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.

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.