Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Summer 2008 Activity Schedule



While the last offical 2007-08 tutor/mentor sessions will be the week before Memorial day, there will be activities between June and September that are intended to keep youth and volunteers connected with each other and with Cabrini Connections. For instance the Art Club will continue to meet, creating new projects such as the Peace Mural, which was created in Spring 2008.

Here are activities planned for June:

June 4, 2008: Cabrini Connections Summer College Seminars – Seminar 1 – Basic Information About College. To be held at Cabrini Connections offices, 800 West Huron, from 5:30pm – 6:30pm.

June 11, 2008: Cabrini Connections Summer College Seminars – Seminar 2 – The First Steps, Testing and Applying to College. To be held at Cabrini Connections offices, 800 West Huron, from 5:30pm – 6:30pm.

June 12, 2008: Cabrini Connections Year End Dinner, held at LaSalle Foundation, 1111 N. Wells. All youth, volunteers, parents and supporters invited.

June 18, 2008: Cabrini Connections Summer College Seminars – Seminar 3 – The Next Steps – How to Choose and Pay for College. To be held at Cabrini Connections offices, 800 West Huron, from 5:30pm – 6:30pm.

Formal Summer Programming begins June 23rd – August 16, 2008 (8 weeks)

Art Class – Mondays 5:45-7:15 p.m. (June 11-August20)

IYP (Film) Club – Tuesdays and Thursdays 7:00-8:00 p.m.(Starts June 28)
Volunteers needed to help organize summer video club activities

Tech Club – Tuesdays 7:00-8:00 p.m. (Starts June 5)
Volunteers needed to help organize summer tech club activities.

Writing Club – Wednesdays 4:30-6:00 p.m.(July 11-August 29)



Edgewood College Visit – July 7,8,9 2008

Jimmy Biggs Memorial Cabrini Connections Golf Benefit - http://cabrinitmcgolf.org – July 17, 2008, at Highland Park Country Club

Great America Trip will be July 25 (with rain date of Aug 2) for students with 80% or better attendance in April/May 2008.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Homework Help On Internet

When parents, students and volunteers look at the grades next week there will be a mixture of joy, anguish and indifference. As a tutor/mentor program we'd like to celebrate the good news, try to overcome the lack of interest, and create study plans so that future report cards show improvement.

Where can you go for help?
I encourage you to browse the homework help links  on the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) web site. There are study aids in math, science, literature, reading and writing, for every age level.

You don't need to have expertise in higher math to point your student to web sites where experts are posting information to help students solve problems. You do need to find ways to motivate youth to use these resources, when they are here, or at other days of the week when they have access to computers. If we build that into our culture at Cabrini Connections, we can help more students bring good news with their report cards, and with future success in school and life.

Network with other volunteers and share web resources.
Help each other learn what sites are most valuable. Help all of our teens learn to use the on-line homework help resources. Attending a poorly performing school, with a poor teacher is no excuse for not learning everything that a student needs to know. Find a way to motivate teens to take advantage of this learning opportunity is the real challenge all parents, and all teachers and mentors face.

Let us know what works for you. Share your ideas with other volunteers, coordinators and staff.

Dan Bassill
President, CEO

Monday, April 07, 2008

Two GREAT Opportunities

An Opportunity to Remember
Tutors and Mentors are you looking for an event to take your students to in the near future???? Well here is a perfect opportunity for you and your student to get together out in the community. On April 26, 2008 at 12:00 P.M. Northwestern University will be hosting their Annual Spring Football game at Ryan Field in Evanston, IL. The game set up is an intersquad scrimmage opened to the public to give the first glimpse of Wildcats as they prepare for the 2008-2009 Season. This is a FREE event and everybody who attends will have the opportunity to stretch with the Cats before the game and get autographs from the players and coaches after the game. Also many of the former Northwestern University football stars, many of whom are currently in the NFL and other highly successful careers, will be in attendance signing autographs throughout the game. NFL players such as Noah Herron of the Green Bay Packers, Austin King of the Seattle Seahawks, Luis Castillo of the San Diego Charges, and Barry Cofield of the 2008 Super Bowl Champions, the New York Giants. This is also an opportunity for many of the students of the Cabrini Connections program to interact with the players and listen to how they used tutor/mentor programs like Cabrini Connections on their path to future and current careers!
So here is the perfect opportunity for you and your student to get out and only enjoy the great weather and a great game, but also an opportunity to interact with positive role models and current and future NFL stars!
The Perfect Attendance Challenge
The staff at the Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connections programs strives to not only encourage positive attendance, but also to reward positive attendance. New Administrative Coordinator, EL DaSheon Nix, has created The Perfect Attendance Challenge for the students and the tutor/mentors of the Cabrini Connections Wednesday and Thursday tutoring sessions. Here are the details of The Perfect Attendance Challenge:
April 2, 2008-May 22, 2008 is the 3rd quarter of the Cabrini Connections program for the 2007-2008 school year. If on a Wednesday or Thursday tutoring session during the 3rd quarter the attendance reaches a perfect 100% EL DaSheon Nix will personally host a Pizza Party for all of the tutor/mentors and students who were present on that day. So the Wednesday tutoring session will have an opportunity to earn the Pizza Party and the Thursday tutoring session will have an opportunity to earn the Pizza Party.
*special note* In order to have attendance count for that day tutor/mentors and students have to be signed in before 6:10 and must stay until at least 7:45 UNLESS there is an emergency situation causing a student or tutor/mentor to arrive late or leave early. And the organizations staff will have the right to determine if the reason is valid to still count attendance for that day.
So The Perfect Attendance Challenge has been set…can and will YOU meet this challenge?!?!
If there are any questions, concerns, or comments please direct them to EL DaSheon Nix.

Endorsement from Veteran Volunteer

Once in Cabrini Connections. Always in Cabrini Connections.

That's the goal I've shared with volunteers for the past 15 years. It reflects my belief that our students and volunteers can continue to support each other in years after they are an active part of Cabrini Connections, and that some of them will also support the continued operations and growth of Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection.

Ted Bills is one example of this support. He left the program several years ago to get his MBA from the University of Virginia. He now works for GE and has been posted in various cities. For the past two years he's been sending donations. I asked him to share his reasons for this support. Here's what he wrote:

I support Cabrini Connections because CC can provide a consistent, positive, encouraging support environment for underprivileged kids. I believe CC fills a gap for many kids, which can go a long way to enhance their chance for success. In my situation, this assisted my student in receiving a full scholarship to college!

I also believe in Dan's leadership. His unwavering commitment, dedication, and sacrifice to these kids is unquestionable. As a result, I am confident that my donation, as well as my company's match, entails a rock solid investment in helping kids have a brighter future.


Many of our former volunteers are sending donations and acting as avocates. Many are also directly connected to our teens. However, we're not certain how many. That's why we keep inviting former volunteers and students to submit articles that tell us where they are and how they are still connected. You can email an article to Dan, or use the form in the upper right hand corner of this page. We'd love to hear from you.

Thank you Ted for continuing to be an active member of the Cabrini Connections family.