Category: Education

El evento de la tienda de After School Matters, Jungle, Mingle va a ser virtual este año. De ahora hasta el 15 de diciembre, los compradores pueden comprar regalos únicos, hechos por adolescentes, para amigos y familiares en la Tienda de Regalos en línea de After School Matters. Lo que se recaude será para apoyo de nuestros talentosos jóvenes y sus programas. Joyería, carteras de piel, pinturas, jabones y máscaras son solo algunos de los artículos disponibles esta temporada navideña. De ahora al 15 de diciembre, compre todos sus regalos en nuestra Tienda de Regalos en línea, utilizando el código HOLIDAY10 con el 10 por ciento de descuento de su compra. Los compradores pueden visitar www.afterschoolmatters.org.

Eleven young Hispanic women from Cicero took to the stage at J. Sterling Morton High School to share their personal stories of overcoming barriers, self-doubt, adversity who exemplify perseverance during the first Young Latina Talks held in Cicero. Fig Factor Media Publishing in collaboration with the Town of Cicero, Morton College and J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 presented this event. Giving their presentations were the following: Ariana Macedo, Alondra Villa, Carla Castellanos, Angela Campos, Elizabeth Loza, Emily Bastida, Marisol Nunez, Suhailly Vega, Marlene Medina, Nicole Barajas and Tatiana Hart. Speakers went through a nomination process to be chosen to participate.

Young Latina Talks, created by Fig Factor Media Publishing CEO Jacqueline S. Ruiz, is a Ted Talk-style event created in the spirit of widely successful Today’s Inspired Latina book series and global movement. This event, which has been done both in-person and virtually across the United States, brings the audience stories from a group of Latinas who have overcome barriers, self-doubt, adversity who exemplify perseverance. After the presentations were finished, judges evaluated them and chose Tatiana Hart, founder of Reign Investment Group and a second year Waubonsee Community College student, as the winner of the Young Latina Talks $1,000 Scholarship. For more information, visit http://todayslatina.com.  

By: Ashmar Mandou

Earlier this week, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) stated that all students will learn remotely through the end of 2020 with pre-k and students enrolled in “intensive and moderate cluster classrooms” returning to in-person learning on Jan 11, 2021, and students in grades K-8 returning on February 1st.

“It’s our moral imperative to do everything in our power to safely open schools beginning with our youngest and highest-needs learners, and the decision to re-open in January will ensure that Black and Latinx families — many of whom are essential workers and cannot ensure their children are fully supported through remote learning — have more equitable access to instruction this year,” said CPS CEO Dr. Janice K. Jackson.  “While we are eager to open our doors as soon as possible, beginning in-person learning in January is the right decision because it will minimize learning disruption from planned breaks and allow time for students and staff to limit activity prior to resuming in-person learning.” While the district is prepared to safely offer in-person learning at this time, beginning in-person instruction in January will limit disruptions as students’ transition back to schools while allowing students to quarantine following the holidays.

Governor Pritzker announced that Illinois will move to Tier 3 of the Restore Illinois Mitigation Plan beginning this Friday, Nov. 20, which permits in-person instruction, “classroom-based learning is critical to the overall academic and social-emotional development of students and prolonged school closures cause long-term negative consequences while exacerbating inequities.” Further, schools have not been found to be a significant source of COVID-19 transmission.

“We’re in the midst of this second surge right now and there’s no doubt the trends we see are very concerning. We want to get to a more stable place with community spread before bringing students and staff back to school,” said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D. “Once we do see more stability, even if case rates remain relatively high, I’m confident in-person learning can work and be safely done.”    

While the CDC and other public health authorities have not required schools to implement testing plans, the district will be utilizing a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy. To support students and staff who are symptomatic or have been a close contact of someone who tested positive, CPS and CDPH will facilitate access to free testing through either established primary care providers or city partners. According to CPS and the CDPH, school-based staff members will be tested regularly through a surveillance testing plan that is in development and will launch in time for the return of in-person learning.  Opening in January also allows the district additional time to finalize the details and logistics necessary to implement the comprehensive testing regime, and additional details will be available closer to the start of in-person learning.

With a new year just around the corner, it’s time to leave 2020 behind and make a new start.  City Colleges provides a quality, affordable education that helps prepare you for a successful future. This support may include, but is not limited to, grants, scholarships, virtual services and laptops on loan among other things. There are three sessions for the Spring term: a regular 16-weeks session and 12- and 8-weeks sessions. Registration for the regular 16-week is until January 15 (classes begin January 19). For the 12-week session registration is until February 12 (classes begin February 16). Registration for the final 8-week session is until March 11 (classes begin March 15).  For more information, call 773-COLLEGE or visit www.ccc.edu/apply.  

