Volunteer Spotlight: Courtland Madock

This week we’d like to bring one of our “behind the scenes” volunteers to the fore, and give her the recognition she deserves for all her hard work and commitment to our program.  In her 5 years volunteering at Cabrini Connections, Courtland Madock has mentored 3 students, including Diara Fleming, who will be graduating from Northern Illinois University this year with a degree in Family and Child Nutrition Services and aspirations to attend nursing school in the fall.  After working together at Cabrini Connections during Diara’s Junior year, they developed a strong enough mentoring relationship so that when Diara couldn’t attend the program her senior year because she got a job working for Cabrini Green Tutoring Program, they still stayed connected and were able to work together to guarantee Diara’s admission to college.  Courtland describes her relationship with Diara as “super close, she’s like family”.  Even today, they still talk a half dozen or so times a week!

Courtland is no stranger to reaching out to others in need, in fact she grew up surrounded by foster children in her own house growing up.  During her college years at the University of Iowa she mentored 3 kids through Big Brothers Big Sisters.  However, these days her biggest contribution to our youth is the role she plays as the coordinator of our Annual Year-End Dinner.  She started helping to organize the event 5 years ago and has been the primary coordinator for the last 3.  For Courtland the year-end dinner is one of the highlights of her year.  In her view it’s a great event because it “brings a very unique group together who wouldn’t otherwise come together”. She’s always happy to see the way students, volunteers, staff, donors, family and friends can mingle at the year-end dinner, connected by their participation in Cabrini Connections.  Unlike some of our other events, Courtland prides herself on the fact that the focus is on the kids, not wooing corporate sponsors or big donors.  Despite this, last year’s event managed to raise $13,000 for our program, something she’s working hard to repeat this year!  We agree with Courtland when she says that the event is getting better and better each year and that this is in large part due to the fact that she gains more and more knowledge and expertise each year, so that she is able to focus on the little things that make the event great rather than worrying about basics such as getting food or searching for a suitable space to hold the event. Additionally, due to the marketing savvy she’s gained at her job managing product strategy for US Cellular and the Kellogg MBA coursework that fills her nights, Courtland clearly has what it takes to pull off a big event like our Year-End Dinner.  We’re so happy that she’s taken such a leadership role and has been able to put her unique talents to use.  Now come see all her hard work in person by attending our Year-End Dinner, which will take place from 5:30-8 on June 4^th at 1111 N Wells.   See you there!

Volunteer Spotlight: Autumn Sharp

First year mentor Autumn Sharp has worked diligently with not one, but two students this year. She started the year with Senior, Terrisha Brownlow and after she left the program, she kindly stuck around as a substitute mentor until she was finally paired up a few months ago with Kanah Bradley, a sophomore at Von Steuben High School. Though she now works as a lawyer at Much Shelist, immediately after graduating from Ohio University she worked as a junior high and high school teacher. Her time spent in Columbus, OH classrooms teaching students with developmental handicaps and learning disabilities served to further develop her passion for helping youth succeed. About her current student Kanah, she says “I’m so happy to be working with someone who definitely has a bright future. We’re working to make it even brighter!”

Autumn is in a great position to do this as an attorney working for Much Shelist since her student Kanah is also interested in becoming a lawyer. In fact, Autumn has known that she wanted to go to law school since she was 11 years old! She attributes her early interest in the law to the amount of Cagney and Lacey she watched when she was a girl. Not wanting her daughter to be shot on the job working as a private investigator, Autumn’s mother strongly encouraged her to consider seeking justice in the courtroom as a lawyer rather than in the streets as a police detective like her childhood television heroes, detectives Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey.

Now intimately familiar with the day to day life as an attorney, Autumn is eager to share her knowledge and experiences with Kanah, so that she’ll be in a better position to make an informed decision about her own career. However, Autumn is careful not to push her too hard in one direction or the other since she realizes that Kanah may very well take a different path than the one that she herself took. For this reason, Autumn is already thinking about setting up some job shadowing opportunities for Kanah, who is also entertaining thoughts of practicing medicine, this summer with an Ob/Gyn and a family practice doctor that she knows.

After mentoring at Cabrini Connections for less than a year, Autumn is already committed to helping to sustain our program into the future by assisting with fundraising. Now that she has a good grasp on the life-changing difference our program can make in the lives of kids and adults alike, she wants to take the next step and try to bring us some much-needed resources by fundraising through her personal and professional networks. We very much appreciate efforts like these and for your continued dedication to our program. Congratulations Autumn, you certainly deserve the volunteer spotlight!

Volunteer Spotlight: Mike Kolberg

Though Mike Kolberg has only been with our program for a year, he’s been one of our most committed mentors. In fact, he was the only mentor to meet with his student, Savon Clark, regularly all summer long in our center. They met weekly to ensure that Savon entered his 8th grade year well-prepared for his challenging math coursework. Thanks to their dedication, Savon is now aiming for an A in math this quarter, which Mike is doing his best to help him achieve.

