After reading the article, we were shocked to find out that families are struggling with the high cost of living life everyday in Chicago. The conditions of the children who are living in poverty will later in life suffer, because they will not receive the same benefits that wealthy children do. Wealthier children have resources, for example books at home and help in their schools, where as children living in poverty do not receive these resources. Wealthier children have a better home life, compared to children living in poverty. Children living in poverty are more susceptible to crime and gangs because it is easier to live in a wealthy community opposed to a poorer community. In general, wealthier children have a more positive outlook on life.
In Lincoln Park, the community is generally wealthier. There are not as many tutoring/mentoring programs because the schools provide a better education than other areas in Chicago. Lincoln Park children are benefited with the resources that they are given at school. The Loop area, on the other hand, provides many tutoring/mentoring programs. These programs are there to prevent children from getting into trouble. Tutoring/mentoring programs are usually free of cost to help the children of the city. Although these programs are here to help the children, not as many children as they would like participate. Uptown provides a selected amount of tutoring/mentoring programs for children. The programs that they do have are very beneficial and do not only provide schooling for children, but they also include activities to keep the children involved and active. All of the programs positively impact the youth and it provides a safe environment outside of the streets. Old Town does not provide as many tutoring/mentoring programs because it is not as popular place for families to live. There are not as many schools in Old Town compared to cities like Lincoln Park and the Loop. There are more attractions and the town is more historical. Finally, the South Loop offers the most tutor/mentoring programs in the Near North Side. This is because the South Loop has a higher crime/poverty rate so this is the communities way of keeping the children out of trouble. These programs in the South Loop help the children stay in school and stay out of gangs. Since the parents are not there to provide for their children as much, these programs give the children an opportunity to enhance their education. From these tutor/mentor programs, children that need guidance or a place to go are able to excel not only in academics, but also in life.
posted by Dan Bassill, Tutor/Mentor Connection
You guys are doing great. I encourage you to read this blog article about how to use the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator to create map views of different neighborhoods. http://nicolecabrini.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-use-tmc-interactive-program.html
You can use the “print screen” feature on your PC keyboard of the map image, and use Adobe Photoshop to convert that to a jpg impage. Once done, you can upload the map jpg to your blog, so that as you are writing about a neighborhood you can include a map that shows what you are writing about.
If you need help just call Dan at the Tutor/Mentor Connection, 312-492-9614
I think it’s great that Lincoln Park can provide such great resources in-school. Now if only more schools could have something like that we would really be in business.
–Diana, by the way. Forgot to leave my name.
This blog tells a great amount of information about this area. It could have been broken up a little more to make information easier to find, but it was very usefull information that I would enjoy reading if researching tutor/mentor programs in the Near North Side. The language in this particular blog is easily understood and the audience will not have a hard time understanding the information. It isn’t to wordy or overdone. Great blog! -Shelby
I think that this blog has a lot of great information. I learned a lot about the childhood poverty in the Near North Side. It is very well organized and easy to read and follow. Coming from someone who is not in this class I found the blog very interesting to read. Also, I really liked the colorful Chicago skyline at the top of the blog. It draws attention to the blog before even reading about the topic. Great job!
Sammy Kessler (Alyssa’s friend)
I love what youguys are doing to show people that Chicago offers great eduacation to children. I believe that these programs will make a difference. Keep up the great work.