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For the fifth consecutive year, Chicago Public Radio is sponsoring a radio journalism and training project called the “Ear to the Ground Mentorship Program.”
Six rookie journalists participate as reporters in a two week boot camp, working alongside an individual mentor—a veteran Chicago Public Radio correspondent or producer. Each participant conceives, develops, reports, and produces a four to eight minute radio story in conjunction with the annual public information series Chicago Matters. |
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2006 Ear to the Ground participants at work. Photo by Jason Reblando. |
Ear to the Ground was developed as another arm of Chicago Public Radio’s contribution to the Chicago Matters series. The goal of the series is to engage diverse voices from the Chicago-area community in a discussion over a chosen topic of concern. In this way, Ear to the Ground seeks to forward the goal of community-wide discussion by expanding who is being talked about—and who's doing the talking.
We’ve sought out participants who can contribute to our series topic by illuminating overlooked Chicago communities and subjects. We believe this mentorship program serves the mission of the Chicago Matters series by enabling a diverse group of Chicagoans to participate in a larger community-relevant discussion as both reporters or subjects.
Moreover, we are looking to train rookie journalists committed to community service writing and reporting. We are looking for new voices who will continue with what they learn in our program and honor these goals in their professional lives (careers in public broadcasting, we hope). Another part of our mentorship program goal is to introduce participants to the community of public radio reporters and producers. |
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Valuing Diversity at Bridgeport’s Healy Elementary
Efren Arcos—Ear to the Ground Reporter
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| Left to Right: Ben Calhoun and Efren Arcos. Photo by Jason Reblando. |
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These days, many of Chicago's schools still reflect the segregation of the city itself, which means diversity is not part of the education kids receive. Robert Healy Elementary School is an exception. It sits in the heart of the Bridgeport neighborhood on Chicago’s south side. Bridgeport used to be mostly Irish, and in fact the school’s namesake, Robert Healy, was an Irish immigrant. But today's Bridgeport is different, with a mixture of whites, Latinos, and Asians. So is Healy.
Ear to the Ground’s Efren Arcos is a lifelong Bridgeport resident and a Healy alum. He reports on how the diversity of the Healy community offers students the kind of education few Chicago kids ever get to experience.
Efren was mentored by Chicago Public Radio Political Reporter Ben Calhoun. |
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Strategies of School Choice
Roderick Sawyer—Ear to the Ground Reporter
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| Left to Right: Jason DeRose and Roderick Sawyer. Photo by Jason Reblando |
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The No Child Left Behind law gives parents the option of exercising school choice in certain circumstances. For instance, they can move their children from failing schools to better ones. Parents in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood exercise school choice in a different way. They often move their kids from good schools to even better ones. Some parents even change schools to avoid specific teachers or enroll their kids in special enrichment programs.
Ear to the Ground’s Rod Sawyer reveals some of the strategies he and some other Hyde Park parents are using to get the best educational experience for their children.
Rod was mentored by Chicago Public Radio Reporter Jason DeRose. |
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Differing Educational Needs and Other Divisions within Ukrainian Village
Larissa Hotra—Ear to the Ground Reporter
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| Left to Right: Larissa Hotra and Andrea Wenzel. Photo by Jason Reblando. |
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Chicago is home to more than 40 thousand Ukrainians—one of the largest Ukrainian communities in the U.S. Since the late 1800s, waves of Ukrainian immigrants have settled in what is now called “The Ukrainian Village” neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side.
Ukrainian Village is the cultural and historical epicenter for both Ukrainians born in Chicago and new immigrants who continue to come. It has several public and private schools to choose from, as well as community-run language and cultural programs. Even Illinois's Governor Blagojevich has recognized the significance of the community by calling for more Ukrainian history to be taught in all of the Chicago Public Schools.
Still, new immigrants struggle to fit in with Ukrainian-Americans who have been here for generations. The two communities come from different political, economic, and educational worldviews. Even the language has changed since the older generation emigrated to the U.S. The new immigrants find it difficult to navigate Chicago Public Schools without community support.
Ear to the Ground's Larissa Hotra is an active member of the Ukrainian community. She believes that the older and newer generations can learn a lot if they would spend more time understanding each other.
Larissa was mentored by Worldview Producer Andrea Wenzel |
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Suburban Outsider
Quashana Foster—Ear to the Ground Reporter
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| Left to Right: Quashana Foster and Catrin Einhorn. Photo by Jason Reblando |
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Every year African American parents flock to the suburbs on a quest for a better education for their children. That's what Quashana Foster's parents did 30 years ago. But Quashana had a hard time at school. She felt isolated in an overwhelmingly white world.
As part of Chicago Public Radio's Ear to the Ground program, Quashana went back to the suburbs to see if life has gotten better for African American students there today.
Quashana was mentored by Chicago Public Radio Reporter Catrin Einhorn.
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A Cultural Import: The Legacy of Educational Values for 2nd Generation South Asian Americans
Susan
Pachikara—Ear to the Ground Reporter
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| Left to Right: Susan Pachikara and Amy Drozdowska-McGuire. Photo by Jason Reblando. |
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Stories about the outsourcing of call center operations to India have become commonplace in the last few years. Operators on duty in Bangalore assume American names: Beena becomes Kelly, Brandy, or Brittany. As with business outsourcing, cultural outsourcing is not a new phenomenon. Ask any second generation American.