Over the past year, Mike has found working with Savon very rewarding. He’s glad that, thanks to the work they put in over the summer and their shared commitment to the mentoring relationship, they’ve been able to jump to addressing “higher level stuff” and don't have to worry about attendance or staying focused during their time together. Their usual coursework still includes a lot of math, but they also spend time working on Savon’s science homework. Luckily, Mike’s engineering degree from University of Illinois imparted him with all the knowledge he needs to be an excellent math and science tutor for Savon. However, despite his degree, Mike is not working as an engineer, but rather as a consultant for Zurich where he enjoys working with people, helping them manage risk at their companies, which he much prefers to sitting in front of a computer designing things as he would have done if he followed a more traditional engineering career path. When he’s not working, his favorite pastimes include watersports up at his favorite Wisconsin getaway, Pleasant Lake, where he boats and water skis.

We are so glad that Mike is happy with his involvement here at Cabrini Connections with Savon. In fact, Mike recently expressed how pleased he his to be volunteering someplace where “everyone is so involved and consistently dedicated to the program”. Additionally, in an effort to be a more effective mentor, Mike has reached out to Savon’s family and makes an effort to keep in contact with his father at least once a week after their tutoring sessions. He recently attended a dinner at Savon’s house where his father assembled all of the caring adults in Savon’s life and introduced them to one-another, so that they might be a more effective network of support for Savon as he enters high school next year. With Savon’s exceptional grades and dedication to the program so far as proof, it’s clear that Mike is doing an excellent job. Congratulations Mike and keep up the great work!

Volunteer Spotlight: Allen Tyson

This week’s volunteer in the spotlight is long overdue for the honor, in fact, he’s been mentoring youth since the early 1970’s, before most of our mentors were born! Allen (AJ) Tyson first started mentoring youth, when Cabrini Connections was just a gleam in Montgomery Wards’ young advertising director, Dan Bassill’s eye. At the time Dan was a volunteer at the Montgomery Ward Tutor/Mentor Program which served 2nd through 6th grade youth in the Cabrini-Green neighbourhood, which he took over as a full-time coordinator in 1975. They hit it off instantly and Mr. Tyson knew that this was somewhere where he could make a real difference without volunteering full-time and sacrificing his promising business career. Since that day, 29 years ago, he has mentored 13 youth, including his current mentee, Sean Mayfield, whom he describes as one of the most promising students he’s mentored.

During these past 29 years, Allen has done much to sustain and grow our organization beyond his role as a mentor, he continue to support the program financially as can be seen by his current 1st place status in our Fundraising for Quarters volunteer fundraising campaign. If he is able to retain his position on top, he will receive 2 free round-trip airline tickets to anywhere in the United States! In that case, perhaps he’ll decide to fly to one of the coasts with his wife to pursue their shared love of sailing or maybe back to Philadelphia to visit his alma mater, Philadelphia University, where through his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, he cultivated the “volunteer gene” that he got from his mother early in life by, volunteering at orphanages, baseball games, and coordinating reading seminars to promote literacy among underprivileged youth.

Through his extensive mentoring experience he’s picked up a few simple but effective mentoring techniques, one important one being that: “you always have to put demands on your student, they gotta bring their homework, if not, I buy books for the kids I tutor, so when they don’t have homework, we can build vocabulary by reading together.” It’s obvious that Mr. Tyson takes great joy in building relationships with each and every one of his students and helping them achieve to their highest potential. In fact, he’s contemplating becoming a substitute teacher, in addition to the 2 jobs he has already, his import-export button business and his job as a realtor for Caldwell Banker (his fun job). Regardless, it’s certain that Allen is a true asset to both the students he mentors, and Cabrini Connections. Thanks and congratulations!

Volunteer Spotlight: Michael Abers

22 year old Michael Abers is our youngest mentor at Cabrini Connections, he’s also been one of our most motivated and enthusiastic. Coming to Northwestern University from sunny Ft Lauderdale, Florida, he knew immediately that he wanted to get involved in the lives of at-risk inner city youth. He had participated in a youth tutoring program through his high school, Pinecrest School, known as Breakthrough. During his involvement with this program he tutored/mentored a middle schooler named Jessie, which turned him on to the idea of making a difference in a child’s life through youth tutoring and mentoring. Thus when he came to Chicago to study biochemistry, he also got involved in a handful of community service groups on Northwestern’s campus. In fact, upon arrival to Chicago he had the idea of starting a youth tutoring program in Cabrini-Green, which he had heard was a very high need area, and after doing a little research, Michael was pleased to discover that there were already organizations like ours putting his idea into action.

Seeking to make a difference, Michael spread the word about our organization at the fall activities fair and sought to put together a vanload of students who would volunteer weekly at Cabrini Connections. After a couple months of frustration, being matched up with a student with very erratic attendance, he was paired up with Aarion Woods, who attends Von Steuben Magnet School. They have been working together ever since, building a trusting and supportive relationship. Recently they have been focusing on ACT prep, since Aarion is a Junior and will be taking the ACT in less than a month. Michael has been making his own worksheets and creating lesson plans to work on with Aarion to introduce new concepts and review old ones, always giving Aarion something to take home and work on between sessions. Working with Michael has inspired Aarion to enroll in a free supplemental ACT prep course led by Cabrini Connections Volunteer Thomas Reuter. Michael is convinced that Aarion will be well-prepared come test-time and that his primary obstacle will be his lack of confidence, which they are working to address.