Once jóvenes hispanas de Cicero subieron al escenario de J. Sterling Morton High School para compartir sus historias personales de como vencieron barreras, auto-dudas, y adversidades que ejemplificaron su perseverancia durante la primera Charla de Jóvenes Latinas [Young Latina Talks] que se llevó a cabo en Cicero. Fig Factor Media Publishing, en colaboración con el Municipio de Cicero, Morton College y J. Sterling Morton High School Distrito 201, presentaron este evento. Las siguientes jóvenes hicieron su presentación: Ariana Macedo, Alondra Villa, Carla Castellanos, Angela Campos, Elizabeth Loza, Emily Bastida, Marisol Núñez, Suhailly Vega, Marlene Medina, Nicole Barajas y Tatiana Hart. Las oradoras pasaron por un proceso de denominación para ser escogidas para participar.

Young Latina Talks, creado por la CEO de Fig Factor Media Publishing, Jacqueline S. Ruiz, es un evento Ted Talk-style, creado con el espíritu de la exitosa serie de libros Inspirados en Latinas de Today y el movimiento mundial. Este evento, que ha sido hecho tanto en persona como en forma virtual en todo Estados Unidos, lleva a la audiencia historias de un grupo de latinas que han sobrepasado barreras, auto-dudas y adversidades y que son un ejemplo de perseverancia. Después de terminar las presentaciones, los jueces las evaluaron y escogieron a Tatiana Hart, fundadora de Reigh Investment Group y estudiante de segundo año de Waubonsee Community College, como ganadora de la Beca de Young Latina Talks de $1,000. Para más información, visite http://todayslatina.com.

Por: Ashmar Mandou

A principios de esta semana, las Escuelas Públicas de Chicago (CPS) y el Departamento de Salud Pública de Chicago (CDPH) declararon que todos los estudiantes aprenderán en forma remota hasta fines del 2020 y los estudiantes de pre-kínder y los estudiantes inscritos en “aulas de grupos intensivos y moderados” regresan al aprendizaje en persona el 11 de enero de 2021, y los estudiantes de los grados K-8 regresan el 1 de febrero.

“Es nuestra moral imperativa hacer todo lo posible por abrir las escuelas sin peligro, comenzando con nuestros estudiantes más jóvenes y con mayores necesidades y la decisión de re-abrir en enero garantizará que las familias negras y latinas – muchos de los cuales son trabajadores esenciales y no pueden garantizar que sus hijos reciban un apoyo total mediante el aprendizaje a distancia – tengan un acceso más equitativo a la instrucción este año”, dijo la CEO de CPS, Dra. Janice K. Jackson. “Aunque estamos ansiosos por abrir nuestras puertas tan pronto sea posible, comenzar el aprendizaje en persona en enero es la decisión correcta, porque minimizará la interrupción de los descansos planificados y dará tiempo para que el personal y los estudiantes limiten sus actividades antes de reanudar el aprendizaje en persona”. Aunque el distrito está preparado en esta ocasión para ofrecer el aprendizaje en persona sin peligro, el comienzo de la instrucción en persona en enero limitará las interrupciones durante la transición de los estudiantes a la escuela y permitirá que los estudiantes estén en cuarentena después de las vacaciones. El Gobernador Pritzker anunció que Illinois pasará al Nivel 3 del Plan de mitigación para Restaurar Illinois a partir de este viernes, 20 de noviembre, lo que permitirá la instrucción en persona, “el aprendizaje en el aula es esencial para el desarrollo académico y social de los estudiantes, y un cierre prolongado de las escuelas tendrá consecuencias negativas exacerbando inequidades”. Además, no se ha visto que las escuelas sean una considerable fuente de transmisión del COVID-19.

“Estamos en medio de este segundo aumento en este momento y no cabe duda de que las tendencias que vemos son muy preocupantes. Queremos llegar a un momento más estable con la propagación comunitaria antes de que los estudiantes y el personal regresen a la escuela “, dijo la Comisionada de CDPH, Allison Arwady, M.D. “Una vez que veamos más estabilidad, aún cuando los casos sigan relativamente altos, confío en que el aprendizaje en persona va a funcionar y pueda hacerse con toda seguridad”.

Aunque CDC y otras autoridades públicas de salud no han requerido que las escuelas implementen planes de pruebas, el distrito utilizará una estrategia integral de pruebas del COVID-19. Para apoyar a los estudiantes y al personal que son sintomáticos o que han estado en contacto cercano con álguien que probó positivo, CPS y CDPH facilitarán el acceso a pruebas gratuitas, ya sea a través de un cuidado primario establecido o con afiliados en la ciudad. De acuerdo a CPS y CDPH, los miembros del personal de las escuelas recibirán la prueba regularmente a través de un plan de pruebas de vigilancia que está en desarrollo y que estará lista para cuando los estudiantes regresen a la escuela. Abrir en enero dará también tiempo adicional al distrito para finalizar los detalles y la logística necesaria para implementar el régimen de pruebas integral. Detalles adicionales estarán al alcance de todos al acercarse el momento del aprendizaje en persona.

