Cabrini Connections Writing Group

The Change Makers: FIRST PLACE!

2011-02-16T09:52:00.001-08:00

Hello friends!

Last week we kicked off our Cabrini Madness Fundraiser. Our team, The Change Makers, pulled into first place after some tough competition from The Dream Team. We're so proud of our team. Special thanks to Paris Lockett, our writing club student and fundraising extraordinaire! Paris organized her own candy sale with her tutor/mentor, Tiffany Smith, bringing in $60 for our team last week, great job Paris! Also a very big thank you to Casey Moran's in Wrigleyville! They are our top donor with a generous $500.00 donation! We look forward to holding a little fundraising mixer at Casey Moran's very soon. Hopefully The Change Makers will keep up the pace and hold our strong defense!

Aside from Cabrini Madness, last week we began an activity in honor of Valentine's Day. We are making our own homemade greeting cards...but not just any greeting card. You see, on Valentine's Day all of the store shelves are bursting with a plethora of pink and red heart clad cards. Roses are red, violets are blue....

So we are taking it a step further, we are finding pictures that aren't obvious cliche love notes. We looked at some examples of artistic expressions of metaphoric messages relating to love. Like a man holding onto a bird... I know that seems a little odd, and that's exactly the point! The students picked out some great artistic photos and even began to write the message in the card, this week we are finishing them up and will post the finished products later today!

It's Cabrini Madness Time!

2011-02-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year!

In anticipation of college tournament basketball season, Cabrini Connections is heading up a fundraiser that makes a play on March Madness. This is a team oriented challenge called Cabrini Madness to raise some funds for our program. We depend on donors to help keep Cabrini Connections up and running so the writing club is participating by introducing Team Change Makers! Meet the Team...

Shannyn Nellett: Writing Club Coordinator
Christine Conzett: Writing Club Coordinator
Steve Miller: Cabrini Connections Board Member
Tiffany Smith: Tutor/Mentor/Volunteer
Paris Lockett: Cabrini Rockstar Student
Charlie Goff: Tutor/Mentor/Volunteer
Veronica Reyes: Cabrini Veteran
Sean Hannon: Fundraiser Volunteer
Alayna Van Hall: Fundraiser Volunteer
Javan Gordon: Cabrini Rockstar Student

Instead of playing basketball, each team has created a fundraiser page and will be raising money. The teams that raise the most money will advance into the Elite Eight, Final Four, and then to the Championship! So please, friends, help the Change Makers advance by donating to our page
http://giveforward.com/cabrinichangemakers

Even if you can't donate, you can help us out by posting our link to your social websites. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace...etc. are great platforms to spread the word.

The Writing Club is made possible by donors like you and we greatly appreciate your continued support!

Go Team Change Makers!

A is for Alliteration!

2011-01-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

Last week the writing club began an activity that focused on a writing technique called alliteration. Alliteration is when the writer stresses two or more syllables of a word group by using the same consonant sound or sound group. After we discussed what this meant, and how to use it, we put our new technique to work.

We wrote stories using each letter of the alphabet as a sentence, stressing the letter in each sentence as much as we could. The rough drafts are pretty good so far, we plan to polish them up and post them next week! So check back and tell us what you think!

Happy Holidays from Cabrini Connections!

2010-12-20T14:44:00.001-08:00

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Free write journaling...

2010-12-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Last week was Thanksgiving so we took a little break and enjoyed family and food. We hope you were able to do the same!

The previous week we had light attendance (Charles and Sean we miss you!) so we focused on free writing. Javan, Paris and Savon wrote in their journals about anything that was on their minds.

We then openly discussed our journal entries and related to each other in what we have going on; with the Holidays approaching and for the students grades are coming out so all-around stresses are running higher than usual. Next week Miss Misha will be introducing a new activity that is hands-on and lots of fun so stay tuned!

A Day In My Life...

2010-11-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Last week we began an activity that mirrored the activity we did two weeks ago about the Minors. Each student began with a sheet of paper and titled it "A Day in My Life."

The concept: Each narrator began his/her story with a situation that embodied a day in their life. After two minutes of writing we dropped our pens and passed our stories to the person on our left. They then continued the story and applied it to a day in their life. We were almost finished when our 6:00pm bell rang and writing club ended. We'll pick it up where we left off on Wednesday and share some of our finished products with our friends that visit our blog.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Insight from Paris Lockett

2010-11-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Paris Lockett is one of writing clubs new members of the 10'-11' school year. She attends the Military Academy and so far has shown great depth and soul in her writing. So much so that we wanted to highlight one of her free write activities. She would like to make it clear that this is a piece of fiction.

Untitled, by Paris Lockett.

Now here we go with this again. The thought of love invading my soul. Love. Man, it's over and done with. No motivation for me to continue on drowning in this vast ocean of uncertainty. I wish I could get out of here....

That's how I was feeling once upon a time. I begged and tried for the feeling to dismiss. No more love for me. Because my one true love, the one that said he would always have my back no matter what, left me for dead. And since, my life has spiraled down.

Dad? Daddy? Where are you? My pleas and cried go unheard to dismantled ears. Mom took me to the funeral but her significance of being present angered me. All I wanted, as any young child does, was love and a relationship with the man that birthed her into existence. But it don't matter, struggle will make me better. Now I'm soul searching. But my haunt is finna stop because no young guy can replace my heart, my foundation...my DADDY.

I hate when people say stupid things in regards to him. Every will and strength I have, you're outta here. Wow, to actually get this out is both hard and unbearable. Sure, I have people who've been there for me. But, SO?? Deep down inside, my heart only yearns for him. Now I feel like crying because unfortunately, I do really miss him.

But the pain grows and the distance has deepened. God it hurts. Let the pain dismiss. If pops was here, I wouldn't be fat. My boyfriend and I would have more in common and that awkward feeling I get around him and his parents would cease. These green military clothes I wear cover the true colors that blind my life.

And we're off!

2010-10-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

This week we started off with a 15 minute free-write in our journals and then we went around the table sharing our thoughts. Sean Mayfield is working on a dictionary for "White Slang"-it's comical and harmless. Savon Clark is remaining focused on his goals, we appreciate and encourage his confidence and determination! Paris highlighted reasons that she is happy today, mainly siteing that the simple things in life tend to be quite beautiful if you look at them with a positive attitude, well done Paris!

After our free-write we dove into a fun interactive project called "The Mine."

The concept: Everybody wrote "The Mine" at the top of a sheet of paper. We then each began a two minute creative writing involving anything to do with a mine. The idea, of course, mirrored the heroic tale of the 33 Chilean minors that were rescued after 69 days of being trapped miles underground.

But rather than tell their story, we used our imaginations to create our own renditions. It was so much fun and we all look forward to finishing the stories next week, so stay tuned!

2010-2011 School Year

2010-10-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

Writing Club had gotten off to a great start for the 2010-2011 school year! With two new club coordinators and several new students, we spent the first week getting to know each other and sharing things we love about writing. Last week, we took a look at The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and discussed writing from the perspective of an animal or an inanimate object. After picking a theme, such as the zoo, the students wrote a paragraph from the perspective of something at the zoo. Once finished we all tried to guess whose perspective they were writing from!

We have such talented writers in the club who continue to amaze us with their fabulous stories!

7/2: Fire Boy, by Savon Clark!

2010-03-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

A few week's ago, as writing club was sitting down for our weekly group, Savon Clark strolled on in and for the first time ever, placed in front of me a little something he's been working on in his spare time. (Maybe with a little creative advising from Mr. Sean Mayfield...)

When I picked up the two pages Savon presented me with, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he has began to write his own little piece of fiction...

Fire Boy, by Savon Clark.

"Alrighty class, that's the bell. I'll see you guys tomorrow and remember to check the matchups on the board for tomorrow's final on your way out!" Mr. Grange said.

Jason was the first one towards the door, and sprinted towards the board, followed by a rush of kids.

"No way, yes!!" Jason yelled.

"Jason, why so excited?" Ryan, Jason's friend, asked.

"I got that stupid cocky Conner, I've been waiting to kick his butt for the longest!" Jason exclaimed.

"Jason, are you sure you're even ready to for him, he does have a pretty stout record and he's just our age." Ryan replied.

"I don't care, tomorrow he's going down!" Jason said.

"Just then a blue-eyed, blue-haired boy walks through the crowd of kids, he looks at the board for a second, then he looks at Jason.