By the way Michael and Aarion have been able to get to know each other and quickly build a constructive mentoring relationship, it’s clear that Michael has a knack for working with youth. Fortunately, his postgraduate plans involve going to medical school to study pediatric neurology. In the meantime we’re glad that he’s decided to share his talents with Cabrini Connections, which he calls “is a great program with great facilities, good resources, good mentors and tutors, good people running the program and good students.” Thanks Michael for all you do and keep up the great work!

Volunteer Spotlight: Christine Nielsen

This week we’d like to highlight the involvement of one of our first-year volunteers, Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois, Christine Nielsen. A Michigan native, Christine came to Chicago in 2005 right after finishing law school at the University of Michigan. After passing the Illinois Bar Exam, she got right to work in the consumer fraud department of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office. There, she works on identity theft and data privacy issues, which she enjoys a great deal. However, before law school, she was a professional dancer, having received her BFA in dance at Western Michigan University along with a BA in Political Science and a Minor in Journalism. She recently discussed her unique career path with students as part of our Career Week programming which coincided with CPS students’ spring break.

Christine got involved here at Cabrini Connections through her friend and fellow lawyer Susan Garver, who had done a lot of research on places to volunteer with at-risk youth. They had heard about Cabrini-Green through the media and decided they wanted to see for themselves what the situation was on the ground by getting involved in the lives of its young residents. After visiting the program, Susan was paired up with Schiller 7th grader Olivia Williams and Christine was paired up with Lincoln Park High School Senior Dominique Dobbs. Throughout the year, according to Christine they have built a “good dialogue. She feels comfortable talking to me about school stuff as well as personal stuff.” Since Dominique is a senior, they have been spending a lot of their time together researching colleges and filling out college applications. Right now, they’re working on Dominique’s personal statement essays.

Since Dominique hasn’t always put as much effort into her education as she is presently with Christine’s encouragement and support, she is frustrated that her High School grades aren’t better. However, Christine has been helping Dominique address this by working with her to figure out the most effective way to explain her recent change of attitude towards school and newfound dedication to her studies in her college application essays. Fortunately, Dominique is determined to make it to college and Christine has been working with our College Zone Counselors Carla and Stephanie to ensure that Dominique puts her best foot forward with her applications.

Another thing that Christine and Dominique have been working on is organizational skills. Being a lawyer, Christine has to constantly navigate a wide array of documents, books and other resources, while ensuring that she makes it to all of her myriad meetings and appointments. Therefore, Christine is trying to impart some of her organizational prowess on Dominique and is working with her to improve her habits. This is currently taking the form of helping Dominique organize her college applications so she knows what needs to be included and when they need to be submitted.

Since Dominique will be graduating this year and hopefully moving on to college, Christine will definitely try to stay engaged in her life however possible. If she decides to remain in Chicago for a while she is considering mentoring Olivia Williams’ little sister, who will be a 7th grader next year.

Thanks so much for all your hard work and dedication to the program Christine! We’re so glad you’re a part of Cabrini Connections!

Intern Spotlight: Meagan Hermanowicz

This week I'd like to draw attention to a volunteer who's not a mentor here at Cabrini Connections. Her name is Meagan Hermanowicz and she's a DePaul University Senior who is currently serving as our Media Outreach Intern. Meagan grew up in Northbrook and ended up going to DePaul University for a number of reasons: it was close to home, her sister was a student there when she applied and it is a well-rounded school, which was particularly important since she didn't know quite what she wanted to study while she was applying. In fact, she started off as a psychology major and eventually switched to business, with a particular focus on marketing and advertising. When asked how she got into business and public relations she laughs and tells me, "I actually started off planning parties for my friends. I'm the kind of person who's very persistent with people, so that's what really got me into it." Needless to say, she threw some great parties.

She got involved here at Cabrini Connections by responding to a flyer that I put up, looking for someone to help fill the vacuum created when our former development and media outreach coordinator left. When asked what in particular piqued her interest about the position, she says "It definitely just seemed like a good thing to do. Most internships I was finding weren't anything I'd really enjoy. I like the fact that I can work on my own time, socializing and networking, meeting lots of new people. I like making connections with people and I like what Cabrini Connections is doing. It's really beneficial for the community."

Since she came on board roughly 2 months ago, Meagan has thrown herself into her role, doing everything from researching reporters and sending out press releases about our recent Art and Film Festival, to securing raffle prize donations and negotiating free poster printing at a fantastic local print shop Document Technologies (DTI). She arranged for some artists in her personal network to donate artwork to the Art Festival and has been doing everything she can to get out the word and secure sponsorship dollars for both our upcoming Year-End Dinner and Golf Benefit, which will take place on June 4th and July 16th respectively. She is also currently helping us find volunteers to work with our kids to help them prepare entertainment for the Year-End Dinner. We are so happy to have such a kind, passionate and enthusiastic youth advocate interning for us and want to make sure that all her hard work doesn't go unrecognized. So, thanks so much for all your help thus far, we wish all college students were so willing to get involved and use their talents to help bring positive social change to students and communities who need our help!

