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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Bennett School has a new website

http://bennettes.org/

I'm ecstatic that somehow I found a new website for Bennett School after a Google search. Over six years ago I found a different iteration of this website which has long since went offline.

This website has a lot more information about the staff of Bennett School and hopefully they will continue to add more information regarding the neighborhood elementary school in the future. So far I like and especially emphasized some of the architectural details of Bennett.

If they need any help with content I would be happy to volunteer. They'll probably never ask though. :P

BTW, I will say sometimes I wish the many public schools in Chicago utilize the many tools available to alert the public about their activities. Bennett now has a website but they could also use a Twitter, Instagram or a Facebook page. The surrounding neighborhood should know what's going on there even if they don't have any children going to school their. The local school is a neighbor after all.

ALSO another school neighbor has also updated their website, Harlan High School which is reflective of a new principal change as well. Harlan - GO FALCONS - also developed more of a social networking presence and then mysteriously stopped. This is definitely an example where they should use these various tools to let the community know what's going on there, especially some of the good news involving students.

Monday, April 18, 2016

9th Ward Community Meeting

Alderman Anthony Beale
  • Please Join Us!
    9th Ward Alderman Anthony A. Beale and City Department Representatives present a 9th Ward Community Meeting

    Tuesday, April 26, 2016
    6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

    Pullman Presbyterian Church
    550 East 103rd Street
    Chicago, Illinois 60628

    For more info
    9th Ward Alderman Anthony A. Beale
    34 East 112th Place
    Chicago, Illinois 60628
    773.785.1100


Hotel Florence Pullman

This is the Hotel Florence as seen from across the street on 111th Street. An historic building designed in the 19th century for those who did business with the Pullman Company for whom this neighborhood was named. These days unfortunately this particular building is owned by the state and still trying to find a use for this building.

Even if it's not for a hotel my hope is that it can be used as a community meeting place or for business purposes as a restaurant for example. Closer to Cottage Grove a park surrounds it known as Arcade Park & Pullman Park.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Vacant building on 111th & Edbrooke

This residential building is on the corner of 111th & Edbrooke. The next street over is Michigan Avenue. Literally here is an abandoned house/apartment building literally open to the elements as the windows on the top floor are broken. The building beyond this one is in a similar state.

You can check out these properties via Google Streetview
 
There are previous years shots of those buildings and they seemed to be in better condition than they were on my recent walk to Pullman. Wow what a difference a few years makes.

So on my recent walk to Pullman brought me past Shedd School to the Walmart in Pullman where I took shots of the future site of the Whole Foods Market distribution center. Then back west on 111th Street to hop on the Michigan bus to go back north. There are more shots to share.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Took these shots of the Shedd School property

On my walk to Pullman a few days ago. It was a wet rainy day as depicted in these photos. The first two pics are of the front one is similar to the shot you see in the blog's header.
200 E. 99th Street
200 E. 99th Street
Here's the backlot a field that I used to play around in during recess and of course before school started the kids would play in this field also. Fun days and sadly no longer common. I'll explain after this pic.
Looking from 98th & Indiana
Shedd School has been closed since about 2013 and the local community organization Roseland Heights Community Association has been concerned about a zoning change for this property. It has been zoned for industrial use and therefore a concern is now seen over this greenspace just a block away from Michigan Avenue.

As a former student there, it's unfortunate that classes are no longer held here. However, my hope is that the greenspace remains for the community. If the building remains then it shall be used for the benefit of the community.

Sidenote - I've been using this accessory on my smartphone called an olliclip. Basically this is something you can slip onto your iPhone, iPad or Android devices and take shots with various lenses to enhance your mobile photography. That's why one of the pics above seem unusual.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Walking through Pullman

107th & Cottage Grove
 On a wet day I decided to take a walk into the Pullman neighborhood. I never ventured from the main thoroughfares, just walks along most of the periphery until I got to Walmart. Then upon leaving Walmart the walk ended at 111th and Michigan where I hopped on a bus to go back north.

Took some shots along the way. Some of the sights that I saw when I finally arrive at my destination. Unfortunately it wasn't a bright sunshiny day it was raining. Hopefully when the weather is nice on a day in the future this is something I can try again. Perhaps even venture into those areas of great interest to me architecturally and as a budding urbanist.

Just for the sake of it, here's a pic below of the future site of the Whole Foods Distribution facility and you also see in the background he Methods plant in the back.
720 E. 111th Street
720 E. 111th Street
I do hope the put a sidewalk here when this facility is finally constructed. This is the same area from that second snapshot.
720 E. 111th Street
I hope for nicer weather in the future so that I can do this again and have more documentation of the sights. There are more to share from this day, hopefully you will see in the near future.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Capitol Fax: Today's number 63%

Go Falcons!
Rich Miller of the Capitol Fax talks about the increase of students in our high schools and increase the number of high schools. In addition he makes these comments as far as the policy over neighborhood schools and retaining the middle class in our city:
Neighborhood schools weren’t working in many neighborhoods at the bottom of the economic ladder. So, Chicago embraced public school choice. But that isn’t working either for kids on the lowest economic rungs. Charters can kick kids out for low performance, behavioral problems, etc. and they do that a lot.

I happen to think charters can be a great thing. But, man, the costs sure are high to run all those new schools. And innovators like Kansas City are also having some very real problems.
I wonder if some of these issues involved with the neighborhood schools include Harlan. I'm very sure that they might and it also have some undeserved reputation for violence. I say it's undeserved because over the years they attempt to emphasize the students who got something going for themselves with college and the scholarships for example.

BTW, I would suggest you read the full post at Capitol Fax and read The Atlantic article he quotes from. It deserves a read from me regardless.