"Pttf, looks like another easy 'A' for me." The boy said.

"What did you say?" Jason asked.

"You heard me, don't try to act stupid now." The boy replied.

"You know what Conor, I've got the nerve to shut you up right now." Jason fired back.

"Jason, we all know you don't have the guts, nerves or even the brains to try to something as foolish as to attempt to touch me." Conor replied.

"Let's not fight now guys." Ryan reasoned

Just then a crowd started to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

At that moment, Mr. Grange decided to step in, "Alright, that's enough, we'll save the fighting for tomorrow, got it?"

"Yeah, alright." Said Conor.

"Sure." Said Jason.

"Ok." Said Ryan.

After that, both Ryan and Jason left the classroom, and then Jeffrey H. Picdonald Elementary School. As they were walking Ryan said, "Jason, you can't just let Conor get you worked up like that!"

Jason said, "Easy for you to say, he's been talking trash for the longest, and-"

"Yeah, and that's all it is, trash, Jason." Ryan interrupted.

Jason thought on it for a moment and agreed, "Yeah, you're right."

"My point exactly." Said Ryan.

"Who are you supposed to be fighting tomorrow anyway, I got so worked up I didn't even look." Admitted Jason

"I'm supposed to fight Raymond tomorrow." Ryan answered.

"Ewwww...good luck with that one..." Jason said.

"Yeah, I'll need it. But what's going on with you and Stephanie?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing!! She is just another girl at school, nothing special..." Jason replied.

"Sure it is, Sure." Ryan said with some sarcasm.

That's when they came to a split in the road. They said their goodbyes and Ryan went to the right, while Jason went to the left. Shortly afterward, Jason was already on te porch of his house. He then stuck his key inside the door handle, unlocked it and opened it. When he then shut and locked it, his mother was the first to greet him.

"Hi Jason, how was school?" She asked.

"Hey mom, school was good." He mumbled as he rushed up the stairs. Once he got up there he knocked on a door twice.

"Hey, it's you. You're home a little early, I'll be there in a second." A voice said.

A few moments later, a very slim figure popped out from the door and spoke, "Hey are you ready for the last day?"

"Of course I am, I need to kick someones butt tomorrow. You know it's the last day of school right Zeke?" Jason replied.

"Yeah, I know, we better get going unless you want to take a break?" Zeke asked.

"Do you think Conor is taking a break, I don't think so..." Jason said.

"Then let's go." Zeke said.

Jason and Zeke were leaving the house when their mom told Zeke, "Zeke, don't let you brother get hurt today, ok?"

"Alrighty mom." Zeke said, and then they left.

To be continued....

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Excellent job so far, Savon (and Sean...) Keep it going so we can see what happens next!

Week 6/2: Featured Jumble Story

2010-03-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

Following up with our ‘Jumble Story’ activity, I have to say that all of the students put a lot of creative thought into their storylines. Each story had a unique vision and path, leading to some…peculiar and hilarious resolutions. It was truly a joy to read all of them, however, we have chosen to feature just one for the blog; and the winner is…Sean Mayfield!

What he drew:

1. Character: A jazz musician
2. Setting: A concert hall
3. Time: During a concert
4. Situation/Challenge: A secret needs to be confessed

Seans’ Vision:

Headlining at the New York Concert Hall, Joey was at the top of his game, playing in front of one of the finest crowds of his jazz career. Later on, he decided to treat his crew to a celebratory dinner. After some great food, fine wine, lot’s of laughs and maybe a little insanity, everybody except for Joey and Vintinashi decided to call it a night.

Vintinashi had a little wine, so Joey decided it was best to drive him home. While en route, Vintinashi began to mumble some strange things…

“Hey, Joey?” Said Vintinashi.

“Yes?” Asked Joey.

“What I’m about to tell you will blow your mind.” Vintinashi stated with great conviction.

“Oh yeah, what is it?” Laughed Joey.

“I….am an alien.” Whispered Vintinashi.

“Oh reeeeaaallly?” Chuckled Joey.

“Ish true!” Said Vintinashi as his voice and accent changed and he began to glow in a florescent green color. His skin started to peel and replacing it was a shiny layer of blue ‘skin’- his head sprouted horns that stabbed two holes in the hood of the car.

Joey was mortified. In a weak attempt to conceal his terror, he mumbled, “W..wow…”

Vintinashi was pleased with himself, with a creepy smile, he asked, “And you know what?”

Joey could feel his heart pounding through his chest while sweat beads dripped down from his forehead into his eyes….”What?” He hesitated to ask.

Vintinashi, still smiling and ever-changing, said, “Now…you die.”

The End.

Now to be fair, Sean is a smart cookie who caught on to the process of picking his numbers, realizing if he picked all 10’s, that his 1-4 items would all coordinate. (i.e. A jazz musician, at a concert hall, during a concert…) This originally did not please me, but I was very impressed to see that, when he could have decided to go the easy and boring route, he instead went off the beaten path and truly created his own vision with great detail and imagery. And it was pretty entertaining to boot, so here’s to you Sean!

Great job to Charles Hill, Gregory Hatchett, and Savon Clark as well!

Week 5/2: Jumble Story!

2010-02-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

This week we had the table full of writers, enthusiastic and ready to do something fun! So we decided to do an interactive writing project called ‘Jumble Story’ –here’s how it works.

It begins with this list:

Character

1. A new mother
2. A photographer
3. A recent high school graduate
4. A restaurant owner or manager
5. An alien from outer space
6. A homeless child
7. A 93 yr old woman
8. An environmentalist
9. A college student
10. A jazz musician

Setting

1. Near a National Forest
2. A wedding reception
3. A celebration party
4. An expensive restaurant
5. A shopping mall
6. A city park
7. The porch of an old farmhouse
8. A polluted stream
9. A college library
10. A concert hall

Time

1. During a forest fire
2. After a fight
3. The night of high school graduation
4. After a big meal
5. Sometime in December
6. Late at night
7. After a big thunderstorm has passed
8. In early spring
9. First week of the school year
10. During a concert

Situation/Challenge

1. An important decision needs to be made
2. A secret needs to be confessed to someone else
3. Someone’s pride has been injured
4. A death has occurred
5. Someone has found or lost something
6. Someone has accused someone of doing something else wrong
7. Reminiscing on how things have changed
8. Someone feels like giving up
9. Something embarrassing has just happened
10. Someone has just reached an important goal

I held the only copy of the above list and had each student write numbers 1-4 on a sheet in their journals,

1 = Character
2 = Setting
3 = Time
4 = Situation/Challenge

Next, we went around the table and for each of the above, the students randomly selected a number 1-10 to correspond to an item for each category. This will outline the story that they need correlate.

Here’s the luck of the draw:

Greg Hatchett

1. Character: photographer
2. Setting: celebration party
3. Time: after a big meal
4. Situation/Challenge: someone’s pride has been injured

Savon Clark

1. Character: restaurant owner/manager
2. Setting: porch of an old farmhouse
3. Time: forest fire
4. Situation/Challenge: Something embarrassing has occurred

Charles Hill

1. Character: restaurant owner/manager
2. Setting: a college library
3. Time: sometime in December
4. Situation/Challenge: a death has occurred

Sean Mayfield

1. Character: Jazz musician
2. Setting: concert hall
3. Time: during a concert
4. Situation/Challenge: a secret needs to be confessed

Shannyn Nellett

1. Character: an environmentalist
2. Setting: a celebration party
3. Time: after a big thunderstorm
4. Situation/Challenge: someone feels like giving up

Veronica Reyes

1. Character: 93 year old woman
2. Setting: a college library
3. Time: night of a high school graduation
4. Situation/Challenge: an important decision needs to be made

Sandra Lee

1. Character: a recent high school graduate
2. Setting: near a National Forest
3. Time: after a big thunderstorm
4. Situation/Challenge: Someone has lost found something

After we all picked our numbers to create our jumble stories, we discussed the proper elements needed to write each story. We discussed creating characters that would embark upon such ‘jumbled’ situations and how to glue it all together. The one element that each student is creating on their own is the ending/resolution. So please tune in next week to see what we all came up with!

2010, Writing Club resumes!

2010-01-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

We’re back from the Holidays!

And to begin our new semester, here is an inspirational little excerpt from an album of songs written by Writing Clubs’ own Charles Hill. Enjoy!