Volunteer Spotlight: Tony Carozza

Veteran volunteer Tony Carozza has been with our program for longer than 6 of our 7 staff! In fact, during the time that he’s been working with his student, CICS Northtown Academy senior Charles Thomas, Tony has both gotten married and had a child! He started way back in 2003 when another lawyer at his firm, Cabrini Connections board member and tutor Mike Hayes, sent out an email to all the young associates at Pretzel & Stouffer, the law firm where they were working at the time. In the email, Mike explained his involvement at Cabrini Connections and encouraged Tony to join him for a tutoring session so he too could get involved. When Tony eventually accompanied Mike to tutoring he liked what he saw and soon found himself matched up with Charles, then a 7th grader at CICS Washington Park. They hit it off right off the bat and got to work getting to know each other and building a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship.

In Tony’s words “It’s been awesome growing up with him for the last 6 years. Charles has gone from a kid to a man! He’s 18 years old. He has his driver’s license now!” Living out in the western suburbs, Tony isn’t able to see Charles as much as he might like to, but he treasures his time with him and has been working with Charles and his mother, with whom he stays connected, to figure out his post-high school plans.

Since Tony himself utilized community college as a stepping stone to Illinois State University, DePaul University College of Law and eventually a successful career as a defense lawyer at Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey, he has been trying to encourage Charles to do the same in order to prepare him for a 4 year college education. Luckily, since he has been working to build good repoire and trust between him and Charles over the past 6 years, Charles knows that Tony is looking out for him. In fact, for Tony, their relationship is not just a tutor/mentor thing…they’re buddies! They’re comfortable together and can speak honestly, saying what’s on their minds without mincing words.

For Tony, who has spent most of his life in the western suburbs, volunteering at Cabrini Connections has been an eye-opening experience. Working with kids from Cabrini Green he’s been introduced to a whole new world seeing the sorts of social marginalization, gang violence and other struggles that our kids face on a daily basis. However, he’s also come away inspired by the dedication of our numerous volunteers and staff who are willing to dedicate their time and talents to address these issues and help these kids develop into successful adults. Thanks Tony for being one of these generous individuals and using your skills and passion to make a difference in a child’s life. Keep up the great work!

Volunteer Spotlight: Fran Fritzmann

This week’s volunteer spotlight is on one of our mentors who has been really working hard to develop a great relationship with her student, native Chicagoan, Fran Fritzmann. Although this is their first year working together at Cabrini Connections, they actually have been together for two years, since they originally got matched up last year at Cabrini Green Tutoring Program, a Kindergarden-6th grade version of Cabrini Connections. She got involved there almost immediately upon moving into the neighborhood, seeking a way to connect with her new community and lend a hand to youth like Arden who could benefit from a caring mentor. Although this was her first time getting involved with youth tutoring/mentoring, Fran was able to quickly gain both Arden and her mother’s trust through frequent communication, dinner dates and working with her on a wide variety of subjects and projects. For example, Fran recently helped Arden prepare for her state-mandated Constitution test and the ISATs, which are a crucial component to high school admissions in Chicago Public Schools. Fran also often finds herself helping Arden with her social studies and math homework. Fran’s mentoring and homework help have helped Arden earn all As and Bs on her latest report card. Though Fran confesses that “Actually, I suck at math, I can’t do anything in my head,” this hasn’t prevented her from becoming a Certified Public Accountant and serving as the Vice President of Finance at Tighe Publishing Services (TPS), which is a full-service educational development house that partners with educational publishers to produce textbooks.

At TPS, she describes herself as a jack of all trades, due in part to her diverse background, having received a degree in Human Resource Management at Northeastern Illinois University. As you might guess, her textbook development job offers her a unique insight on the course materials that Arden’s school, Lasalle Language Academy, assigns her. Her main complaint, which is shared by many others in the textbook development community, is that textbooks are being developed almost exclusively to meet government mandated testing standards (i.e. the No Child Left Behind Act) with less and less emphasis being put on developing readable and engaging prose. This is unfortunate because it allows for less flexibility and creativity on the part of textbook developers like Fran in their important job of educating our nation’s youth.

We want to thank Fran for her involvement with Arden and our program. Keep up the great work!

Volunteer Spotlight: Brea Adams

23 year old and recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate Brea Adams is passionate about youth. She just spent four years studying human development and family studies and is currently a graduate student at DePaul University where she is training to be a school counselor. Although she is unsure whether she wants to eventually work professionally with middle school or high school youth, she’s very happy to be working with her current mentee, 8th grader Dallae Rodriguez. They have only been matched up for a few months, yet they have already cultivated a strong mentoring relationship. They work on a variety of academic topics, primarily math, which has actually been a learning experience for Brea as well, since it forces her to brush up on some math concepts that may be a bit rusty. However, Brea’s research has definitely paid off since according to Dallae, “working with Brea has drastically brought up my grade for math”. She now regularly arrives at tutoring beaming from her scores of 90% and 100% on math tests where she was previously earning significantly lower marks. When speaking about their relationship, Brea sums it up with: “We connect well!” In fact, they have more in common than might meet the eye, for instance, they both wear the same style of shoes, are constantly smiling and even share a favorite book: “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” which addresses adolescent issues such as teenage sexuality, drug use and abuse in a real and honest way.