Friday, April 8, 2016

Hope Dealers documentary


Hope Dealer Trailer from Lawrence Trapp on Vimeo.

[VIDEO] I've written about this group from time to time and I got wind of a future documentary of which you see a preview here. This is what's posted to the video page:
Hope Dealers, a non-profit organization that aims to help areas through community service. The group was created by Corey Hardiman, a Morehouse graduate and native of Southside Chicago. Although looking to eventually expand, the group for the past three years has primarily performed service in Southside Chicago, Ill.
Now to find out when this documentary is coming and if it will be shown exclusively on the internet or shown at a movie house near you.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

DNA Info: He's Just 24, But Englewood Native Is Passing Out Scholarships To Give Back


Mr. Cassius Rudolph via DNA Info
And this story involves Harlan High School and I think this is just great. The kids in our neighborhood schools needs this and who says they have to go to a selective enrollment school:

Cassius Rudolph believes "you should pour back into the community what the community poured into you."

The 24-year-old Englewood native credits family, friends and church for guiding him through the South Side's rough streets to the graduation stage at Harlan High School and Tougaloo College.

Rudolph, now a graduate student at Columbia University's Union Theological Seminary, is the first person in his family to graduate from college.

This month, he's giving back, awarding at least three $1,000 scholarships to seniors at Harlan, 9652 S. MIchigan Ave., who will be attending Tougaloo, a historically black college in Jackson, Miss.

"Charity begins at home," Rudolph said. "My message to the kids in Chicago is they can make it if they work hard, study hard and ask for help."
25 Harlan seniors have applied and hopefully by next year 10 scholarships will be offered as opposed to only 3. I wonder where he gets this money from. Either way this is great, more stories like this please!

GO FALCONS!

Saturday, April 2, 2016

#Aldertrack: Re-elect Anthony Beale for 9th Ward Alderman in 2015

[VIDEO] I missed this almost four minute video - produced by Urban Broadcast Media - from last year in the midst of last year's city elections. Alderman Anthony Beale made his case for another term as 9th Ward Alderman.

The Alderman paints a picture of a deserted area when he was first elected in 1999 to a much more thriving ward which includes a Walmart and a Methods plant at the Pullman Park Development. In addition to improvements to Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep High School. If he runs again in 2019 he can also add a Whole Foods Market distribution center in the Pullman National Monument community.

Sometimes, I wish he had more of a social media presence or at least someone around him that has a mind for this. He has an FB page that's often updated, he also has a twitter that he could use, and I would also dare say this video is posted to his YouTube account that could be utilized further. That is he could post a few more videos on YouTube although he needs not have to speak to the camera.

I recognize politics is as much a performance as anything. It would be cool if we saw someone from his office record his comments regarding the Whole Foods distribution center. The only way I found out he said anything is not through our local mainstream media, but through a neighborhood paper.

All the same, I can beg the question as to how effective this video was to re-elect Anthony Beale. How did this video get shared did the mainstream media see it and share it? Did it get much play in social media? Better yet did Aldertrack share it in the lead-up to the 2015 elections last year?

Friday, April 1, 2016

Citywide day of action on Friday

Really got wind of this on Wednesday via an email from Mrs. Banks-Pincham forgot them got reminded in another email. A post about this will be posted at SixthWard.us in the morning but this blog will post about it first.
  • Subject: ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR CITYWIDE DAY OF ACTION: FRIDAY APRIL 1, 2016

    Below is the plan of action for Harlan.

    This plan is being conducted in concert with many other unions who are being effected by the political onslaught of Governor Rauner and Mayor Emanuel to dismantle the union structure in the name of "balancing the budgets"

    Over the next few days, you may be hearing about the actions on April 1st taking
    place across the City that emphasize the disrespect and disregard for;
    • Students from Pre-K to PhD by not providing a fair funding formula for all students in Illinois to the withholding of MAP grant monies to state run university students.
    • Fair wages for the workers at McDonalds,
    • Moving of jobs from the United States to Mexico (Nabisco)
    • The building and expansion of prisons instead of schools in Illinois as well selling off public education to the private sector.
    • The lack of pension funding because City and State governments did not pay their portion and used the taxes to fund those pensions with the promise to pay it back......over more than 20 years.........and never did.
    WE NEED EVERYONE TO COME OUT AND SUPPORT THIS DAY OF ACTION. IT EFFECTS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US AND WE NEED TO STAND UP NOW!!!!!

    The current plan for Friday April 1, 2016 is: teachers meet at 8 a.m. at Harlan to picket for an hour; at about 9 a.m. teachers who are physically able will walk to Chicago State; teachers who are unable to make the walk will drive to Chicago State at 9:30; we will converge at the Student Union Building at 10:00 a.m. for a rally at CSU; a teach in will be conducted from 10:00 a.m. until just after 12 noon; CTU, CSU faculty and community organizations (West Chesterfield, Rosemoor, etc.,)will rally at noon and march back to Harlan; Harlan teachers can get their cars and drive downtown (actually) the lot near Cermak and Wentworth is recommended with a Red Line ride to State and Lake; others may elect to catch the 95th Street Red Line with CSU faculty to go downtown; CTU and other unions will gather at the State of Illinois (Thompson) building located at Randolph and Clark.

    By the way, the Thompson building is a public building. There is a food court on the lower level offering a variety of foods.

    If you arrive a little early, grab something to eat. The food court starts shutting down around 3p.m. The downtown "Shut Down Chicago-Fund Our Schools" rally at the Thompson building will run from about 3 or 4 until around 6.

    All are welcome to call or email - sherry8750 @ yahoo.com - if there are questions or concerns.

    Sharon Banks-Pincham
    Harlen LSC Member