Chicago VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES, as listed in the University Community Service Center Newsletter:

King College Prep After School Tutoring Center
King College Prep, located at 45th and Drexel, runs an after-school tutoring center for its students. Students from all grades are welcome and come for homework assistance, help understanding subject material, and help studying for exams. Volunteers who can tutor in all high school subjects, but especially world languages, sciences, and math, are sought. Tutors must demonstrate proficiency in the material they tutor and must be interested in working with teens. Previous experience tutoring or working with youth is a plus, but not required. The tutoring center is open Monday through Thursday from 3 to 5 pm. Volunteers are required to make a mimimum 2 hour commitment per week, and must come on the same day every week.
Interested individuals can email their inquiries to kcptutoringcenter@gmail.com or by phone at 413-244-6737. They should email their availability, relevant experience and areas of tutoring expertise.

Volunteer tutoring opportunity at Urban Prep Academy in East Garfield Park!
Research shows that only 1 in 40 African American males will graduate from college. Only 45% will even graduate high school in Chicago. But you can be a part of the effort to reduce this trend. Urban Prep Academy is a charter high school that serves African American students from the South and West Sides of Chicago. Currently, Urban Prep is looking for enthusiastic, service-oriented book lovers to lead twice-weekly reading skills groups at our school. UChicago students who want to contribute their intelligence, enthusiasm and dedication to helping the young men of Urban Prep succeed, this is for you. Here are the details:

* Lead a tutoring group to improve student literacy or lead a book discussion group to encourage young men to read outside the classroom. Students will be broken into groups based on their reading levels. Abilities range from non-readers (2nd grade competency or below) to highly literate (12th grade competency or above), so there is a wide variety of teaching opportunities available.
* Meet for one hour twice a week. Times and days are flexible, based on your availability. Groups can meet during the school day from 11-12pm or after school from 4-5pm. Groups will be held at Urban Prep Academy, East Garfield Park Campus, right off the Green Line.
* Why: Currently, 71% of incoming freshmen are reading below grade level and 66% of our sophomores are still behind. The faculty only has so much time in the day, so they are hoping to find qualified students to help.

If you would like to get involved, email Sara at sleginsky@urbanprep.org or call 773.354.4960 for more information. To learn more about what Urban Prep Academies is all about, please see our website at www.urbanprep.org.

by Lynda Lopez, UCSC News & Public Affairs

According to a report released by the federal Corporation for National and Community Service, college student volunteering increased by 20 percent between 2002 and 2005, more than doubling the growth in the adult volunteering rate. It found that 3.3 million college students volunteered in 2005 - nearly 600,000 more students than three years ago -- building strong momentum toward a national goal of five million college student volunteers by the end of 2010.

Volunteering has become an innate part of many student lives. From tutoring children at a local elementary school to taking care of kids at a children's hospital, there are endless opportunities to volunteer. This year, ten students at the University of Chicago will be selected for the Students in Service (SIS) Program. The Students in Service Program is a part-time AmeriCorps program that encourages and supports college and university students to enroll as part-time AmeriCorps. The students selected will have to complete 300 hours of volunteering at a local organization and after completion of the program each student will be awarded a $1,132 grant to commemorate their efforts.

The University Community Service Center received a total of $11,320 for the Students in Service Program through the Illinois Campus Compact (ILCC). The ILCC is a coalition of colleges and universities that supports the civic engagement of students. Currently Illinois Campus Compact has 43 member campuses. Illinois members are part of national Campus Compact, a coalition of nearly 1,100 college and university presidents, representing some 6 million students. The ILCC was awarded 100 part-time AmeriCorps slots from Washington Campus Compact. The University of Chicago, along with 11 other institutions, will have students participate this year in the SIS program. Over 3,700 college students will participate nationally and they will contribute approximately 1.4 million hours of service to their local communities.

The University Community Center will be starting the process of selecting students for this prestigious program in the coming weeks. Two slots for the program have been taken by two students interning in Mayor Daley's office. If you are interested in learning more about the program, contact Julia Pei, the Strategic Initiatives Intern at UCSC at strategicinitiatives.ucsc@gmail.com.

Mark your calendars for some great events for students who want to explore Chicago, coming up this week and next:

TODAY Oct 1-31

Art Here, Art Now
Off Campus (see description)
HyPa and the University of Chicago invite you to celebrate Chicago Artists Month: Chicago's theme this year, "the city as studio," explores the impact of the urban environment on Chicago artists and their work, and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of our city. Art Here, Art Now is one of 12 Featured Programs for the 2010 Chicago Artists Month activities.

View local artists' installations 24/7 in the windows along 53rd Street and watch local artists at work during studio hours every Saturday in October from 1pm-5pm.

THURSDAY: Oct 14

Tutoring Volunteer Info Session

5:00-6:00 PM
Reynolds Club, South Lounge
Learn about tutoring and mentoring opportunities in the local community from the University Community Service Center and representatives from local education organizations.

Oct 17

Reel Jazz Films

Where: HyPa Gallery, 5226 S. Harper Ave. in Hyde Park
When: 3:00pm, every Sunday in October

- "Jammin' the Blues" (1944), Oscar-nominated short featuring Lester Young, Red Callender, Illinois Jacquet, and Marie Bryant
- "The March of Time presents American Music" (1937) Jukebox films featuring Cootie Williams, Laurel Watson, and the Lindy Hoppers
- "Symphony in Black" (1935), featuring Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday
- "Ration Blues" (1945), featuring Louis Jordan, Una Mae Carlisle, and Hilda Rogers
- "Jumpin' at the Woodside" (from 1941 film Hellzapoppin'), featuring Slim Galliard, Slam Stewart, and the Lindy Hoppers

Each Sunday in October, the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival and the Hyde Park Alliance for Arts and Culture present an afternoon of rare jazz films from the 1930s through the somewhat recent past, shown on genuine 16mm film.

How much: $5 suggested donation

Oct 21

Great Conversations Lecture Series: An Evening with Earl Shorris

12:00 - 1:30 pm - SSA
5:30-7:30 PM - Gleacher Center
Earl Shorris is the founder of the Clemente Course in the Humanities, the award-winning global program that uses the humanities in antipoverty efforts. A contributing editor of Harper's Magazine, he has received the National Humanities Medal, awarded by President Clinton, and the Condecoracion de la Orden del Aguila Azteca. His books include Riches for the Poor: the Clemente Course in the Humanities, The Politics of Heaven: America in Fearful Times, New American Blues: A Journey Through Poverty to Democracy, and Under the Fifth Sun: A Novel of Pancho Villa.

by Grace Evans, third-year in the College

Are you interested in teaching health classes to Chicago Public School students? The UChicago-based Peer Health Exchange is inviting students to apply to be a part of this national organization.

PHE is a nonprofit organization that trains college students to teach health classes to ninth-graders in public schools. PHE is a national organization, operating in four universities in Chicago and five cities throughout the U.S. This means we have access to significant monetary and human resources, and yet we function like a community organization. PHE at UChicago will teach in five schools this year, all on the South Side, and three within walking distance of the University.

PHE volunteers teach health workshops in ten subjects to meet this need, engaging students in discussions and roleplays to give them the knowledge and skills they need to make healthy decisions.
All of these schools are high-need, measured by the proportion of students receiving free or reduced lunch, and by the fact that these schools would not offer comprehensive health education if PHE were not there.