Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences
Held at the Merle Reskin Theatre downtown, Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences runs a series of productions throughout the year based on popular children's books.
Chicago QUEST
Chicago QUEST is the second school of its kind in the United States. It adapts an innovative education model using games and design as rule-based learning systems. Quest creates worlds in which players actively participate, use strategic thinking, solve complex problems, seek content knowledge, receive constant feedback, and consider the point of view of others. Quest uses the underlying principles of games to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences for its students in a powerful pedagogical model for 6-12th grades.
GEARUP
GEARUP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, was started by the U.S. Department of Education to increase the number of low-income students going to college by helping them succeed in high school and post-secondary education. DPU is one of the institutions that make up this partnership.
SMALLab at Play
Part of Quest To Learn, this model of learning engages students' full bodies in game-based scenarios as they interact with each other and digital game elements in real time in shared physical space. Using motion-capture cameras, short-throw projectors and wireless controllers to immerse players, SMALLab at Play supports situated learning, large-group participation, team work, complex problem solving and fun physical activity.
YOUMedia - A Digital Library for Teens
Co-founded by Nichole Pinkard of DPU's Interactive Media department and held at the Harold Washington Library Center at the Chicago Public Library, YOUMedia is an experiment that is pushing to expand childrens' media literacy. The project has taken a section of the Harold Washington Library Center and filled it with the latest media including laptop computers, music keyboards, recording equipment, video cameras and gaming consoles. Teens who come to the space take place in three levels of participation: "hanging out," "messing around," and "geeking out." Hanging out starts frequently with playing video games or visiting social media sites, while messing around and geeking out involve a deep participation in technology and seeking out experts (who are on hand at the Center). This program encourages participants to move from consumption to production using technology. For more information about the program, visit the site or this article.
CIM Summer Academy
Participating in this week-long program held at DePaul University's Loop campus will provide high school students with hands-on instruction using the latest equipment and technology. Areas of focus include digital cinema production, 3D computer modeling and animation for games and cinema, graphic design and computer game development. Students interested in careers in the motion picture, television, graphic design or computer game industry should apply to this program for a valuable educational experience as well as an advantage in today's competitive world of college admission.
Egan Urban Center
The Egan Urban Center was created at DePaul University to channel community and economic development assistance to minority and underprivileged neighborhoods in a direct and concentrated way. This takes place through the fostering of community development, allowing scholars, staff and students to become meaningfully involved in communities. The community and the University meet through classes, community-based service learning projects, conferences, lectures, and special events held on and off campus.
Geography Partnership
The Geography Department is in partnership with Al Raby High School in Chicago. This collaboration seeks to offer Geographic Information Systems computer mapping advice and tutoring. Geographic Information Systems allow users to view, understand, question, interpret and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.
K-8 Music Instruction with Jahn Elementary
The School of Music will provide grades K-8 general music instruction to students who would otherwise not be receiving this program due to the size of their schools. This program has taken places for several years at St. Gabriel Elementary, St. Ben's, Pritzker Elementary, DeDiego Elementary, and Lincoln Elementary.
Once Upon A Symphony
Many students from the School of Music volunteer to run pre-concert programming for a preschool music series called Once Upon A Symphony, held by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A "DeBlog" written about the experience can be found here.
America Reads
America Reads is a tutoring and mentoring program that focuses on the improvement of literacy and academic skills for Catholic elementary school students. As Work-Study program of the Steans Center, America Reads hopes to prepare tutors to become socially-responsible leaders in their community. By assisting Catholic elementary school students in a number of neighborhoods across Chicago, the America Reads program aims to train leaders who are professional, socially aware and committed to community service. Tutors will be required to reflect on their experiences at service sites and will be encouraged to think systemically of the broader implications of their engagement with the community. Students can apply to become a tutor on the Student Employment website.
Please contact Paige Myers or Jenny Yoon for more information.