Con un nuevo año a la vuelta de la esquina, es hora de dejar atrás el 2020 e iniciar un nuevo comienzo. Los Colegios de la Ciudad ofrecen una educación asequible y de calidad, que le ayuda a prepararse para un futuro de éxito. Este apoyo puede incluir, pero no está limitado a subsidios, becas, servicios virtuales y préstamos de laptops entre otras cosas. Hay tres sesiones para el término de primavera: una sesión regular de 16 semanas y sesiones de 12 y 8 semanas. La inscripción para el período regular de 16 semanas es hasta el 15 de enero (las clases comienzan el 19 de enero). La inscripción para la sesión de 12 semanas es hasta el 12 de febrero (las clases comienzan el 16 de febrero). La inscripción para la sesión final de 8 semanas es hasta el 11 de marzo (las clases comienzan el 15 de marzo). Para más información, llame a 773-COLLEGE o visite www.ccc.edu/apply.

The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is revamping its Emergency Travel Order to better reflect the changing nature of the pandemic and provide more specific guidance to travelers entering or returning to the city amid a surge in COVID-19 cases locally and nationally. Under the new system, states will be placed in three categories – red, orange and yellow – based on the status of the outbreak in the states and how the data compares to the situation in Chicago. Previously, states with more than 15 new COVID cases per day, per 100,000 population automatically went on the quarantine list, requiring visitors and Chicagoans returning from these states to quarantine for 14 days. The new guidance is as follows:

• Yellow: States with a rolling 7-day average less than 15 cases/day/100k residents.

• No quarantine or pre-arrival test required. Maintain strict masking, social distancing and avoidance of in-person gatherings

• Orange: States have a rolling 7-day average between 15 cases/day/100k residents and the Chicago rolling 7-day average (currently 60) 

• 14-day quarantine OR pre-arrival negative test no more than 72 hours before arrival in Chicago with strict masking, social distancing and avoidance of in-person gatherings

• Red: States have a higher 7-day rolling average of positive cases/day/100k Chicago residents. 

• 14-day quarantine 

The new guidance will go into effect on Friday, November 13, 2020, at 12:01 a.m., and it will be updated every two weeks, although this initial version will be updated after one week to get on a two-week cycle that will avoid conflict with the Thanksgiving weekend. Regardless of category, people are urged to avoid non-essential travel and to follow standard COVID-19 mitigation practices such as wearing a mask, washing hands frequently, and social distancing.

We may wish some memories could last a lifetime, but many physical and emotional factors can negatively impact our ability to retain information throughout life. A new study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people who feel enthusiastic and cheerful — what psychologists call “positive affect” — are less likely to experience memory decline as they age. This result adds to a growing body of research on positive affect’s role in healthy aging.

A team of researchers analyzed data from 991 middle-aged and older U.S. adults who participated in a national study conducted at three time periods: between 1995 and 1996, 2004 and 2006, and 2013 and 2014. In each assessment, participants reported on a range of positive emotions they had experienced during the past 30 days. In the final two assessments, participants also completed tests of memory performance. These tests consisted of recalling words immediately after their presentation and again 15 minutes later. The researchers examined the association between positive affect and memory decline, accounting for age, gender, education, depression, negative affect, and extraversion.

“Our findings showed that memory declined with age,” said Claudia Haase, an associate professor at Northwestern University and senior author on the paper. “However, individuals with higher levels of positive affect had a less steep memory decline over the course of almost a decade,” added Emily Hittner, a PhD graduate of Northwestern University and the paper’s lead author. Areas of future research might address the pathways that could connect positive affect and memory, such as physical health or social relationships.

The American Medical Association Foundation (AMAF) announced a $100,000 donation to support patients and care teams working together to manage blood pressure (BP) in Chicago’s west side communities. This funding helps to expand the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Heart Association (AHA)’s current work with West Side United (WSU) to support local health care organizations (HCOs) and their efforts to help patients with hypertension better manage their BP remotely. High BP is an important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death on the west side. The AMA and AHA are working with WSU to help close the large life expectancy gap of up to 16 years between the west side of Chicago and Chicago’s downtown neighborhoods, as identified by WSU. As part of their current work with three HCOs on the west side, the AMA and AHA most recently provided 1,000 validated BP measurement devices and educational resources to patients with hypertension. Learn more about the AMA’s collaboration with West Side United to address health inequities on Chicago’s west side.