED), KIPP Chicago is sponsoring a cohort of 20 parents. Covering enrollment and tuition costs removes the financial barriers in order to help this first cohort realize the goal of earning their high school diploma. The virtual program is flexible, allowing individuals to create their own schedule and learn at their own pace.

With KIPP Chicago staff acting as facilitators at each campus, they are responsible for coaching and supporting parents through the program towards graduation. They serve as the first and main point of contact for the students pursuing their high school diploma. Each of the facilitators demonstrate commitment to their students’ success, a history of supporting adult education, positive and progressive leadership at their respective campuses, and passion for helping students achieve their dreams.

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Given this decade’s anticipated technological advances, we have set out to build an infrastructure that absorbs, tests, and ultimately codifies a vision for the “2030 Classroom.” To that end, we are working on investing in both human capital and hardware to bring this vision to life. We’re looking forward to selecting our most talented, tech-savvy teachers to evaluate today’s tools and experiment with tomorrow’s technologies. Specifically, we hope to pilot tools that leverage Artificial Intelligence and Web3 for educational purposes.

We also know that students learn best via experiential opportunities, as opposed to memorizing information à la the 19th century industrial schools model. Virtual reality provides students with immersive, learn-by-doing experiences. It has already proliferated post-secondary institutions and developers are rapidly building content for K-12.

This spring, our pilot includes: ensuring that each middle school campus is equipped with a set of virtual reality headsets and hardware, an algebra pilot using modules from Prisms VR, and virtual field trips.

“Virtual reality is about to change the way we teach and learn. You can have students engage with an algebraic equation on paper or you can have them engage with it in an immersive environment that includes movement, discovery, and real-world application. The latter will have a more lasting impact on teaching and learning.” -Monika Patel, KIPP Chicago Achievement Director, Science

Teach for America Alumni Award Winner: Molly Harris

Molly Harris, 6th grade Social Studies teacher and Department Chair at KIPP Academy Chicago, was recently recognized as a winner of the Frances and Elliot Lehman Excellence in Teaching Award. This award recognizes outstanding culturally responsive teaching that empowers students in learning and in life. Molly says, “When I think about some of the greatest classes I’ve ever had, they involve me speaking very little. My goal is to create a student-led classroom where they are talking about issues that they care about, analyzing different perspectives on the issues, representing different stakeholders, and sharing their ideas on how we can come up with solutions for society…I want my students to believe in the power of their opinions and perspectives to create change in our world.” Check out her interview here. Congratulations, Molly!

English & Language Arts and Visual Arts Projects

As we work to integrate more arts lessons into the curriculum of core subjects, we introduced four art projects to 5th-8th grade English & Language Arts (ELA) classes. Each art project was integrated into the learning from the current ELA unit. As Mr. Zuniga’s 5th graders wrapped up their unit on humans and nature, they used natural elements to create a cyanotype print. Students in 6th grade read pieces by female artists, like Faviana Rodriguez, who uses printmaking to communicate her activist messages, then created their own collagraph prints. As Ms. Love’s 7th graders finished their unit on space, reading about the often overlooked contributors to the field, they re-created an Afrofuturism lesson from our CMASJ exhibition, Springtime on Neptune. In 8th grade with Ms. Donelson, there is a unit on food systems and food choices which lent itself perfectly to another CMASJ art project from the Food for Thought exhibition. This lesson is a multi-step process to creating a watercolor illustration of food. Students then researched to find the ingredients from the painted food, tracing them back to their sources.

BHM Equiano IG Live + Dusable Museum

On February 16th, 2022 a feature film about the life of Olaudah Equiano was released on Instagram by Stelo Stories, in partnership with the DuSable Museum of African American History, the oldest independent Black history museum in the United States. Equiano was a man kidnapped and enslaved as a child in Africa who eventually became a bestselling author and played an instrumental role in the abolition of the slave trade. This film, which highlights the year of his capture, uniquely tells the story using today’s tools, a smartphone and Instagram account.

DuSable Museum of African American History, graciously offered to facilitate a virtual tour of their Equiano exhibit following our KIPP Chicago watch party, along with a talk back that allowed students to ask questions directly to the museum staff. Students from every KIPP Chicago middle school engaged in the watch party and the following question and answer session. We’re so grateful to DuSable for this incredible opportunity during Black History Month.

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We are thrilled to partner with Joseph Altshuler, Could Be Architecture, and his cohort of University of Illinois architecture and landscape architecture students. Joseph is currently teaching an advanced design seminar on children’s play structures. On March 2nd, Joseph and three of his students led a workshop with a class of 4th graders from KIPP One Primary to allow students to share design ideas for a play structure.