Song: Wish List

The Holidays coming around so quickly
I can’t think of a better present
Wishing so hard
You’d come around
You can see my dreams
Wondering and wishing that you’d be here with me

It’s on my wish list
To see your smile again this holiday
I’ll be holding you so close

Together we can’t be torn apart
We’re an impenetrable heart

This holiday you won’t forget
Why I love you and hold you so dear
For this holiday you’re all that’s on my mind

You’re on my wish list
To kiss you and make you dream
We talk together (Ah da da da)
That’s why we’re a good team

You’re on my wish list
This holiday
You’re on my wish list
(You’re on my wish list)
(You’re on my wish list)

I just love it. Great job Charles.

Week 9: Our Visions…and Chuck Norris vs. Oprah?

2009-11-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

I would first like to acknowledge Veterans Days by thanking all of the men and women serving our country. And…because of you, our students didn’t have school today so they were in pretty good spirits.

We began the hour with a little jam session and snacks along with some discussion on our futures and where we envision ourselves in it. To help get the ball rolling, Veronica and Shannyn created a little questionnaire. This allowed us to not only get to know each other better, but also provided some hilarious insight to what makes us each unique. Some of the questions/answers are as follows:

1. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Sean Mayfield: Video Game Designer
Veronica Reyes: Middle School Teacher, Social Studies
Charles Hill: Journalist
Savon Clark: A professional football player, Economist or Computer Engineer
Shannyn Nellett: Documentarian, Writer, Photojournalist

2. Where do you see yourself in 4 years?

Sean Mayfield: Graduating High School and Furthering my education
Veronica Reyes: I see myself teaching. Maybe living in Chicago, but I do want to teach in the city for a couple of years. Hopefully I will be closer to having my own ‘family’ life.
Charles Hill: Going to College
Savon Clark: Graduating High School and Going to a Big 10 school.
Shannyn Nellett: Being published/Adapted. Displaying gallery work, art. No idea where I’ll live or what my status will be, and I’m ok with that. I would like to do a considerable amount of traveling.

3. Who inspires you? What kind of person do you inspire to be?

Sean Mayfield: Nobody/I want to be a successful person
Veronica Reyes: My family is my inspiration. They put their faith in me, that keeps me focused and dedicated to move toward my goals. They help me strive to be the well-rounded and open-minded person .
Charles Hill: Nobody really. I wish to be a person who is recognized to have achieved great accomplishments at my age. I want to be a person who is unlike any other.
Savon Clark: My parents inspire me to do great things because they provide the best for me. As my duty, I will do whatever I can to succeed. I want to be a role model, as I try to be now.
Shannyn Nellett: My mother and older sister inspire me. Throughout a life of struggles they remained strong and positive. They truly appreciate the simple things in life and do not allow insignificant negatives to burden them.

4. What makes you happy?

Sean Mayfield: Chocolate?
Veronica Reyes: Friends and family
Charles Hill: I wouldn’t exactly say I found something that makes me truly happy, or happy in any way.
Savon Clark: Listening to music I guess
Shannyn Nellett: Positive energy. Cabrini Connections. Music. Beaches. My niece and nephew. Visiting home. Chicago. Boats. Sundays.

5. What does family mean to you?

Sean Mayfield: They are irreplaceable
Veronica Reyes: People who support you and never judge you. People who you love unconditionally and love you.
Charles Hill: A group of people who are very close to you. People who you trust very well and can rely on.
Savon Clark: Family means to take care of each other and support one another through any endeavor
Shannyn Nellett: Everything

6. Do you envision yourself having a family? If so, what kind of family do you see yourself having?

Sean Mayfield: No.
Veronica Reyes: A big family
Charles Hill: I do see myself having a family. The family I see myself having would be one that is completely free to act and be who they want to be
Savon Clark: Yes I see myself having a family that has morals
Shannyn Nellett: I always wanted a very big family. But I’ll gladly take whatever I am blessed with.

7. Do you have plans for college? If so, where do you want to go?

Sean Mayfield: Yes. ITT
Veronica Reyes: Yes, I’m a DePaul student
Charles Hill: I plan to major in Writing and minor in Music. I want to go to either Northwestern or DePaul
Savon Clark: I want to go to a Big 10 school , and I will either be playing football and/or taking classes on Economics/Computer Engineering
Shannyn Nellett: Did undergrad at San Diego State University, would love to earn a graduate degree…maybe I will

8. What are you going to carry with you forever from Cabrini Green?

Sean Mayfield: Memories
Veronica Reyes: Chuck Norris vs. Oprah
Charles Hill: Being from Cabrini Connections
Savon Clark: I will carry all of my childhood memories
Shannyn Nellett: Every year end dinner, watching the students perform their work

9. What interests or hobbies do you have?

Sean Mayfield: Making comics
Veronica Reyes: Arts & Crafts. Music, reading , and going to museums.
Charles Hill: Skateboarding. Writing. Playing guitar. Listening to music. Psychology
Savon Clark: Watching football. Anime. Basketball. Helping within the community.
Shannyn Nellett: Art. Photography. Film. Writing. Music

10. What is a favorite memory that you have?

Sean Mayfield: Going to my first Bakugan tournament
Veronica Reyes: Christmas when the whole family was together, playing balderdash
Charles Hill: The day I started randomly writing poetry out of boredom
Savon Clark: My sister falling down the stairs….
Shannyn Nellett: The train ride to San Diego from Ohio, amazing

Next week we'll be transposing these ideas onto our vision collages. Oh…and while we were putting these on paper, the boys began debating Chuck Norris vs. Oprah Winfrey. Veronica and I were at a loss, as we are not exactly Chuck Norris buffs… but it turns out that the collective agreement is that Oprah wins because she could buy Bruce Lee to take over Chuck Norris. We will dig into this theory a little more next week so stay tuned!

Week 8: Welcome new Mentor!

2009-11-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

This week in Writing Club we were graced with a new presence. Ms. Veronica Reyes, a fourth year DePaul student studying Elementary Education, has joined us as a mentor for Writing Club! I am thrilled to welcome her into our program! Hopefully with our combined enthusiasm, passion, and dedication to Cabrini Connections students, we will build a very exciting writing club this year.
We dove right into the activity from last week on lyric interpreting by discussing the chosen songs along with our summarized interpretations. Building off of this, we took it a step further and created our own verse to add to our songs. Here is a couple that we came up with:

Charles Hill: ‘You Know You’re Right’ by Nirvana

I would never bother you
I would never promise to
I will never follow you
I will never bother you
Never say a word again
I will crawl away for good
*For you have left me I’m dead*

(Chorus)
I will move away from here
You won’t be afraid of fear
No thought was put into this
I always knew it would come to this
Things have never been so swell
I have never felt failed to fail
Pain (x 3)
You know you’re right (x3)

I’m so warm and calm inside
I no longer have to hide
Let’s talk about someone else
Steaming, soon begins to melt
(Nothing else is right!!!!)
Nothing really bothers her
She just wants to love herself
*She’s full of greed and nothing else*

(Repeat Chorus)

*Charles’ Verse*
Things will never come ahead
I am lost without my head
I can barely stand
You don’t care, you just want more fans
Pain, you know you’re right, pain

Veronica Reyes: ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ by Darius Danesh

We get it on 'most every night
When that moon is big and bright
It's a supernatural delight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight

Dancing in the moonlight
Everybody's feeling warm and bright
It's such a fine and natural sight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight

We have fun but we never fight
You can't dance and stay uptight
It's a supernatural kind of delight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight

Dancing in the moonlight
Everybody's feeling
A fine and natural sight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight

Dancing in the moonlight
Everybody's feeling warm and bright
It's such a fine and natural sight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight

Hey
Feeling warm and bright
It's such a fine and natural sight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight
*Veronica’s Verse*

We laugh for fun while we’re stepping light
Everybody smiling big and bright
Feel the groove don’t put up a fight
Everybody’s dancing in the moonlight

Week 7: Interpreting Lyrics

2009-11-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

This week in Writing Club, we have two new members! Please join us in welcoming sisters, Breonca and Yolanda Hyles. Or as I was introduced, BeBe and YoYo. (Did I get it right this time girls)?
We often discuss new songs or artists and how their music touches, relates or speaks to us. So Shannyn and Jessica decided to incorporate this collective interest into this week’s activity. We each printed lyrics to some of our favorite songs and then wrote a brief summary on what the artist is trying to say and how we can relate to the song.

