Education Council

2010-2011

During summer 2010, the Education Council members were charged with developing recommendations about how to use 21st century technology to improve the rigor, relevance, and relationships of high school. The council's 53-page report discusses the use of technology to improve teaching, communicate between students and teachers, improve students' learning, foster positive school culture, and other areas. Click on the link below to access the Education Council 2010 report, "Bringing Chicago Public Schools into the 21st Century"
Bringing_Chicago_Public_High_Schools_to_21st_Centu (1025 KB)

Also, click here to check out the video the students made to document the process of developing their 2010 report.

In January 2011, the Education Council determined that their top recommendation is for Chicago Public Schools to pass a new filtering policy that would unblock educational resources such as YouTube for teachers. recommendation. Read the Council's Social Media Policy Position Paper below:
Social_Media_Policy_Position_Paper.pdf (451 KB)

2009-2010

Read the Education Council's report to CPS Schools Chief on "Reinventing High Schools to Chicago" from 2009:
How_to_Reinvent_Chicago_Public_High_Schools.pdf (676 KB)

The Education Council pushed strongly for one of their policy recommendations from the 2009 report - the creation of Student Voice Committees in individual schools. The Council believes that this is the best way to ensure that students are participating in the decision-making systems of individual schools. Below is their position paper detailing the need of these committees in high schools and specific implementation strategies to ensure success:
Student_Voice_Position_Paper.pdf (701 KB)

2008-2009

Read the Education Council's report on improving student-teacher relationships presented to all CPS high school principals in 2008:
StudentTeacherRelationshipsReport.pdf (169 KB)

2007-2008

Read the Education Council's report, "Our Schools, Our Communities, Our Solutions: Establishing Safe and Healthy Schools," presented to CPS CEO Arne Duncan in 2007:
Safe_and_Healthy_Schools_Report.pdf (249 KB)

Teen Health Council

2010-2011

During the 2010-2011 school year, the Teen Health Council worked on getting high schools to sign up for the Go for The Gold Challenge. The Go for The Gold Challenge is a local branch of Michelle Obama's Lets Move Campaign. The Go for the Gold campaign is a city-wide initiative to ensure that all kids have access to healthy food, quality nutrition education and physical activity at school. The Teen Health Council has come up with twenty recommendations to help principals sign up for The Go for The Gold Challenge and actually follow through with it. Their report outlining these recommendations is below:
Mikva_Challenge_Teen_Health_Council_Go_for_the_Gol (1870 KB)

2009-2010

In the summer of 2009, the Teen Health Council focused their research on the media's portrayal of risky behavioral practices by young people. In response to their findings, the council produced four Public Service Announcement style videos, in a series called Untold Truths, to counter the message portrayed in the media. Click here to see the series.

The Teen Health Council also prepared lesson plans to accompany the videos in their series. Read their lesson plans below:
Teen_Heatlh_Coucil_PSA_Workshop_Guide_2009.pdf (360 KB)

2008-2009

Read their 2008 report on teen health recommendations, presented to Commissioner of Public Health Terry Mason:
Youth_Health_Council_Report.pdf (149 KB)

Youth Safety Council

2010-2011

The Youth Safety Council spent the summer of 2010 trying to answer the question, "How can Chicago Public Schools better train, support and evaluate security officers?" After spending more than 120 hours researching the issue, the council developed a set of policy recommendations for CPS on how security officers can improve their job performance and students' school experience. Their report outlining these recommendations is below:
YSC_Final_Report_2010.pdf (251 KB)

2009-2010

The Youth Safety Council spent the summer of 2009 surveying young people in Chicago about causes and solutions to youth violence, doing research on violence in many Chicago neighborhoods, and visiting a number of community organizations that are trying to combat the problem in order to assess and develop tools for training peace workers. Their report, Blueprint for Peace, is available here:  YSC_Blueprint_for_Peace.pdf (131 KB)

2008-2009

Read their policy recommendations on youth safety, presented to Commissioner of the Department of Family & Support Services Mary Ellen Caron:
Youth Safety Council Report.pdf (466 KB)