December 23, 2009

Season's Greetings!

Earlier this week, over 100 scholars, parents, staff and Board members celebrated together at our Annual Holiday Party, this year appropriately titled "A Wintery Blast from the Past." The theme, chosen by the Class Officers, was in recognition of the accomplishments of the Founders, donors and students of Chicago Scholars who, since 1996, have contributed to building a better Chicago through education. Amidst cheers from scholars playing Nintendo Wii and Charades, the quiet focus of scholars creating holiday cards for hospitalized children, and the ever-present tables groaning with food, scholars hugged old friends, made new ones, and celebrated together as a community. As I gazed over the room, I felt the energy and joy that marks the very best of this Season.

To be honest, there wasn't much time to be reflective that night - there were too many kids to hug and too many stories to catch up on. My-Phuong at Urbana was beaming with the news her grades are way up this year, while Andrei was excited to report he was accepted to one of his best-fit colleges, The University of Chicago. Yasin's plans for becoming a pharmacist are on track. Rico is exploring how to apply his sociology degree in the field of "green" urban planning. Joshua loves his engineering program and hopes he'll find a job upon graduation. Juliana just accepted a job at Deloitte in the tax department. Derrius and Iesha both want to raise funds to provide book and computer scholarships to younger peers in the program.

As the evening drew to a close, Iesha (now a senior at Dillard where she holds many leadership roles) and I were talking about the Board's plans to enroll up to 500 new high school seniors in our program this summer. I asked her what she thought of the idea. Her response was an exuberant: "Yeah. They rollin' with the Big Dogs now!" 

As we begin the annual routine of making and breaking New Year's resolutions, I'd like to invite you to "Roll with the Big Dogs" and make a resolution you will want to keep by becoming a mentor to these extraordinary young adults. You will get far more out of the experience than you put in. It beats making resolutions about cleaning closets, spending less or eating right.

Happy New Year from all of us at Chicago Scholars! We hope to see you soon.

Karen G. Foley, President