Imann Mitchell: ‘Rehab’ by Rihanna, featuring Justin Timberlake
In this song, Rihanna sings about how she is so deeply in love with this guy that she’s actually ‘addicted’ to his love. But she doesn’t want to be so addicted to him that if he was to leave, she would go crazy. So she would need to go to rehab to get over her addiction.

Breonca Hyles: ‘Nothing at All’ by Myci
It’s basically about the mistakes she made in the past, and if she could change the past, she would change ‘nothing at all.’ It relates to me because I made mistakes in my past too, and I wouldn’t change them either because it is our mistakes that we learn from and make us who we are.

Charles Hill: ‘You Know Your Right’ by Nirvana
This song was written by Kurt Cobain as a divorce song that he was going to give to Courtney Love before he died. The songs meaning is pretty simple, “I’m leaving you, you only care about the money. Our child needs the both of us and even though I’m feeling pain, this is the best I’ve ever felt.” This song relates to me because I’ve felt a lot of pain over the years, but have always found something to be cheerful about anyway.

Yolanda Hyles: ‘Tell Him the Truth’ by Keri Hilson
My song is about relationships and difficult times. This song sometimes can go with me because I do have difficult times with boys and relationships, like most people do. But this is a diverse song that can relate to all people, young or old, in relationships.

Excellent job everyone! Next week we will take it one step further by adding our own verse to the songs we chose. It should be very interesting, so check back next week!

Week 6: Haunted Halloween

2009-11-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

Haunted Halloween, by Charles Hill.

Halloween, a day of terror in some eyes, while others consider the day magical. It all started in Ireland, the date of October 31st. Ancient Pagans thought of this day as a day when mortals and the people from beyond the grave were able to walk together, as one. Brought back from the dead, although still dead, they were known as the undead. Because for only this one night, they could walk with mortal humans.

Witches, wizards, zombies, and even cartoon characters. The day the Pagans worshipped for the dead and others has now become a day of trick-or-treating. Now I do say, the Pagans may like the idea of costumes supposedly being there to ward off demons. But I doubt all the good boys and girls really care about the demon part, just getting the treats from the neighbors is good enough. Games are always fun to play right? I’m pretty sure you love to play games on Halloween, if not, then oh well. One game that has been played on Halloween is bobbing for apples. Simple right? You just fill a bucket of water and attempt to get an apple from out of it, the only catch is, you need to do so with your mouth.

Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, these are images of frightening ghouls in today’s tradition of Halloween. Usually watching a classic “Dracula” movie, or one of the new horror movies they have out now. Like “Saw”, even though in my most honest opinion, the horror movies that are made today are not what they could be. They are easily predictable, they aren’t frightening anymore. I miss the days of true ghouls like Frankenstein, even a misunderstood monster was capable to do more damage than “Jigsaw” nice name also. It’s not very…creative, but still a puzzle piece name will always just be a puzzle piece name. Anyways, since the story began getting off topic with my opinion, I will go on with the words “Urban Legends” and “Chain Letters”, these are stories that fill my MySpace ads, internet letters, all types of technological outlets. One chain letter that I loved reading about, which doesn’t have a title, or at least not that I know of, so I gave it a name of my own, “The Clown?” A story of a girl who is babysitting a couple of kids while their parents are at a restaurant. The babysitter is putting the kids to bed one by one. The family has a group of collectible clowns and such placed by the baby’s crib. There is one large clown statue in particular that seems to be standing in the middle of the chair, which the babysitter thinks is just a normal statue. She goes back downstairs, then back up when the baby starts fussing. She notices that the lights are on, but she’s pretty sure she turned them off when she left. Next she notices that the clown statue seems to be very human like. This frightens her so she runs back downstairs and calls the family. She tells them about the clown statue, to which they say, “We don’t have a clown statue.” Then the phone cuts out and the babysitters breathing becomes very heavy. She doesn’t want to turn around to face her paranoia, and then…she’s dead. I don’t consider it very sad since her death created a chain letter.

All in all, Halloween is a day of colors. Orange, Black, and screaming children? No, they aren’t screaming out of terror for their lives because of some crazy monster chasing them, or a vampire sucking their blood or any other crazy thing. They’re just happy because they get candy and chocolate. Halloween is spread everywhere; Japan, America, Ireland, and many other countries. The 31st of October may be one of the spookiest days, but I will always admire it’s creativity for terror.

Week 5: Halloween; digging a little deeper.

2009-10-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

The time of year has come around again, Halloween is rapidly approaching. Stores are flooded with consumers looking for fake spider webbing, jack-o-lanterns, corn husks, scarecrows, plastic tombstones, gobs of candy and the all-time best seller for Halloween, costumes. This week in writing club we discussed this holiday in great detail and researched the traditions not only here in America, but also in Ireland (the original country to celebrate Halloween) and Mexico (El Dia de los Muertos).

We first learned that Halloween was carried to America via Irish Immigrants during Irelands Great Famine of the 1840's. It has roots in the Celtic Festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints' Day. Samhain celebrates the end of harvest season in the Gaelic culture. Ancient Celts associated the dead (buried under ground) with the crops and harvest. So a tradition was born to hold bonfires into which slaughtered livestock were thrown. The only reason costumes were worn was to disguise mortal beings from evil spirits during this celebration. Most of these disguises were ghosts, zombies, witches and other relevant evil-spirited phenomena that could make an appearance during the celebrations.

A far cry from our American take on Halloween, and furthermore, costumes. The National Retail Federation in the United States found that American consumers spent nearly $5 billion on costumes in 2006. I have a feeling that the Ancient Celts would be greatly displeased with a Britney Spears School Girl wanna-be dancing around their bonfire. We, as a group, discussed the overindulgence in the 'ostentatiousness' (putting it very nicely) of female costumes in America. It could be argued that the traditions of Halloween are a bit lost on our generation. So the Writing Club is digging a little deeper and writing essays on the traditions of Halloween in other cultures. Stay tuned to see what we come up with!

Week 4: Featured Writer!

2009-10-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

Writing Club veteran and excellent student, Charles Hill, wrote a song in his spare time over the last week. He was generous enough to share this incredible piece of work with us and now you.

Song Title: Pain

Anyone can do what I have done
It isn't very hard
To take the things I have won
And set it all ablaze

It takes my pain away!
It's all a lie
Nothing is important now
Cause all I do is quit

I keep on trying to make a smile
But I keep on frowning
It isn't something I can't feel
But it's all I cannot kill

It' takes my pain away!
I can't let you follow me (follow me)
I can't let you follow me (follow me)
I can't let you follow me (follow me)
It takes my pain away

It's all a lie
A double sided knife
It takes my pain away!
Stop and try
All you do is quit on me

It takes my pain
It takes my pain
It takes my pain away!!!

-Written by Charles Hill

Charles, I always look forward to what you'll do next! You are truly a gifted writer with an insight and perspective that surpasses you in age, but not wisdom or experience. It is quite remarkable. We are going to set some wheels in motion to make sure we can help develop your talents to the best of our ability. In the meantime, keep the creative juices flowing and excellent job on the song!

Week 3: Theme Boards Complete!

2009-10-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

We spent week three wrapping up our Cabrini Connections theme boards. This collage style project was hands-on from everybody in our group; even a few non-members pitched in and contributed some ideas! Some of the clippings, art and text include:

HOPE: Wish, Kanye West, "Live Happily Together Through Life", Barack Obama 'and the Triumph of Hope', "Get out there. Drink deep from the road. Eat life raw."....

BUILD: A picture of an Ancient Chinese Tower, "Every little step.", "By age 25 you might acquire more than you ever thought", OBAMA, "I have this fantasy of my older days, painting, sculpting, a bike trip to Chile." "Find your way!"

BELIEVE: "Unlock the wonders...", A picture of Taylor Swift with her guitar, "Do not be the Class Clowns.", A vibrant young salsa dancer, A Bride, Portraits of 8 Presidents of the United States of America.

ACHIEVE: "The thrill of choosing which way to go.", A picture of Lil Wayne showing his triumphant excitement over his record being named the biggest record of the year. President Obama (A popular figure to our theme boards...) Beyonce.