Using students’ designs and ideas, Joseph and his students will be working with a local fabricator to design and build a small play structure. It will debut to the public at an open house at the Design Museum of Chicago before it finds its permanent home inside KIPP One Primary!

AllKinds Studio Designs a Gallery Wall

The brilliant artists of AllKinds, a multidisciplinary design and fabrication studio that creates custom art installations, donated their time and expertise to install a beautiful gallery wall at KIPP One Academy. With a wire hanging system, felt blocks for pinning, and custom designed and painted letters, students’ ACHIEVEments can be displayed with elevated professionalism.

Showcasing our Time Capsule Project at ASU+GSV

Check out this video, shown at this spring’s ASU+GSV Summit, showcasing KIPP Chicago students’ participation in the Once Upon A Time Capsule project!

Creative Schools Fund Grant Recipients

Each year, a dedicated arts liaison from every school works with the Excellence team and School Leader to craft a $10k Creative Schools Fund grant proposal to bring meaningful art programming to students. We were thrilled to win three grants, with all programming scheduled to happen at the start of next school year. KIPP Ascend Primary will work with SkyART to bring arts therapy programming to 32 students for one semester. KIPP Academy Chicago Primary and KIPP Bloom Primary will both have the incredible opportunity to work with members of AllKinds Studio to design and create a unique art installation for their schools.

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We love seeing time dedicated to SEL activities, targeted to help students decompress. The purpose of this day at KIPP One Primary was to give KIPPsters an opportunity to exhale after a week of testing, emphasizing the importance of socioemotional and relationship skills. Each class period, teachers led a new social emotional activity that engaged different levels of expression and skill building. There was time for physical, emotional, social, and vocational activities. Students and teachers appreciated this time to unwind and reconnect with themselves and each other.

Bloom Peace Circle

In alignment with our regional SEL priorities, KIPP Chicago SEL Chairs who are trained as peace circle practitioners, have been launching community peace circles at each of our campuses. At KIPP Bloom, Susie Johnson has created a warm and safe space for students to come connect, relate, and care for one another. These circles have provided students an opportunity to problem solve, affirm and validate each other’s experiences, navigate the return to school, and celebrate successes.

RULER 2022: Caring, Connecting, & Collaborating

This year our SEL Chairs were able to experience Yale Institute for Emotional intellengce’s RULER conference on March 9th and 10th. RULER 2022: Caring, Connecting, & Collaborating was filled with dynamic keynote speakers, RULER practitioners from the field, and experts from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Each day opened with a message from Dr. Marc Brackett followed by the featured keynote. Afterwards, our team was able to choose sessions aligned with their individual interests and take key takeaways back to their school communities!

How We Feel App

Created in partnership with the Yale Institute’s RULER program founder, Marc Brackett, How We Feel is a free journal for your mental health created by scientists, designers, engineers and therapists. The app encourages you to check in with your feelings daily. Over time, you will learn the right words to describe how you feel, spot trends and patterns, and practice simple strategies to regulate your emotions in healthy ways.

SEL Chair Feature: Andrew Albert

Andrew Albert (He/They) has been teaching and leading in Chicago and Northwest Indiana for the past eight years. He began his career in education teaching 4th and 8th h grade science at his Teach For America placement school in Gary, IN. Prior to joining the team at KIPP One Academy, he taught 5th grade science and 7th grade math at KIPP Bloom in the Englewood neighborhood, and 7th and 8th grade science at KIPP Ascend Middle School in the North Lawndale neighborhood. Andrew has also served as a middle school science coach and content lead, teacher leader of school culture, grade level chair and musical theater director. Andrew received his B.S in Biology and a secondary teaching license from the University of Maine at Fort Kent. About six years ago Andrew was initiated as a Reiki Master and has an intense passion for supporting others in their search for peace, joy, self-love, and personal growth. Andrew has also been trained as a Mindfulness and Meditation Master Practitioner from the Natura Training Institute. He loves to talk about and practice the laws of the universe, metaphysics, and meditation/mindfulness and prides himself on his chocolate chip cookies.

As SEL chair for KIPP One Academy, what ideas, programs, teaching are you most excited to bring students?

What I have loved about rolling out SEL at KIPP One has been providing opportunities and training for staff to first LIVE the RULER tools. To be able to practice the tools for themselves in order to better understand the nuance and benefit that comes with emotional awareness before we roll out to students. I have also enjoyed looking for ways to embed the RULER tools in the systems that already exist within our schools. This has allowed our school to provide multiple daily opportunities for students to check-in emotionally with themselves (during every PDN in every class), practice emotional language, build community through Classroom Charter reflections and shout-outs (weekly in homerooms).

What do you believe is needed for a student to thrive in a KIPP school, from an SEL perspective?