Tutoring youth is nothing new for Brea. In fact she has been working with younger students since high school and currently helps to run a program at DePaul that hires undergraduate tutors for the university. Because she enjoys working one-on-one with kids so much and missed this interaction after graduating from college and leaving Madison, she sought out our program immediately upon arriving in Chicago. However, originally she was not matched with Dallae, but rather with another student who unfortunately had infrequent attendance throughout the fall quarter. However during this time, Brea demonstrated her commitment when she remained with the program despite not always having her mentee to work with, instead kindly offering to work with other students when their mentors couldn’t come and keeping a positive attitude in the face of adversity. When asked what she thinks of Cabrini Connections Brea offers: “I think this is a great program; I’m happy to be a part of it!” Thanks Brea for your dedication and all your hard work. You are a true asset to Dallae and our program!

Volunteer Spotlight: Mike Hayes

Mike Hayes, one of our veteran mentors, has been working with youth at Cabrini Connections since 2002. He originally got involved through his friend Mike Jozwik, another one of our veteran tutors, with whom he was doing improv comedy at the time. Their troupe was known as Flambango and has performed all around Chicago including at Second City and The Apollo Theatre. Though Hayes eventually transitioned into a less active role, his partner in crime Mike Jozwik remains active in the troupe. Though they no longer perform comedy together in front of an audience, they recently took center stage at a slightly more serious event a couple weeks ago. The two Mikes, in an attempt to foster more camaraderie and collaboration among the mentors at Cabrini Connections, put together a mentor “Bull Session” that took place after tutoring on both Wednesday and Thursday nights. There they facilitated a ‘mentors-only’ round table discussion where they encouraged their fellow mentors to share effective strategies and resources that they have discovered or developed through their years of combined mentoring experience.

In his 5+ years with our organization, Mike has worked with 2 students, recent high school graduate Kevin Cordero and up and coming 8th grader, Christian Palacios who is occupying the student spotlight position this week. In fact, Mike’s mentoring must have played a role in Christian’s nearly perfect 985/1000 CPS selective enrollment score. Discussing the wide variety of subjects that he and Mike work on together, Christian explained “He’s good at everything!” During his tenure at Cabrini Connections, he has not only built strong relationships with his 2 mentees, but he also met and married his current wife, former Cabrini Connections tutor, Susan Avery!

In addition to mentoring Christian, Mike is also a member of the Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection Executive Board where he serves as secretary, constantly trying to build resources for our organization and kids all over the city. With his law degree from Marquette University and work experience in fields ranging from litigation consulting to his current business development job with AIG commercial insurance, he has developed the skills and networks to be a tremendous force for Cabrini Connections.

In fact, thanks to Mike, over a dozen of our most active students had the opportunity to savor a free 8 course meal last week at one of the finest restaurants in the country, Charlie Trotter’s. Mike reached out to a friend and got us on the list to participate in the Charlie Trotter’s Excellence Program, which gave students a chance to learn more about the culinary arts, etiquette and of course enjoy a gourmet meal! About the experience Mike says “It was great! It was fun to see each student’s reaction to the courses,” which included such delicacies as steamed eel wrapped in banana leaves, poached quince and Pickering Pass Oysters. Needless to say, the students, volunteers and staff of Cabrini Connections are lucky to have such an experienced and dedicated mentor/board member in Mike Hayes! Keep up the great work.

Volunteer Spotlight: Susan Nice

Veteran volunteer Susan Nice, a realtor at D’Aprile Realty, Inc. has been working with Kenwood Academy senior, Eboni Rivera for the past 3 years. After finding our program online, she came in for an interview and was immediately matched up with Eboni, who was lacking a committed mentor at the time. Luckily, they got along great right off the bat and have continued to grow in their relationship throughout the past 3 years. For Susan, Eboni “has always been easy to work with, eager to learn and very motivated to come to tutoring and work together.” At first at tutoring, they would primarily work on homework assignments, such as Eboni’s math homework. Now Susan finds herself assisting Eboni with longer papers, big projects and stepping more into her mentoring role as they try to figure out Eboni’s future after she graduates in June!

Besides academic tutoring, Susan and Eboni will occasionally go out on the town. They have gone to the movies, Bulls games, out to lunch and have even shopped together for particular occasions, such as when Susan has helped pick out dresses for some of Eboni’s formal school dances. Susan also picks Eboni up from school in Kenwood and will sometimes attend her school events. According to Susan “We always have fun when we’re together.”

Susan has found it a pleasure to work with Eboni over the years and is excited to be helping her through the college admissions process in whatever way she can, though admittedly, Eboni has taken a lot of initiative and has made considerable progress on college-related stuff with her church groups and school counselors/teachers. At this point, they’re both waiting to see what Eboni’s financial aid package will be at Florida A&M University, her 1st choice school. Throughout the years Susan has supported Eboni as she changed her desired career path from medicine in favor of embracing her more creative side and becoming more serious about studying journalism.