Great job everyone! A special thanks to Cazimir Ozuruigbo and Donald Stewart for participating in Writing Club this week, we hope to see you all next week.

Week 2: Dear Mr. Kanye West

2009-09-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

This week our group carried over the activity from last week by starting to create vision boards for our Hope, Build, Believe, and Achieve theme. While we were clipping out pictures and words to build our boards, we discussed Kanye Wests' latest controversy.

For those of you unfamiliar with last weeks VMA crashing, while 'Taylor Swift was making her acceptance speech for winning Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", Kanye West got on stage, interrupted her and took her microphone, saying Beyoncé had "one of the best videos of all time" with "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Beyoncé looked shocked, and West was then booed by the audience. Angered, he flipped off the crowd. During the commercial break, singer Pink walked by the rapper and reportedly shook her head in disgust. West was later removed from the remainder of the show. After Beyoncé won Video of the Year, she asked Swift to come on stage to complete her speech. Later, West apologized on his blog (which he later removed). -sited from wikipedia.

Everybody in our writing club has been a long time fan of Kanye West. There is no argument over his struggles, success or talent. I do, however, have to point out some incriminating points of interest. This is not the first time Mr. West went out of his way to draw attention to himself. (Special note to his bizarre haircut, we get it Kanye.) He is becoming more famous for his rants and divo behavior than for his earned success. 'During the 2007 VMAs in Las Vegas, West delivered another rant and lost his temper after he was displeased with his performance being set inside a hotel suite rather than on the show's main stage. -sited from mtv.news.com. Mr. West also took the stage at the 2004 American Music Awards and declared that he was robbed of the Best New Artist nod. Really? You were disgraced by being robbed of a moment? Well here is what we think about your little (big) stunt.

Dear Kanye West,

I think what you did to Taylor Swift was very rude and uncalled for. You made (her) feel really bad because she won the award and it was her first time. I thought her video was awesome and very entertaining. She's only 19 years old, how could you do that to a child? If you had something to say, you should have said it while you were accepting your award.
-Sincerely, Jocelyn A. Jones.

Dear Kanye West,

I think what you did was wrong, but I still love you and your songs. I think when you apologize to Taylor Swift she will accept your apology because she seems like a very sweet girl. If you do this, than I hope to meet you at your concert with Lady GaGa.
- Love, Kyana Malone

Dear Mr. Kanye West,

It's my opinion that an apology would be suitable and obviously some good PR, but it cannot give a 19 year old girl her moment back. You took it upon yourself to humiliate and permanently damage Ms. Swifts' memory of receiving her first, and maybe only, VMA. Not to mention, the very first ever VMA to be awarded to a country artist. I find your behavior to be, at best, atrocious. I realize that it's not the end of the world, and there are people out there struggling to find work and make ends meet. So while all the attacks against you, including comments from President Obama, might seem a little excessive and harsh, I have to say it looks like the shoe fits.
-Sincerely, Shannyn Nellett

Dear Kanye West,

How does it feel knowing that you took the spotlight of a young girl winning a very special award? If I was there, I would have to laugh at your stupidity. Seriously, think about it, you took a selfish role and made yourself out to be the bad guy in the situation. Sure you were drunk, however, in my words, YOU FAILED EPICALLY! Thanks to Beyonce, Taylor Swift got a lesser version of her moment. I doubt you're feeling proud now. See ya failure. Yes, I seem mean, but I'm not paid to be nice. Clearly, neither are you.
-Sincerely, Charles Hill.

Dear Kanye,

Everyone has the right to express their opinions, but there is a right time and place to do so. Put yourself in other people's shoes and use better judgment before you speak your mind.

- Thanks, Jessica Vandivier.

Dear Kanye West,

I love your music and every song by you, but I believe your actions at the VMA's was very inappropriate. I feel it was highly disrespectful towards Taylor Swift, especially with that being her first VMA. It was a big deal, she was the first country artist to ever receive such an honor. I definitely think you should apologize in respect for Taylor Swift, as well as the viewers and her fans. I still love you, but you should never have done that.
- Sincerely, Imann Mitchell.

Week 1: HOPE, BUILD, BELIEVE, AND ACHIEVE!

2009-09-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

As we kick off our Creative Writing Program for the 2009-2010 school year, we acknowledge and discuss this years theme for Cabrini Connections; "Hope, Build, Believe, and Achieve!" We wrote down each word and talked about what the word means to us, how we incorporate that word into our mission at Cabrini and in life, and words that relate to these ideas.

HOPE: Kyana and Jocelyn define hope as another way of wishing or really wanting something to materialize. Charles Hill says, "The word Hope, in my opinion, would mean to be given hope, as in having someone or something to believe in and to give you inspiration to accomplish something." He also says, "The only thing I really hope for in my life is true happiness, especially in a world filled with so much corruption and sorrow." Well done Charles! Kyana hopes for a bright future and Jocelyn hopes she passes the Constitution Test. (We'll help you out with that Jocelyn.)

Words that remind us of Hope were: Faith, Believe, Wish, and Inspiration.

BUILD: The collective opinion on how we define the word Build was to provide a foundation for growth, work hard throughout the years to build friendships, relationships, and to go through obstacles until you achieve your layers of goals. Jocelyn wants to build positive strong friendships, Kyana Kiche wants to build toward becoming a successful Veterinarian, and Charles wants to build a world in peace, without the need for crime, violence and corruption.

Words that remind us of Build were: Structure, Create, Grow, and Foundation.

BELIEVE: We agreed that to Believe is to hold a personal opinion and to stand behind it as factual and representative of what, to us, is true. Charles took a deeper insight with, "To believe is to have a certain mindset, knowing exactly what it is that you stand for and what your opinion on life is." I couldn't agree more Charles! A common denominator of beliefs among this group was, hands down, the power and importance of education.

Words that remind us of Believe were: Faith, Confidence, and Trust.

ACHIEVE: Charles believes that, "To achieve means to get past an obstacle or goal, reaching the destination of accomplishment and satisfaction." Agreed. Jocelyn Jones says, "To achieve something is to complete a project that you have started with satisfaction." Agreed. Kyana simply and accurately states that, "To achieve means to complete a mission." Agreed! To highlight just a few of the many goals these bright young students would like to achieve; Completing High School and furthering their educations, to become productive and successful citizens, and to make the world a better place with their abilities.

Words that remind us of Achieve were: Complete, Finish, Succeed, and Execute.

Next week we will take the theme a step further, but for now, what an excellent kick off to 2009 and we hope to see you all next week!

Writing club year-end dinner performance

2009-08-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

On June 4, 2009, during the annual year end dinner, the students of the Cabrini Connections writing club performed a skit that they had written during the previous weeks. Dan Bassill, President of Cabrini Connections, was enlisted as one of the performers.

These are some of the photos along with the entire script. Good job writing club!

Scene opens with everyone collecting around the writing club table chattering about what they saw outside and how cool it is….

De’sean – Narrator to introduce set the scene

Dan: You guys, sorry but writing club in canceled tonight!

Group: Why??

Dan: Someone has graffittied the wall outside the center!! All groups are canceled until we get to the bottom of this! I know just the investigators who can help us get to the bottom of this! {Leaves to go call investigators}

Sketch: Wow…. I wonder who did this? (Sarcastically… starts laughing with friends)

{Everyone looks at Sketch suspiciously}

Charlie: {Looks nervous and starts pointing at sketch} It’s so obvious that it is indeed you, Sketch!! Who else could have done this? This is your labor!

Sketch: What? Are you serious? Just because I know how to draw don’t mean it was me. Besides, if you look at my other stuff they don’t look anything like this one!

Charlie: Whatever! You’re not going to get away with this!! {Still nervous, looks side to side}

Sketch: Whateva man, I told you I didn’t do this!

De’sean – Narrator to introduce the investigators in rhyme and foreshadows the events to come. Questioning who actually committed the crime…………………

{In walks the investigators – Sherlocka & Wattsonia }

Sherlocka: So what do we have here?

Sketch: Why am I here? Why are you grabbing me fo?

Sherlocka: Cause we know it was you that tagged the wall at Cabrini Connections!

Charlie: Yup Yup – it was him! I saw him do it!

Narrator “Now it’s time to show the proof. Let’s see who tells the truth!”

Sherlocka: Just admit that you did it and this can be all over, shorty!