I believe that students need a safe, predictable environment in which they can learn how to recognize and process all emotions. An environment that fosters a deep sense of community and belonging. Students need to be shown that feeling any emotion is never a bad thing, and from that awareness, they are empowered to take appropriate actions aligned to their best self.

Tell us a bit about your own journey and how that informs your work as an SEL chair?

Through my own healing journey, I found my way to meditation and Reiki Energy Work. This has propelled me on a path of self-understanding, learning how to meet my heart when my head is experiencing discomfort, and trusting in my own ability to sit with difficult emotions. This work has become a part of my entire life, and thus, in all areas, I bring the tools I have learned and continue to practice. I love creating spaces for others to feel safe and secure in feeling through their emotions and patterns.

Anything else you’d like us to know?

KIPP One Academy’s RULER roll out would not have been so successful if it weren’t for the “all-in” mentality from the staff. It has been a true joy for me to witness the amazing conversations, structures, habits, that our staff has built around supporting emotional intelligence for our school community. They are the reason our school has been able to care so deeply about our students’ academic and emotional growth.

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Science tells us that beliefs and identity are strongly shaped by schooling. Traditional curriculum situates people of the African Diaspora in a minimally positive, and many times negative, light. As a result, generations of Black students have felt disengaged, misunderstood, and unsafe.

As McNair Fellows dig into their Impact Projects, we are immensely grateful for the brilliance they are bringing to KIPP Chicago. This spring, Heather Hawkins, 5th grade Assistant Principal at KIPP Ascend Middle School, will work with 89 KIPP Ascend Middle School students for 5 weeks using curriculum from Reconstruction. Reconstruction was created to show kids that they are descendants of powerful, creative, and resilient ancestors whose contributions permeate every aspect of life across the globe; and that they too are called to contribute to this rich legacy. It’s the way we were taught as children. It’s the way we teach our children.

The project-based spoken word curriculum will explore varying viewpoints of BIPOC poets and orators throughout time. This will support academic gains in writing by deepening students’ current level of cultural representation.

Celebrating Black Joy and Resilience Student Panel

On February 28th, KIPP Chicago hosted its first virtual, student-led panel discussion, featuring three KIPP Academy Chicago students and moderated by KIPP Alumni, Unique Mackey. Celebrating Black Joy and Resilience allowed students to reflect on the joys they’ve celebrated and challenges they’ve faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Celebrating Latinx Student Joy and Resilience Student Panel

On March 24th, KIPP Chicago held its highest attended virtual panel discussion with five KIPP One Academy students, moderated by Wellness Champions, Alanna Bonfiglio and Chantell Denney. The conversation, centered on our Latinx students’ joyful experiences and their resilience, was immensely meaningful as students and teachers were open, vulnerable, while still finding many moments of humor and joy.

McNair Features: Camille Allen

What are your aspirations in leadership and how do you see this fellowship helping you get there?

My aspiration in leadership is to create a strong foundation in the lives of my students. It is my hope that through my leadership my students are motivated to become forever learners and dynamic world changers. Joining the McNair Fellowship has allowed me active time and a space to reflect on my “Why” for being a leader in the community I serve. This fellowship grants me the opportunity to connect with other outstanding leaders with similar backgrounds and mindsets that I share who are able to offer other creative ideas that will help my aspiration come to light.

This program is inspired by the success and life of Ronald McNair. In terms of your career, who is someone that you consider a hero/role model/inspiration? (could be someone in your life or a public figure)

I’m blessed to have multiple individuals in my life who have served as role models, heroes, and cheerleaders throughout my education career. My number one source of inspiration however, has always been my family. My parents have always modeled the importance of being a good human and how to lead with love. My siblings motivated me as a child to develop a passion for education and the desire to be a forever learner. My husband challenges me daily to remember my power and never be discouraged when things might not go as planned. He reminds me that every mistake is an opportunity to learn and grow. Lastly, my daughter is the constant reminder of why the work I do is so important. I want to be a part of the change to the inequities and gaps that exist in education for all students of color.

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In order to support our food pantry efforts, we set up our CMASJ Food for Thought exhibit at ASU+GSV this year in order to engage with an audience around the topic of food justice and raise funds for the pantry operation. We were able to secure generous donations and make connections with other educators and not-for-profit leaders doing work around food justice!

KIPP Academy Chicago Food Pantry

Our school-based food pantry is slated to open May of 2022 at KIPP Academy Chicago. The pantry will launch as a pilot aimed at supporting 50 families per week during May and June, scaling to operate the full school year beginning this fall. The pantry is in partnership with Rush University Medical Center’s Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement. Our goal is to ensure we are addressing health and wellness with a combination of shelf stable food and fresh produce, meat, fish, and eggs.

