Tuesday, October 4, 2011

How Chicago is Developing Latino Leaders


Cristina Benitez writes, "In the span of a quick week, Chicago witnessed more steps, más pasos, of developing young Latino leaders and further Latinization of the US. Instituto Health and Science Academy for high school kids and New Futuro for potential college students launched and Latino Media and Communication at DePaul University celebrated the beginning of year two. 

This is positive news that supports the recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center touting a 24 percent increase in college enrollments among Latinos. The Pew report is good news to be sure, but the trick is keeping these kids in school. This is how we are building Latino leaders in the windy city."


Here is the contact information to find out more about these programs in Chicago. 
http://healthacademy.idpl.org

In 2008, leadership from Instituto del Progreso Latino (Instituto) began exploring the idea of creating a new high school that could help serve Chicago’s pressing need for high quality education within urban communities.  Last week Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy (IHSCA) opened a new charter high school in Chicago that serves 600 youth, grades 9 to 12 from Chicago communities, and paves the way for the next generation of doctors, nurses, information professionals, and bio-technicians.



New Futuro provides Latino families with tools to get their students into college. Parents and students gain access to free, bilingual information and tools to create a step-by-step plan. Using a user friendly “10-step roadmap” the program created a simple formula to a college plan with the goal of enrolling 10,000 new college students.  New Futuro enhances the probability of success by connecting members with non-profit organizations and educational institutions via New Futuro’s website, magazines, and neighborhood outreach efforts. 

In partnership with Allstate, New Futuro has created “Road to College Workshops” a series of college workshops every week in the Chicagoland area, giving a $1,000 scholarship weekly.  These smaller workshops will culminate with a major education summit at the UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd., on Nov. 12.



Today’s communications scholars recognize that Latinos are shaping communication and contributing to the Latinization of U.S. culture. DePaul’s program in Latino Media and Communication offers high caliber courses based on an awareness and appreciation of Latino cultures in the U.S., grounded in history, communication, culture, performance, and sociology.  These Latino focused courses are in Public Relations & Advertising, Intercultural Communication, Journalism, and Media & Cinema Studies.
LM&C is open to undergraduate and graduate students within the College of Communication and other Colleges and offers a minor or a concentration, taught by outstanding faculty and develops culturally sophisticated and savvy global citizens

This is the action we need to support the success of Pew’s promising news.  This is Latinization and development of Latino leaders. 

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