Sherlocka and Watsonia continue to harass Sketch while Charlie continues to look pretty quilty…

Dan: {Enters} Call off the investigation Sherlocka, I think I need to offer sketch here a job!

Everyone: {Shocked} What for?!

Dan: It turns out this magnificent piece of art has brought a lot more attention to the center! People keep stopping their cars and looking at the wall – asking who the artist is! This could bring the extra attention the center needs and may bring a lot more donors and volunteers to Cabrini Connections!

{Says while looking over at Charlie who appears very perplexed and uncomfortable}
Charlie: A masterpiece? Really? No, No, No!! Wait! It was me! I did it! I tagged the Cabrini Connections wall! It’s my masterpiece. I’m the 4.0 GPA student, I’m the one going to Princeton, I deserve all the credit for this piece of art!

Sketch: I told you it wasn’t me, now what!

Sherlocka: Shut up!

Dan: Well, well, well. It looks like the truth has finally come out! But we knew it all along! We were just waiting for you to confess! {Walks over to Sherlocka & Watsonia}

Charlie: What?! But how did you know?

Dan: Charlie, the art supplies that you used are not the same as what sketch uses and El Dasheon witnessed you hanging around the center long after everyone else had left with paint on your pants! The only question we had was why did you do it? And why frame Sketch?

Sherlocka: Your busted Buddy!! Yeah, tell us. Why did you do it?

Charlie: {Nervous, head down} Well, okay,okay, okay……

Sherlocka: C’mon, the Okays are killing me!

Charlie: Fine! I did it because I was frustrated sketch never asked me hang out with him and his crew. I wanted to prove to sketch and everyone else that I’m cool. I panicked and let Sketch take the blame because he’s always in trouble and I’m never in trouble. {Head down} I’m sorry, I should have fessed up.

Sketch: Yeah man, you shouldn’t have blamed me! I mean, your work is actually good! I didn’t know you had this kind of skill! We should collaborate…

{Sherlocka gets upset and goes towards sketch “Why I oughta”}

Dan : {Interrupts} ONLY if that collaboration is intended for Cabrini Connections!! I think we can come up with a great mural. Both of you need to be signed up for Art club. Let’s put your talents to good use – not an illegal use!

Charlie: {To sketch} Man, I’m really sorry. I screwed up.

Sketch: Forget about it, next time though, just ask me to hang out instead of framing me!

Sherlocka: Should I charge Charlie with Vandalism? Defacing private property? False accusations? Lying to an officer of the law…

Dan: Thank you Sherlocka, but I don’t think any of that is necessary! I think Charlie has learned his lesson – OR at least he will after all the work I have ready for him at Cabrini Connections. I think we can start with scrapping all the used chewing gum from under all the desks followed by cleaning the toilets, washing the windows ……

De’Sean – Narrator to end the play with a moral in ryme

2008-2009 Writing Club

2008-08-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

"The writing club will be doing much of the same as last year. We will continue to provide opportunity for the participants to express themselves in various forms of writing emphasizing and encouraging the creative writing skills. We will be exposing the participants to new forms of writing while hopefully showing them the power of words and the impact they have. Each week we will have a new activity which is recorded in each of their journals. The journals are turned in at the end of each class and the participants are encouraged to participate in the activity or free write."
-Jen King

Writing Club Stars at June 2008 Year End Dinner

2008-07-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

The writing club continued to meet weekly at Cabrini Connections throughout the 2007-08 school year.

On June 12 the year-end dinner celebration featured presentations from several of the young poets.

This year we had two guests from Korea at the dinner, and they created a video that you can now see on YouTube, to document the excitment and warmth of this year's celebration.

Clubs are still meeting each week at Cabrini during the summer and we're seeking additional volunteers to support the writing club during the coming school year. Contact us at 312-492-9614, or email tutormentor2@earthlink.net if you are interested.

9/27: Taking a Deeper Look..

2007-11-28T13:31:00.000-08:00

This week we started out with a fun activity that fuses descriptive writing and an insightful look into each other.

Taking a deeper look!

We started this week with a Descriptive Essay…but not just any descriptive essay. We are making Character Descriptions. And who are the characters? Us!
We decided to put all of our names into a hat and pick students and/or volunteers from group to creatively describe. After we secretly picked our names the group sat in a contemplative state looking for the depth in us all. Everybody loved the idea and had fun determining how to describe not only physical characteristics but more importantly, what lies beneath the surface. It was truly an eye opening activity. Through this we discovered that our diverse group of young people think highly of one another and found a plethora of positive attributes to highlight and discuss.

9/19: And so it begins!

2007-09-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

We started our ‘official’ new year as Cabrini Connections Writing Group, Wednesday September 19, 2007. And we couldn’t be more excited! First we regret to announce that our beloved Meg has moved to Arizona. We were sad to see her go, but we’re so proud of her and will keep in touch.

This year we’re changing things up a bit. At our first meeting we passed out new notebooks and plenty of stickers and gems to decorate with. While the ladies were decorating the books we talked about goals we’d like to achieve for the year. They jotted down their goals and we discovered we have some motivated individuals on our hands! Tajeria would like to start applying for college scholarships, Eboni would like to score a 25 or higher on her ACT test, LaFaye would like to not only have an A+ average but would also like to finish writing her story! Mercedes and Namieka would like to stay focused on school, while Vontesha would love to learn a little Spanish!

This year the notebooks are serving a higher purpose. At the end of each group the notebooks will be collected for Jen and Shannyn to review and positively reinforce the girls with comments and feedback. We also write the girls our own notes and they write back to us! We’ve also implemented a reward system. Points are rewarded for attendance, activity completion, and group participation. At the end of each week, we’ll tally up the points and determine a writer of the week! And at the end of each quarter we’ll have a pizza party and let the girls ‘shop’ with their points. For example, if you have 200 points you can trade them in for a Target Gift Card or Museum Tickets. The girls loved the idea and we can’t wait to see them rack up those points!

7-11, 7-18: Story writing!

2007-07-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

7-11, 7-18

We kicked off our summer meetings with a focus on story writing! On 7-11 we went to Oz Park on Armitage and Halsted, set up blankets, and did some “imagination exercises.” Some of the exercises asked students to write about their lives; for example, “name 15 things you see outside of your house.” Or: “think of a song that brings back strong memories. What song is it? What kinds of feelings do you associate with the song?” Then, some of the exercises asked students to make up stories, or little scenarios. One example is: “Through the laundromat window, I see….” The point of doing the exercises was to get students’ creative muscles working and give them inspiration for writing their own stories (real or imagined).

On 7-18 we continued with the exercises and talked about possible stories. Marcus will be writing about his “block.” Eboni will write about a song that triggers a memory of a past boyfriend. Victoria is also writing about a song. LaFaye is writing a fiction story from a young girl’s perspective that describes the girl searching for her mother, who is never around. TT is writing about a song that brings back strong memories of her uncle who passed away. We talked about different elements of story writing such as what draws the reader in and how to be descriptive. I tried to help the students narrow down their story ideas—to write about a moment, or an event, rather than trying to capture too much in one story. They got some words on paper, which was great! They will be working on their stories on their own time and next week, we’ll look at first drafts and work on revising!

Year end dinner story: it's all about family!

2007-07-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

Before we move on to our summer meetings, I wanted to post a re-cap of the year-end dinner...

With the theme of “This Is Just the Beginning,” the Cabrini Connections family gathered for the year-end dinner on June 8th—celebrating students’ accomplishments and looking toward the future.

With his words and his spirit, Jabar taught us about destiny. A graduate of CC and college sophomore inspired younger students to stay focused. Then Eboni, Tajeria, LeFaye, and Victoria from the writing group performed an improv and poetry skit about seeing “The Color Purple.” They head-bobbed, showed us attitude, and reminisced as the audience laughed and went along for the ride.

Courtland and Ana kept things running smoothly as students, volunteers, and special guests met each other and chatted over dinner. We listened to India Arie, and a slide show of student memories played in the background (thanks Roman!). Over dinner, we introduced ourselves and shared our diverse experiences working with the kids at CC.

After dinner, proud parents took the mic to share their kids’ experiences with the organization. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one crying as one father told us that “it’s not always easy raising kids and keepin’ them smellin’ nice.” But with the help of CC, he’s given them a future. He thanked the CC “family,” extended special thanks to Dan, and inspired us with his heartfelt words.

