LOCAL TEENS UPLIFTED BY ‘STAY IN SCHOOL’ PROGRAM

Stay in School’s recent session for youth between the ages of 11 and up was held Mar. 18, 2017 at 1871, located on 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza. The theme of the session was “communication” where organizers covered “non-verbal communication through a touch telephone game; communicating an idea through art; verbal communication and problem solving through interactive activities; professional interview techniques and tactics. Photo courtesy of Stay in School.
Stay in School’s recent session for youth between the ages of 11 and up was held Mar. 18, 2017 at 1871, located on 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza. The theme of the session was “communication” where organizers covered “non-verbal communication through a touch telephone game; communicating an idea through art; verbal communication and problem solving through interactive activities; professional interview techniques and tactics. Photo courtesy of Stay in School.

LOCAL TEENS UPLIFTED BY ‘STAY IN SCHOOL’ PROGRAM

By Christopher Shuttlesworth

In its 11th year, ‘Stay in School,’ is more important now than ever. Working with six community agencies and their partner high

schools from communities such as Austin, Humboldt Park and North

Lawndale, ‘Stay in School’ was created by Exelon, ComEd and the

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. The initiative’s mission is to

address the high dropout and truancy rates in schools and offers

programs to more than 2,000 students and parents including tutoring, social services, development of pro-social behaviors such as leadership and social engagement skills, among other services. Paid summer internships also help keep teens off of the streets and busy during the summer months.

“There are wonderful people in all of our lives including these kids’ lives who help them succeed,” Stay in School’s mentor Linda Rhodes said. “But for a lot of folks, including some of these kids, there are are out of their control, a lot of exposure in their neighborhoods, within their schools and in their families.”

Rhodes said the reason the program is important to the community is because it provides an opportunity to uplift youth and

it allows them to operate in an environment where people are rooting for them.

Stay in School’s recent session for youth between the ages of 11 and up was held on Mar. 18, 2017 at 1871, located at 222 W.

Merchandise Mart Plaza. The theme of the session was “communication” and it covered “non-verbal communication through a touch telephone game; communicating an idea through art; verbal communication and problem solving through interactive activities; professional interview techniques and tactics, according to a Stay in School press release.

“It was very engaging,” Rhodes said. “From the moment it started, meaning from the moment you walked into the 1871 space for neighbors, entrepreneurs and creators, it was different because these young people were exposed to a non-traditional work environment that obviously encouraged collaboration and communication just by its very design.”

Elephant Rebellion, which is an advocacy group, featured and led activities that really involved the students, their bodies and minds. Rhodes said there were teenagers who she says had not spoken a word all year long, but who volunteered to rap about their mentor or colleague.

“It’s not just about asking a question and getting people to raise their hands, but making sure their engaged,” Rhodes said. “This was more about having them stand up, communicate with each other and it was something that resonated with the kids. It’s funny because with teenagers, if they’re not engaged and you don’t come up with something that resonates with them, then you can tell. They don’t pretend that it’s okay and they are very clear about whether or not it connects with them.”

According to exeloncorp.com, Exelon and ComEd employee volunteers continue to “provide one-on-one mentoring to the students” and both companies help keep positivity running throughout the communities through their contributions amounting to nearly $3 million to fund the Stay in School Initiative since its start.

Rhodes said it’s vital that the program and its mentors continue to show that they can connect with the students because if not, the

sessions will be meaningless.

“Those of us who are involved in the program, intentions are genuine,” Rhodes said. “But if the young people don’t believe that…

if that’s not something that they’re convinced about, then it doesn’t matter what messages we’re trying to send or expose them to because it would not have the same effect as when they connect with us. It would be a missed opportunity because the message would be there, but it would only reach some, if any

students.”

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