Groundbreaking Partnership Helps Northwood Latino Students Succeed

At its March 20 meeting, the North Shore School District 112 Board of Education recognized staff members at Northwood Junior High, the Highland Park-based social service agency Family Service, and the United Way for a groundbreaking partnership that is helping Northwood Junior High School Latino students make a successful transition to high school.

The Youth Educational Support and Success (YESS) program provides comprehensive after-school, evening and weekend programming to a targeted group of immigrant and low-income Northwood students and their families. While community service programs have long been in place for Highland Park and Highwood students up through fifth grade and at the high school level, there was no program for middle school students.

“Research shows that if by the time students reach ninth grade they are doing well academically, socially and emotionally, they’re not only more likely to succeed in high school but they are more likely to pursue a college career,” said Erika Alcibar, Latino and Youth Program Coordinator at Family Services. Conversely, Latino students from low-income families who don’t receive support are at high risk for not graduating from high school, Alcibar said.

For the last few years, Family Service has had a program in place at Township High School District 113 called the Latino Youth Initiative, that works with high school students, and it seemed a natural fit to expand programming to sixth to eighth graders, as “it is such a critical time in the lives of youth,” Alcibar said.

While Northwood does a good job of meeting the needs of students during the school day, middle school students need places to go after school and on the weekends, said Northwood co-principal Jennifer Ferrari, who lives in the school’s neighborhood and said she would often look out her window while cooking dinner and see her students hanging out with nothing to do.

Northwood’s unique student demographics made it an ideal choice for a partner in serving the area’s Latino middle school population. About 46% of its students are from low-income families, and many of them are first-generation immigrants primarily from Mexico. Northwood’s boundaries also encompass some of the wealthiest North Shore families: Basketball legend Michael Jordan’s house, which is currently on the market for $29 million, is in Northwood’s attendance area. “A unique quality and often a demanding challenge is the polar opposite socio-economic classes that exist in the school,” Ferrari and Northwood co-principal Monica Schroeder wrote in the United Way grant application for program funding. “To overcome these challenges, Northwood continually strives to provide students with engaging experiences before, during and after school. Northwood recognizes the need to balance the playing field for a large portion of its population.”

Family Service and Northwood jointly applied to United Way for funding last summer, and in September were awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the program for a two year cycle. The school began recruiting applicants for the program in the fall, and it kicked off over winter break with a group field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. To be accepted into the program, students and their families have to agree to participate fully, and to allow the program to track their school attendance and academic achievement information. The program currently has 21 participants, but more are signing on every week and at full capacity the program will serve 50 students, Alcibar said.

Students in the program meet at Northwood for two hours after school four days a week, Monday to Thursday. There, they receive a healthy meal each day provided by the Northern Illinois Food Bank, along with homework help and tutoring. But academics is just one component of the program, Alcibar said. It also aims to provide students with cultural opportunities that they would not otherwise have access to, health and nutrition information, and activities to promote social and emotional growth and well-being. Students in the program have the option of attending can attend a Saturday afternoon drop-in session at the Family Service Nuestro Center, for recreational opportunities, including games, sports and movies. There are organized field trips over school breaks, including a spring break trip where students will go to the top of Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and Millenium Park. They will also have tickets to Chicago Fire games, and later this year visit the National Museum of Mexican Art and get a tour of the murals in the Pilsen neighborhood.

The YESS grant was the result of many months of planning by a group of dedicated North Shore School District 112 and Family Service employees, and support from the North Shore United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, which recognized the need and the value of funding such a comprehensive program, said North Shore School District 112 Superintendent David Behlow. “Their hard work and efforts will make a lasting and meaningful difference in the lives of students and their families,” he said.

The employees recognized by board members included Alcibar, Schroeder and Ferrari, along with Northwood ELL teacher Emily Kurth, Northwood Social Worker Rosa Machabanski, Family Service Executive Director Paul Dean, Family Service Latino and Youth Program Advocates Mireya Boysselle and Cindy Camacho, Jessica Vlahogiannis, Program Manager at North Shore United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, and Lorelei Beaucaire, Chief Professional Officer at North Shore United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.