Dan built on the theme of family in his seven minute speech (Ana had given him five :)). The reason Dan could talk all day is because he’s committed to CC—in both his words and his actions. He talked about the beauty of so many diverse types of people coming together to make CC a success and reminded us that we’re not just an organization, we’re a family. He encouraged us to keep looking to the future and staying connected to CC.

Rebecca talked about the future ambitions of the IYP Video Club and showed us a preview of the full-length documentary that members had produced. Courtland and Ana announced student awards and passed out prizes to the deserving winners!! We clapped for graduating seniors Jabar Norman, Kevin Stanfield, and Terika White.

With the spirit of CC, these students would be moving on. But as we had learned throughout the evening, you never lose touch with family; their accomplishments would live on through the younger students who’d be a part of the family for years to come. So when we left for the evening, we knew we’d be in contact soon—to continue doing the homework, making memories, and together learning what it means to succeed.

The "Color Purple"

2007-06-01T11:54:00.001-07:00

Our big event of the year was seeing the "Color Purple" at the Cadillac/Palace theatre! Thanks to McHugh Construction and a private donor, we were able to eat at the Italian Village and attend the show.

At dinner we ate shrimp cocktail, calmari (not a big hit), salad, bread, pasta, more pasta, cheesecake, tiramisu, and brownie sundaes. Some of the girls were brave enough to try espresso, but I don't think they'll ever try it again! Our waiter Mario gave us incredible service, and the highlight of the dinner was simply getting to know each other better. The girls told stories and more stories, and there was no shortage of laughter!

We cabbed it to the theatre and watched a powerful performance of love lost and found, strength, and courage. What was really neat about the show for Jen and I was to watch the girls being inspired. The female characters were strong and powerful in spirit; in a group full of girls, we thought this was the perfect message!

5-23, 5-30: Scripts for Year-End Dinner!

2007-06-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

We've been working through ideas and coming up with some entertainment for the year-end dinner! We encouraged the girls to present something that would represent their unique voices and experiences...after drafting different ways to express ourselves, we've decided to combine improv and poetry. The girls wanted their performance to be somewhat scripted but "live" enough to entertain the audience. Next week we're going to a coffee shop to practice performing our words!

See everyone at the year-end dinner!

5-16, Writing for year-end dinner!

2007-05-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

This week, we started brainstorming about what we want to say at the year-end dinner! Jen led the meeting and had the girls come up with memories we've created in the group and talk about what the group means to them. She started with a one-line description of the group and passed the paper around. Each member wrote a tidbit describing the group in their own words. We'll be using this as a springboard to work on poems that members will perform!!

5-9, Letters of Change

2007-05-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Last week we had one of our most inspirational meetings. We had never seen members so focused and passionate about an activity! The focus of the day was how we could write to make change in the world. We talked about the power of the written word and how our own words could get things done, help us achieve things, help us help others, and get "things" (like the donations we've been getting....anything we've gotten donated to us was the result of using words and letters to put our message out there!). We wanted the kids to find issues that they wanted to fight for and use their own words to make change.

To figure out what everyone was passionate about, we started out with the question: "What bothers you in your life?" The girls had a LOT to say, and they all listened with respect to everyone's ideas. Some of the issues girls brought up were things at home (miscommunication, wanting closer relationships with family members) and things at school (the way teachers talked "down" to them, the lack of care they've seen in some of their authorites, etc..). We talked about how to approach these issues productively and talked about possible avenues of change.

Tonight we picked up from last week's conversations and figured out a place to start. Several members suggested writing letters to teachers that have inspired them. We figured starting with the positive things in life was a good route, and so we wrote....Members wrote letters to past or present teachers, which we mailed as an end of the year gift! The more we talk about issues affecting the girls, we hope to find a collective cause that we can address....with our words, and down the road, our actions.

5-2, Blog Exchange

2007-05-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

5-2, Blog Exchange

Dan recently pointed out a Vermont mentoring program that cited our blog (and the Cabrini Connections main blog) as an example of what blogs can accomplish! The Three River Valley Regional Business Education Partnership mentoring programs creates diverse mentoring opportunities such as facilitating weekly lunches/meeting with mentors and youth, giving youth the chance to spend time with senior citizens, and matching mentors with juveniles who’ve committed crimes, to ensure that they get on the right path. Marie Gelineau, Executive Director, and her staff are publicizing their efforts to reach out on their new blog @ http://vtmentoring.blogspot.com/. We are thrilled to have a blog connection, and we’d like to share some of the great things that our blog has helped us to accomplish.

(1) Showcasing student work! Our group is of course 100% voluntary, and we’ve been amazed at the kids’ high level of enthusiasm! As we build a community, we’ve tried to create fun and meaningful activities for the kids….as we help them focus on different writing tasks, they’ve produced some amazing work. We’ve posted their work on the blog and talked to them about what it means when their work goes “public” (you can search their names on google and the blog shows up). This gives the kids a sense of accomplishment and encourages them to be more focused.

(2) Showing potential donators what we’re about! As we’ve reached out to the community and asked for donations, we always cite our blog! It helps give a “face” the kids’ efforts, as well as gives a sense of professionalism to our group. The more people that visit our blog, the more resources we can garner. We’ve written letters to newspapers and local restaurants and talked to anyone and everyone about our group! The blog is a tangible means of showing what we do.

(3) Creating connections with other mentors. The blog helps us create relationships and opens up communication lines with other mentors and volunteers (in Cabrini Connections and other mentoring programs). When face-to-face meetings and interactions aren’t possible, the blog indirectly opens up communication lines :).

4-25, Blake Palmer Art Gallery!

2007-04-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight we visited the Blake Palmer art gallery, located on Wabansia and Ashland!! The gallery contains all types of paintings and sculptures. The owner was gracious enough to give us details about each piece, as well as tell us about the different artists’ backgrounds. We looked at all the work, reflected on our favorite pieces, and took pictures….

Special thanks to Colin Palmer for having us. The trip was the group’s first art event! It was a new experience for all of the students; we could tell they loved it.

Also, special thanks to Tom Li for taking 3 writing group members and two mentors to the Bulls’ first playoff game last Saturday. We all had a great time :). Go Bulls.

On the horizon: we’ve secured our “Color Purple” tickets for Saturday, May 19th and are in the process of making plans for the big night! Thanks to McHugh Construction for their generous donation.

4-18, Response to Don Imus scandal

2007-04-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

Our activities tonight revolved around the Don Imus scandal. We had an open discussion of Imus’s recent firing that resulted from a broadcast in which he (and his producer) called the Rutgers Women’s basketball team “some nappy headed hoes.” First, we passed out a news article that described the whole scenario in detail; we also discussed some recent Oprah episodes in which the hip-hop community responded to claims that they’re responsible for normalizing derogatory attitudes towards women—in the Black community, and in all cultures.

We had members come up with a list of slang words used to describe women and talked critically about the different “levels of offensiveness.” The girls had some insightful things to say as far as who can use certain words, how they’re used, when they’re used, etc. We had them freewrite about their response to Mr. Imus and the hip-hop community. Then, members turned their freewrites into persuasive letters (geared to Mr. Imus, to be posted on Oprah.com). We talked about what it means to write a persuasive letter and encouraged members to construct purposeful, respectful letters. We’re also going to use this type of “public” writing to move into research projects in which members find a cause they want to support, research it on the Internet and through other mediums, and then use their writing to make some kind of difference.

**Here are some excerpts:

(1) From Tajeria Beacham:

Dear Mr. Imus,

I honestly believe that you didn’t mean any harm about your comment to the Rutgers basketball team, but to women in general it’s offensive, even when rappers use it in their lyrics. Not only when whites use it to me and many of my peers anyone who calls females out of their names is very disrespectful by all means….

There’s a huge difference in the black community when female friends call each other b’s but not to go as far as h’s (hoes). Even though black women and women of all races are disrespected and are given bad reputations in rap lyrics that still doesn’t give anybody of any color to call women HOES. Comments to women are about them I believe today rappers want a visual of themselves so they become disrespectful to women and that’s not cool. I believe even though I’m black many blacks are disrespected by both female and women that’s why many people my age aren’t stressing the issue.