KIPP One food distribution

On March 1st, with the help and generous support of Lakeshore Beverage, KIPP One was able to distribute 30 boxes of shelf-stable food items to families with a need.

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We know moving our bodies has a multitude of benefits. Even better is moving our bodies in community with others! We were so excited to welcome Latrice Madkins back for more Zumba and KIPP Ascend Primary’s very own CLIMB advocate and unofficial wellness coach, Scott Riley, leading a HIIT class.

Love Lounge Workshop

We were honored to host Chicago creatives, Meagan McNeal and Harold Green, to lead us in a virtual, evening poetry and song-writing workshop. KIPP Chicago families and staff came together for a few hours of creativity, fun, and community.

Fringe Wellness Platform

In response to staff feedback about a desire for autonomy in wellness journeys, we are working to pilot Fringe, a wellness platform, with a group of KIPP Chicago staff. This pilot will run from May-June 2022 and will help us to evaluate the platform. Fringe offers wellness classes, subscriptions to lifestyle organizations, personal development workshops, activities for children, and more.

We want to extend a huge acknowledgement of gratitude to Stephanie Morimoto, owner of Asutra, for sponsoring our pilot with this platform. Thank you, Stephanie, for your continued support of staff wellness.

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The ASU+GSV Summit started in 2010 with a collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU) and Global Silicon Valley (GSV). The annual ASU+GSV Summit connects leading minds focused on transforming society and business around learning and work so that ALL people have equal access to the future.

Alumn Windy Indie Performs

KIPP Chicago alumn, Brenda Gilbert, better known as Windy Indie, was hired by ASU+GSV to perform in various locations throughout the conference. Whether during check-in or outside during happy hour, her beautiful violin performances with unmistakable beats set the background music for the entire summit.

Panel Discussions

A Conversation with Stedman Graham and KIPP Chicago

April Montgomery Goble, Executive Director, introduced Stedman Graham by telling the story of how identity actualization plays a role in our educational philosophy at KIPP Chicago, tying into Stedman Graham’s identity leadership work. Jennifer Hodges, Vice President of Whole Child Fund & Community Impact, led a conversation with Mr. Graham around his Identity Learning Program, which is based on the philosophy that individuals hold the power to their educational, career, and personal success or failure.The goal of the curriculum is to help people self-actualize their own potential. “I get to help people and turn them into identity leaders. They are able to understand authenticity, how to create a vision for themselves, how to build a plan and a dream team for themselves, and make up a lot of their own rules.”

Raising our Collective Media Consciousness

As children make sense of the world around them, books, social media, pictures, videos, and games are all available at their fingertips, telling them stories about where they come from and who they should be. Kids are constant consumers of implicit and explicit messages that influence their identity development. April Montgomery Goble moderated a conversation with leaders across the field, including Brittany Jones, KIPP Chicago’s Managing Director of Justice Initiatives, who are developing tools and practices to help adults raise their own awareness about what’s shared with kids and to help kids build the skills to engage with media consciously.

• Linda Burch, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Common Sense Media
• Brittany Jones, Managing Director of Justice Initiatives, KIPP Chicago
• Michael Preston, Sesame Workshop
• Manjit Sareen, Co-Founder & CEO, Natterhub
• Marc Brackett, Founder Yale Center For Emotional Intelligence

Increasing Impact: Organizational Evolution as Innovation

Through the development of the Whole Child Initiative, KIPP Chicago has made a strategic commitment to evolve in order to better support students’, families’, and communities’ ability to thrive in the classroom and beyond; from food pantries to building a pathway for parents to secure their high school diplomas. This conversation with partners and fellow leaders highlighted how each has adapted their approach to addressing critical community challenges; recognizing this evolution as a form of innovation. Panelists discussed the need for recalibrating and refocusing standard practices to better support the needs of communities.

Panelists:

• April Montgomery Goble, Executive Director, KIPP Chicago
• Beth Swanson, CEO, A Better Chicago
• Arne Duncan, Former US Secretary of Education and Managing Partner, Emerson Collective
• Craig Huffman, Ascendance Partners
• Jack Elsey, Detroit Children’s Fund

Children’s Museum of Art and Social Justice Exhibit

We were honored to exhibit our work for the second time at an ASU+GSV Summit in order to share our mission, vision, and resources with a larger education community. Showcasing images from our Springtime on Neptune exhibition on Afrofuturism, we tapped into the conversation on radically reimagining a future that de-centers whiteness and utilizes advanced technology to create a more just world. We asked participants to listen to Sun Ra, father of Afrofurisim, in order to write or draw about their own radically imaginative hopes for the future.

We also featured work from our Food for Thought exhibition in order to highlight the work we are doing around Food Justice. Proceeds that were raised from donations will go toward our first school-based food pantry opening at KIPP Academy Chicago this May.

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