When asked what has kept her volunteering at Cabrini Connections over the years she replies “My bond with Eboni has kept me here, the sense that I’m doing something for someone else.” However, reflecting on her time here she offers “I feel like Cabrini Connections has changed a lot, it’s taken a lot of different directions, I feel like right now it’s really student friendly and getting everyone more involved. There are lots of initiatives being taken that are good for everyone here”. Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication Susan! That’s why you’re in the volunteer spotlight!

Volunteer Spotlight: Charlie Megan

This week we’re proud to put 3 year veteran tutor, Charlie Megan, in the Volunteer Spotlight! Back in 2006 Charlie was looking to get involved in youth mentoring through Big Brothers/Big Sisters. He found himself seated next to Cabrini Connections Founder and CEO, Dan Bassill at a Union League Club annual dinner and the next thing Charlie knew, he was paired up and working with Jones College Prep freshman, George Johnson, his current mentee. At that time George had been bouncing around between a handful of tutors looking for the right match. Upon Charlie’s arrival, they hit it off right off the bat and started making great strides with George’s math coursework. Charlie found that, since George has the smarts to be getting good grades in math, they would focus on improving his organization, making sure to get him in the habit of writing out all the steps as he arrived to a particular solution.

However, Charlie’s mentoring role has taken different forms at different times to suit his student’s particular needs. During the past few years, Charlie has worked to earn George’s trust and friendship, focusing on building their repoire so he can be more responsive to George’s needs. To this end, Charlie has also been building a relationship with George’s family. For example, he went to his 8th grade graduation and was able to meet his parents and some extended family. Charlie stays in particularly good contact with George’s mother. They typically exchange emails about 3 times per week, updating each other on George’s status, challenges, achievements…etc. as well as to confirm that George will be attending tutoring each week. Charlie has also made an effort to develop relationships with individuals at George’s school, such as his school counselor, to stay abreast of any important developments at school. He also ensures that they meet once a month outside of our center for dinner or just to go shopping together for school supplies.

Though Charlie had never mentored youth before starting here at Cabrini Connections, he has always had a fondness for teaching—he taught at a sailing school growing up. For this reason, he has found his time here to be a real learning experience. However, in his relationship with George, Charlie has found out that the key factor is consistency. George knows exactly what to expect from him week after week and can count on him to be there for him.

Having studied finance at Michigan State and gone on to start his own real estate development firm, Red Ceder Partners, Charlie is no stranger to the hard work and dedication it takes to see a project through to completion. Thus, we are confident that he and George will stay the course and reap the rewards of the significant investment they’ve made in each other. Congratulations Charlie and keep up the great work!

Volunteer Spotlight: Anne Davies

Veteran Tutor/Mentor Anne Davies has been working with her student, Imann Mitchell for 4 years! They were first matched up when Imann was a 7th grader. Now, Anne helps Imann navigate the complex dynamics, both social and academic, of being a sophomore at Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center. Since their first year working together, Anne has helped Imann blossom into a talented and articulate writer, as well as a proficient Spanish-speaker. They have also worked a lot on Imann’s math skills. In addition to academic pursuits, Anne has helped Imann to put her best foot forward and gain the confidence to conquer her shyness and assert herself in social situations. Since Anne and Imann have worked to build a strong mentoring relationship, Anne is also able to counsel Imann and help her navigate the many non-academic challenges she has as a high school sophomore grappling with many new and exciting issues for the first time.

In mentoring Imann, Anne can draw from a wealth of experiences she has had working with youth throughout her life. For instance, Anne worked for three years at a teen helpline in Indianapolis where she helped counsel teens through whatever issues they were struggling with at the time. She also coached youth soccer teams throughout her college years at the University of Tennessee, where she graduated with a degree in journalism. Since then, Anne has continued on with her education, recently receiving her MBA from DePaul University with a focus on marketing and communications. She earned this MBA part-time while working for her current employer, General Growth Properties, which owns large shopping malls around the city, including nearby Water Tower Place.

Luckily for us, Anne’s commitment to our program extends beyond her work with Imann. She has helped in the planning of our annual “Year End Dinner,” which is a celebration of our kids and a chance to show off the successes of our program to prospective students and their families, potential donors and the community at-large. Anne has also recently expressed interest in putting her marketing and communications degree to use helping us figure out how to get more media coverage for our program and events so we can spread our message to more potential friends, students, volunteers, donors…etc. She also will be working with our staff to try to facilitate more effective workplace fundraising efforts from our volunteers. So, thanks Anne, for constantly going above and beyond! Both you and Imann are destined for great things!

Volunteer Spotlight: Anna Ashbaugh

This week Cabrini Connections would like to recognize first-year mentor, Anna Ashbaugh, who has been working with Whitney Hemphill this year. Since being paired up this past fall, they have made great progress together. Last week you read about the great work that Whitney Hemphill has been up to both academically and outside of school. In fact, since then, Whitney and Anna worked together on her “I have a dream…” powerpoint presentation, which won first prize and netted her $100. This week it’s time to find out more about the other side of the coin, her mentor Anna.