(2) From Eboni Rivera

Dear Mr. Imus,

I think the comment you made was stupid and ignorant. You hurt those girls feelings and then have the nerve to say that it was just a joke or a comment. I feel you were racist towards the black community and the women in the black race. In my thought though I do feel it’s a double standard. You feel that if people in the black race can say it, then white people or any other race can say it. There are different sayings of that word “hoe” or “bitch.” Most girls call there friends it. They see them at school, coming down the hallway, “what’s up h, or what’s up b?” But when a boy or someone else says it we get offended. Different rappers rap about these women and call these women all kinds of things. It’s wrong for them to say it, and it was wrong for you to say it. Point blank.

4-11, Gifts of Writing

2007-04-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

This week we worked on “gifts of writing”—to others and to ourselves. The concept behind this activity is simple: often we have things to say to our loved ones, but we don’t take the time or energy to say them. On the same note, we often have things we need to say to ourselves, but we go about our daily lives without digging deeper. “Say things to ourselves?” the kids asked with a weird look in their eye. “yeah, like if you stuff your emotions, or if you have dreams that you want to accomplish, try to bring this things out from your gut,” I told them.

On this note, we turned on B96 and we wrote. Before we would compose letters or poems, we had members draw feeling maps that represented specific things they would say to someone else. Then in their journals, they wrote to boys, mothers, fathers; one girl even wrote to her future son or daughter (and promised us this wouldn't happen for a long time!). After writing to someone else, we had the group start brainstorming about what they wanted to say to themselves. They started with the following exercise:

The greatest joy in my life is _________________
The biggest lack in my life is_________________
I worry that ______________________________
My biggest dream is _______________________
If my dreams come true, my family will _______
If I let myself feel it, I’m angry that ___________
I’m happiest when _________________________

Just doing this preliminary exercise was a profound learning moment; members talked about what they wrote and got ideas from each other. They also talked about boyfriends gone bad and confrontations at school. I encouraged one “chatty” :) girl to channel her energy into something creative, which resulted in an eloquent letter to her past boyfriend! Now this is what learning looks like, I thought to myself as hip hop played in the background...

Next week we’re going to polish our letters and wrap up the activity. Members will decide whether or not they will actually give their letters to their loved ones. We’re also going to have a drawing which will allow two lucky members to attend a Bulls playoff game with Tom Li and Meghan!

3-21, 3-28: Sharing and Writing about Our Vision Boards

2007-04-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

On 3-21, we spent more time finishing our vision boards! We tried to get everyone to add extra detail and creativity to their boards. The 2 members that finished their boards the first week moved onto freewriting activities.

On 3-28, we started with going around the group and having everyone hold up their vision board! Each person described what they had displayed and why they chose what they did. We also had them describe what path they plan on taking to achieve their visions. To get members to dig deeper into their “visions” and think about tangible steps they could take in achieving their dreams, we had them freewrite about exactly how they plan to get where they want to go (this is the hard part, right?)…. We also began writing individual profiles for the blog…stay tuned and get to know everyone better!

On a separate but related note, there was a lot of energy swirling around our meeting tonight. After we simmered down, the mentors could only think that all of this energy will get channeled into something creative and amazing. Some way, some how!!!

We look forward to meeting new people at the open houses this week....

3-14: Vision Boards: Where We're Going...

2007-03-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had Giordano’s pizza and started by talking about some field trips we might take. Some ideas we came up with: go see “The Color Purple” on broadway, go rollerskating, and go to the salon! So far members have been writing about their lives; Meghan, Shannyn, and Jen want to create new experiences for them, which will definitely give them plenty to write about (thanks to Tom for his help networking!).

Our activity tonight was very hands-on! Building off last week when we created poems about “where we’ve been,” this week’s focus was “where we’re going.” We created vision boards (collages) to represent things we want out of life. We cut out pictures, words, and phrases from magazines and drew symbols and sayings in order to create a visual representation of some of our dreams. “They” say that to get what you want out of life, you have to envision it first.

Here are some of the things we see in our futures:

Love, family, nice cars, diamonds, more love, travel, sisterhood, careers, and fancy shoes!

Some specific expressions from the boards are:

Si, me llamo Eboni

X-Press myself!

Believe

Legacy

Perspective: some things are worth sharing

Singing and dancing is my thing

Open Road

Living Chicago

Forever Love

Model Citizen

Wifey material babe!

I’m young and sexy

A welcome home

Next week we’re going to share the boards and use them as a springboard for some writing activities!

3-7, Our Poems: Where We've Been

2007-03-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

We modeled these poems and lyrics after Mary J. Blige's "Take Me As I Am." These words represent our hearts; they give a glimpse into "where we've been."

Mercedes:
She is slow
Everyone calls her a hoe
she's a good girl

When she on the block
they say she suck cock

I been feelin' like shit
I told my boyfriend my biggest secret
he snapped
I don't think he loves me no more

Terrisha:
I been left behind
I out my mind
because I had a lot of deaths in my family

I done found relief
I been left at peace
Cause I know that they’re gone into a better place

La’Faye:
She’s been thru a lot
She’s been left to rot
Because her mother was on drugs

All her pain is gone
And their relationship is strong
Now they are like two love bugs!

Eboni:
I’ve been through the tough things since the age of four
Didn’t take long for me to feel hurt and bad for what I had endured
By the age of 14, had my very first love of my life
Times passed, grew apart, felt such hurt and sorrow
Graduation day, so relieved, almost didn’t happen
But that little hit doesn’t mean anything at all
Good times always come and go, jut let it flow the way it goes.

Anonymous:
I’ve been through some stuff
Chics talking buff
She’s been fighting constantly

I’ve been feeling guilty
Talking to dudes and hurting them deeply

I’ve been feeling sad
Trying to act all bad
When she’s hurting deep

Nemieka:
I been scared a lot
I been left behind
I been hurt before
I been happy and sad
I been left alone
I been called names before
Like you “yellow bitch”
I been fighting too much

Jen:
She’s been told she was wrong
That she wasn’t that strong
She knew one day she would leave

She finally had enough
She proved she was tough
She has so much more to achieve

Meghan:
She’s been idealized
She’s been prized
But they can’t really see in

She’s been on her game
She’s been proving her name
A strange dreamer, she keeps livin’

What we've been doing in our kickoff meetings!

2007-03-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

So far we've had three meetings; the first two meetings we did some fun ice breakers so we could all get to know each other. We want it to be a safe, trusting environment because we know that sharing writing can be a difficult thing to do. So far we KNOW the girls (and guy) have heart and lot of jokes up their sleeves! We've had some good laughs, some overly rowdy moments, and some poetic writing...

Now that we're getting into the actual writing activities, we'll blog after each session to report where we are in the creative process and what we've written. Last week we analyzed the first two stanzas of Mary J. Blige's song "Take Me As I Am":

She's been down and out
she's been wrote about
she's been talked about constantly

She been up and down
she's been pushed around
but they held her down NYC

First, we talked about what the lines mean. The girls vibed with this because they all knew the song. Then, we analyzed the language more closely to see what Mary's lyrics were "doing." The girls noticed the rhyme schemes and how Mary used "she" instead of saying "I." We talked about why she decided to do this, and then we worked on composing our own mini-songs about where "we've been." This is so hard, but we made some progress. This week we're going to pick up where we left off, continuing with the theme of "where we've been."

Who we are: not your typical writing group :)

2007-03-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

We are a hip new writing group at Cabrini Connections! We meet every Wednesday from 5-6 pm to share food and stories about our lives. The group was started by Meghan Bacino, Jen King, and Shannyn Nellett to provide an outlet for Cabrini students; we believe that the written word is a powerful form of expression, and somewhere along the way someone has inspired us to write and dream bigger. We've joined forces with CC to help kids express themselves, and we have some pretty lofty ideas of what we can do with their writing!

Based on the kids' interests, we're going to write genres such as journal entries, letters, song lyrics, poems, and short stories. Meghan and Shannyn write mostly creative nonfiction, and Jen is creative with visual forms of expression. We plan to bring in a diverse crew of writers to add different flavors of expertise (ie: screenwriters, rappers, fiction writers, etc). We're doing a lot of networking, and we plan to keep the activities fresh, fun, and meaningful!!

Some of our long term goals are to (1) have some of our members perform at the year-end dinner; (2) build a compilation of student work; and (3) look for other publishing/performance venues. It will take time and practice, but so far so good. We've already seen a lot of heart and humor :), and we love working with the kids!! Once we get a core crew, we will have the students add their own profiles to the blog.