Ear to the Ground’s Susan Pachikara reports on how some of Chicago’s second generation Indian Americans become enveloped with the educational values their parents imported decades ago.
Susan was mentored by Assistant Arts Editor Jenny Lawton. |
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Amazing Grace: The Role of the Black Church in Public Education
Lorraine Harrell—Ear to the Ground Reporter
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| Left to Right: Lorraine Harrell and Jenny Lawton. Photo by Jason Reblando |
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Through the centuries, it has been a part of the legacy of the black church to possess a reverence for education. For some slaves, education was a means of achieving freedom. And often the only education available was within the church.
Through the years the black church took an active role in creating schools and educating black youth. But what’s the role of the black church in today’s African American schools? With many of these public schools underperforming and facing high drop out rates.
Ear to Ground’s Lorraine Harrell set out to discover just where is the black church in this picture.
Lorraine was mentored by Chicago Matters Executive Producer/Education Editor Julia McEvoy. |
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Efren Arcos grew up and still resides on the south side of Chicago in the neighborhood of Bridgeport. He finished graduate school in May 2005 with a degree in journalism from Roosevelt University. Part of his graduate coursework included an internship at The Chicago Reporter magazine. He currently works in the social service sector, helping people with learning and visual disabilities. With this mentorship, he hopes to begin a journalistic journey into Bridgeport. He also hopes to one day start and run his own Bridgeport news weekly. |
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Roderick Sawyer is the owner of Teffecx Company, a web development firm. He was born and raised in Chicago, and was educated in the public schools here. After earning an engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he went to work for large corporations in the Information Technology field. It was when he started his own company almost seven years ago that he became active in the community, serving on boards and committees tackling issues such as neighborhood development, education, and business. He currently serves on the boards of the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce, and the 53rd Street TIF committee in Chicago's 4th ward. He is also a freelance columnist for the Hyde Park Herald. He lives with his wife Brenda, and their two school-aged children, Roderick Jr. and Sabrina.
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Larissa Hotra is a Ukraine aficionado. Although raised in Michigan’s Ukrainian community and educated at the University of Michigan, she has found a second home nestled warmly in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village. As a first-generation Ukrainian, she dons many stylish hats, both Slavic and contemporary American: Political Affairs Editor of e-POSHTA, a Ukrainian Internet newsletter; PLAST (Ukrainian Youth Scouting Organization) counselor; Environmental educator; sex-trafficking volunteer; avid urban explorer; writer; and maturing radio journalist. She may also choose to label herself as the unbleached wheat flour all purpose activist for women’s rights, mass transit, and a sustainable environment, among other important human issues. Whether advocating for a healthy and just society or Ukraine’s progress towards democracy, she strives to find innovative ways to keep the Ukrainian community proactive in political, economic, and social affairs.
Larissa is currently in love, and her/his name is Chicago Public Radio and the world of reporting. She looks to her first radio experience with the Ear to the Ground mentorship program as an opportunity to give Chicago’s Ukrainian community a balanced voice—not too soft, not too harsh, but just right. She is also certain that her new radio love life will guide her towards a future career in media and reporting.
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Quashana Foster was born and raised in the western suburbs of Illinois. Her first book of poetry, Moments of Clarity, was published in 2000. Shortly after, she cofounded a poetry ensemble in Chicago to heighten local awareness of the arts. In 2003, she became a freelance writer, as well as an editor and columnist for SpokenVizions magazine. Currently, in addition to her work for the magazine, Quashana is a student at Concordia University.
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Susan Pachikara grew up in southern Illinois and has lived in Chicago since 2003. In the intervening years, she lived and traveled in Asia and worked in Washington D.C. As a second-generation American, she is greatly inspired by stories of immigration, especially those told by her parents who immigrated to the U.S. from south India. Susan wants to produce stories that feature the blending of cultures in Chicago and acknowledge the contributions of its diverse immigrant population. |
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Lorraine Harrell was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. She is an award-winning poet, playwright, and a former Chicago Tribune writer for TempoWoman. Lorraine is the 2005 recipient of an Illinois Arts Council poetry fellowship, and a Soul Mountain Retreat writing fellowship. She lived in Los Angeles for 12 years where she wrote plays, founded the Pasadena Literary Salon, produced poetry and dramatic performances, and participated as a writing fellow with the Warner Bros. TV Comedy Writing Workshop.
Lorraine earned a MFA in playwriting from USC. Upon her return to Chicago, she founded the 15th Ward Accountability Committee, a grass roots group in which she successfully lobbied for and received brighter street lights, repaired curbs, and resurfaced streets in several Englewood neighborhoods. She participated in TeamWork Englewood's nine month Quality of Life Plan for creating a safe, vibrant, and culturally rich community. Lorraine is currently a Community Resource Director for a 21st Century Community Learning Center at Harper High School.
Lorraine hopes that her experience as an Ear to the Ground mentee will pave the way toward reporting and producing investigative radio features and documentaries in the future.
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