Like a handful of us on staff at Cabrini Connections, Anna is a recent graduate from
Northwestern University. She graduated in 2007 with a degree in cultural anthropology, doing her thesis on corporate social responsibility. She is now a Client Executive at Burson-Marsteller, a Public Relations firm, where she does corporate communications, community relations and corporate social responsibility. She helps companies such as Hormel Foods track their environmental and social impact. Much as she tries to work with her clients to help them become more responsible corporate citizens, she has been working with Whitney to develop her talents and potential.

Anna first became interested in Cabrini Green through another anthropology student at Northwestern who did their thesis on the language used in the media and around Chicago to refer to Cabrini Green and the dynamics of how that same language was also used by its residents. Looking for a way to get involved and use her talents to help others, she found out about our program and immediately found it to be “a really engaging, challenging experience.” Having mentored interns in the past, Anna particularly notices how “everyone here really cares about the students.”

Working with Whitney on her schoolwork and various other projects Anna finds that they both enjoy the freedom of the program, which encourages mentors and mentees to come together and decide for themselves at tutoring sessions what the most valuable use of their time would be. Tutoring Whitney also gives Anna an opportunity to brush up on her U.S. History and other subjects that she hasn’t read up on much since high school! Building a relationship with Whitney has also led them to meet outside of our center, to see movies like “The Secret Life of Bees” and to share stories and life experiences over dinner.

A harpist and singer since the age of 6, Anna originally took up the harp because she “wanted to be an angel.” It may have taken her 15 odd years of practice, but we’re glad she’s touching the lives of others in such a meaningful way here at Cabrini Connections. Thanks Anna and keep up the great work!

Volunteer Spotlight: Jacqueline Shay

Art Club Coordinator Jacqueline Shay, a.k.a. Jackie, is one of our most enthusiastic volunteers. Since coming to Cabrini Connections in 2005 she has expanded our Art Club to encompass more than just painting, but to include drawing, printmaking, sculpture and a variety of other media and techniques. She has also sought to engage the kids with more collaborative projects to encourage community and a spirit of togetherness in the club. A great example of this is last year's "Hand Mural" which currently graces the wall near the Art Club space. She is currently working with the kids on a new collaborative mural in a similar vein. Jackie has also been the driving force behind the yearly Cabrini Connections Art Festival, which has brought art connoisseurs together from around the city to local galleries to peruse and buy Cabrini Connections student’s art work. In the past, these have taken place in Wicker Park’s prestigious “Around the Coyote” gallery and gold coast art mecca Pallete and Chisel, where it will be held this year on April 4th. These Art Festivals are a great way for students to show off their artwork alongside professional artists and always earn students accolades from the attendees who are consistently impressed by the quality of their work. This event also serves as a fundraiser that helps support our year-round tutoring/mentoring programming.

Here at Cabrini Connections, we are lucky to have such a talented artist in our midst. Jackie grew up in a home full of artists, instilling in her a profound appreciation and passion for art which she pursued first at the City College of San Francisco and then at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she studied studio art, focusing on printmaking and drawing. In addition to her passion for art, Jackie has always enjoyed youth work and has worked at numerous after school programs. Therefore, when she found out about this opportunity here at Cabrini Connections, she jumped on it.

Jackie is constantly amazed at the maturity and talent of our kids. She has particularly enjoyed helping students such as Senior Angelene Hemphill, work to develop their art skills through the years. Jackie feels that the impact of art club goes beyond improving students art skills and also gives them something new where they can develop mastery and feel good about their success, hopefully giving the kids confidence to take on other challenges head-on and come out on top.

Though Jackie is satisfied with the program, she would love to see more kids getting involved. Since she has no trouble finding tons of volunteers who are eager to engage with the youth, it’s unfortunate we can’t bring even more youth into the Art Club fold and take advantage of Jackie’s talents and great ideas. Either way, we’re excited to grow together and make this year’s Art Club and Festival better than ever!

Volunteer Spotlight: Heather Coleman

Veteran Cabrini Connections volunteer, Heather Coleman, has been with our program for over 5 years! She found our program via a google search while she was looking for a meaningful way to tutor a youth. She hasn’t looked back since. She’s currently in her 4th year of tutoring/mentoring with Lincoln Park High School Junior Dijana Smith. Since they have known each other for so long and have worked to build their relationship, Heather can help Dijana navigate the complex web of academic, social and personal challenges that she faces as she begins to think about life after high school. Since stability is so important for youth, we’d like to point out that in the rare case that Heather can’t make it to tutoring, she always arranges for someone else to attend in her place so that Dijana is guaranteed a caring substitute mentor for the evening.

Heather herself is a University of Indiana alumna, but Dijana is thinking more about staying in Chicago and going to DePaul University, though a part of her wants to leave her hometown for a little change of scenery, perhaps in Atlanta. Either way, Heather is committed to helping her find her way and achieve the goals they both know Dijana can attain. For now they’re trying to figure out which of Dijana’s many interests she should pursue in college. Here, Dijana’s interests in education, psychology, cooking and fashion all compete for her time and future. However, over their frequent dinners of chicken wings and French fries at Buffalo Wild Wings, we’re sure that Heather won’t steer Dijana astray.

Being a manager at Morningstar Inc, a financial services company, Heather is hoping her leadership skills are rubbing off on Dijana, since she considers herself lucky to be keeping up with Dijana’s rapidly improving math abilities! For now, Heather is happy to be in such a strong mentoring relationship with Dijana and glad to be in a situation where she can make a positive difference in a child’s life.

Volunteer Spotlight: Stephanie Rogers

Cabrini Connections volunteer Stephanie Rogers is at a turning point in her life. In 2 months she will be receiving a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from Westwood College and will be entering the workforce. Though she doesn’t have a particular job lined up, she knows she wants to work in youth advocacy. She wants to use her talents and knowledge of the criminal justice system to help defend kids from injustice, whether it’s at school, home or in a public setting.

Stephanie has known that her calling was youth work since she was very young. Growing up on the Northwest side of Chicago, Stephanie saw a lot of friends suffer injustices growing up and came to realize that rather than give up and accept these things as inevitable, she wanted to stay positive, study hard, and work to make a difference. For Stephanie, helping others is in her nature… “obviously,” she says “I’m a Leo like Obama and we’re generous people.”

We couldn’t agree more. Since starting with us as a volunteer mentor in the Fall, Stephanie has been nothing less than generous in sharing her time and talents with us. Rather than giving up after her original mentee left the program, she has stuck around, helping us with a wide variety of things, including taking our students on a personally guided tour and information session of her school, Westwood College. She enjoyed this so much that she is now one of 2 coordinators of our new Cabrini Connections college zone. In this role she will work with our students and their mentors to ensure they’re on the right track with college admissions, assisting them with everything from searching for schools, the application process, financial aid, advice about budgeting at college…etc. She has generously decided to come in each week on both Wednesdays and Thursdays so that she can dedicate enough time to each student who needs it.

When not studying or volunteering Stephanie really enjoys writing poetry and listening to music. One of her favorite things to do is just walking around outside when the weather’s nice. However, her true passions lie with kids and her relentless desire to make other people happy. She’s completely committed to working with kids and she is confident that “If you stay motivated and working towards something you really believe in, you can’t be stopped.” Now those are words to live by. Thanks Stephanie!

Volunteer Spotlight: Brian Lange

Recent Notre Dame graduate Brian Lange knows a leader when he sees one. As a research analyst at Egon Zehnder International, he assesses and recruits top-level executives for leadership roles at organizations across the globe. Therefore we are particularly glad that when he was searching last year for a meaningful place to volunteer in his spare time, he ended up here at Cabrini Connections. Last year Brian was paired up with a student, Anthony Allen, in a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Anthony did not return this year, so Brian decided that this year he would be well suited for the volunteer coordinator role, which he is currently filling on Thursday nights. Brian has slipped into the role with ease, given his easy-going demeanor and leadership skills, which he will be further honing beginning next year at the University of Chicago.

Brian was recently accepted into the U of C Booth School of Business where he will be studying marketing, strategic management and behavioral finance beginning in fall. 2009 is shaping up to be an important year for Brian as he will be getting married to his fiancé Elizabeth this summer, who is a 3rd year medical student at Northwestern University. They met during Brian’s time at Notre Dame where he studied modern European history and business. Though he was busy in college, he found time to share his time with worthwhile organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. His most memorable experience with them was when he decided to join a group of concerned individuals in 2005 and travel to Sri Lanka for 3 weeks to help rebuild after the devastating tsunami that killed nearly a quarter million people in late December 2004.

About Cabrini Connections, Brian says: “it’s a good group, doing a good service to the city… I’m proud to be a part of it.” We’re glad you agree Brian!

Everyone's in the Spotlight!

Looking back on this 1st quarter, the following exemplary individuals have graced this site and the walls of Cabrini Connections as student and volunteer spotlights.

Students

DeSean Hale
Eboni Rivera
LaFaye Garth
Aarion Woods
Angelene Hemphill
Charles Thomas
Charles Hill
Dijana Smith
Gary Wise
Joshua Vera
Vontesha Stanfield

Volunteers

Alexandria Hill
Carl Hurdlik
Carolyn Grunst
Frances Kwee
Jen King
Joe Alverson
John Knight
Nicole Gordon
Steve Pawlik
Alice Toth
Tami Wielgus
Zak Kustok

Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication! We encourage everyone to read their spotlight articles to understand what makes these individuals so remarkable and worthy of praise. Click their name to read their article or just check out the wall and bulletin board at Cabrini Connections. I guarantee you'll learn something interesting.

However, just because these individuals were mentioned doesn't mean that they are the only people around here who are deserving of recognition. Making this program work is really a team effort between students, volunteers and staff, and we have been happy to see everyone doing their part, from volunteers bringing snacks week after week, to students taking initiative and running for the Youth Leadership Council trying to bring positive change to Cabrini Connections. We are excited to see students and volunteers stepping up and trying to do more to make Cabrini Connections the best possible tutor/mentor program.

So, look out for new student and volunteer spotlights during winter quarter. We're lucky to have such interesting, promising and dedicated volunteers and students and we're happy to brag about them. Have a very happy holiday!