AmeriCorps*VISTA Volunteers In Service To America

Neighborhood Relations 5525 S. Ellis Room 165 Chicago, Illinois 60637 Phone: 834-3228 Fax: 834-2078 uofcamericorps@gmail.com

Welcome VISTAs!!! 2007-2008 VISTAs Welcome to your year of service and congratulations on your important decision to serve your term with us here at Chicago. This year will be filled with both great rewards and difficult challenges, and as you embark upon a journey to make lasting change in our community please utilize this website to assist in your endeavors. But, we know that you are up for the challenge...   2007-2008 VISTAs We are excited about your completing your year of service with us here at Chicago. Please utilize the information of this website to further connect you to other VISTA members, locate useful resources, and unearth additional opportunities to help make lasting change for your sponsor organization and its community. We sincerely thank you for all of your efforts, energy, and time and hope this experience will be not only be challenging but rewarding and rich with incredible lessons, communal support, and monumental success! VISTA 2006-2007 Biographies Andrea Gontkovsky Tutoring Program Supervisor Neighborhood Schools Program I’m a Pennsylvania girl by birth, but I’ve lived most of my life in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. I went to college at Bowling Green State University where I majored in Sociology with a minor in English.  While in college I was a card-carrying band nerd- I was in the marching band for three years and was a very active member of Tau Beta Sigma, a national honorary band service sorority. I was also heavily involved in BGSU’s Dance Marathon, which is the largest student run philanthropy in the state of Ohio, and benefits the Children’s Miracle Network.   I decided to become a VISTA because service has always been huge part of my life, and I wanted to immerse myself in service for a year. Education is something that I am very passionate about, so the programs at the University of Chicago were the perfect avenue through which to serve my VISTA year.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after my service year was over, but after doing the work I’ve done here I’ve decided that I want to continue working in urban schools as a high school guidance counselor. I plan on going to grad school in the fall of 2008 to accomplish that goal. Back to Top Michael Hebert Tutoring Program Supervisor Neighborhood Schools Program I am from a hopping east side town in Michigan called Brighton, the bedroom community of Lansing, Flint, Ann Arbor , and Detroit.  Most of my fellow countrymen make cars, but I chose something a little different.  I went to Michigan State University because I was fascinated with the Spartan Marching Band.   Little did I know that this experience would bring me to pursue the possibilities to teaching music.  I am now a certified teacher in k-12 music education. I learned about Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) at church.  I liked the concept of alleviating poverty through building sustainable systems in an anti-poverty program.   I had come to a firm conclusion before I joined VISTA that the center to alleviating poverty is working in education.  I looked for a VISTA position that would work with schools in impoverished areas.   Neighborhood Schools Program was a great fit as they bring over 300 teaching assistants to South Chicago Schools in the Kenwood, Hyde Park, and Woodlawn communities. During my service, I have built systems in NSP that would free up time for NSP staff to work on what is most important: bringing teaching assistants to kids. Examples include writing easy to read instructions on how to update the NSP website, developing electronic forms in access that would keep more accurate data, and developing a counting system that allows the program to quickly know how many teaching assistants are at each site. Back to Top Sara Hooker Community Schools Technology Assistant Chicago Public Schools and University of Chicago Internet Project I grew up in a smallish city in the Four Corners area of New Mexico.  I went to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and graduated in 2004 with degree in Geology.  I heard about AmeriCorps through my sister when she joined a project in New Mexico.  After looking at the AmeriCorps website, I knew that joining VISTA would be a great opportunity to get involved in a community.  I choose the VISTA project at the U of C because I wanted to spend my year of service working in education.  Back to Top Desmond Kemp Donoghue Charter School A man of distinction is a way to describe me. I pray daily to God with thanks for the opportunity to live the exciting life I have. There is so much I have to birth into the earth; I’m really excited to have a beginning here in Chicago, IL. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina. I’ve always been one who could be considered “peculiar”. As a youth, I strived to work hard to get myself into college. Following the legacy of the men in my family; I attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, or North Carolina A & T. Majoring in Graphic Communications brought a few characteristic  changes in my personality and in my thoughts which gave me the initiative to start my own design label, D2L0K, Inc (DLK Graphics). My design style and thoughts were so civil; I decided to embark in a career in journalism. My witty character impressed me beyond the idea of sitting with a notepad and behind a computer, I imagined myself being the next Anderson Cooper. However, that was not exactly the call of my destiny. After months of trial and error, it was time for me to make a big decision in my life. That decision was to trust faith and move on. In the decision-making process, I learned that AmeriCorps had many opportunities nationwide that would provide me with experience in any field that I felt passionate about. I decided to give a shot at education since I had years of experience in the field. Today, I am an AmeriCorps VISTA for the University of Chicago Charter School, Donoghue. In this position as a VISTA, I serve as the tutoring program coordinator of the Oaks Tutoring Zone and community outreach worker. This experience is really appreciated. It has given me insight on my organizational development skills which accredits my desires to be chancellor and/or president of a university. My year at Donoghue has been an unforgettable experience. I have gained so much knowledge. From the staff to local school supporters, I have been welcomed into the village that is going to raise the students of Donoghue Charter School. Coordinating the Book Drive was one of my most memorable highlights of the year. The opportunity presented itself with a chance for personal growth and to provide a profitable resource for the school. The book drive was successful; we raised over 1,000 books within the first two weeks of operation. In the next school year, the students of Donoghue will have a library replenished of great classic series by authors like Beverly Clearly and R.L. Stein. Back to Top Emily M. Kleiber Literacy and Volunteer Coordinator Gary Comer Youth Center I am originally from a farm on the western side of Wisconsin near the small town of Viroqua.  After graduating from high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin - Madison where I earned a B.S. in Geology with an emphasis in Geobiology in May of 2006.  Shortly after that, I joined AmeriCorps and moved to Chicago to work as a University of Chicago AmeriCorps*VISTA at the Gary Comer Youth Center (GCYC).  I am the Literacy and Volunteer Coordinator.  I created the volunteer program (GCYC V.I.P.s) which includes orientations for interested community members, a monthly newsletter, a volunteer database and informing V.I.P.s of upcoming volunteer opportunities.  I also worked with Revere Elementary to do a family reading program which brought parents and their preschool- and kindergarten-aged children together for reading-a-loud and literacy workshops.   The most interesting thing about GCYC is the people who work here.    Instead of having full time staff people running the classes, GCYC has partnerships with youth organizations from around the city of Chicago.  These organizations work with youth in a variety of areas, such as television, recording technology, culinary arts, web design, and athletics.  While working here, I have met a lot of interesting, welcoming people -- both staff and partners.  They have had different experiences in life - from how long they've been in youth work to where they have lived.  I have enjoyed meeting and talking with the people who devote their time to improving the lives of youth in this community.  After my VISTA term ends, I will be returning to school to explore my interest in art and architecture.  I plan to get a Masters of Architecture so that I can improve lives by creating comforting, environmentally friendly and affordable homes. My hobbies include sewing, knitting and drawing dragons. I also enjoy finding fun, free festivals and events in Chicago. On Wisconsin! Back to Top Courtney Reed Community Development Coordinator Dyett High School Before I moved to Chicago to begin my VISTA service, I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I graduated from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa with a degree in International Community Development and minors in psychology, philosophy and English literature. Before VISTA, I enjoyed volunteering with youth in my community as well as traveling and experiencing other cultures. I interned in France the summer of 2005 with an international environmental conservation and education organization as well as traveled to neighboring cities and countries in Europe. During my VISTA year, I have had great opportunity to serve a community in need of restoration while also gaining valuable community development and cross cultural experience and knowledge. With support from Dyett's and VISTA staff, I built the school's first parent advisory council, hosted two large-scale service projects, increased the school's external partners, brought in on-site job training, co-sponsered the school's first yearbook, contracted a group to redesign thhe schools website, create marketing materials for the school, create a patnership resource catalogue, as well as collaborate with school staff on a number of other small projects. Serving as Community Relations Coordinator at Dyett High School has only increased my commitment and passion to serve and enable communities, both domestic and abroad. I would like to continue to work in the nonprofit sector for a few years before gaining a dual degree in Sustainable International Development and Masters in Social Work, hoping to eventualy participate in community building overseas. "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."—Arundhati Roy Back to Top Dionne Stennis Youth Development Coordinator Collegiate Scholars Program My name is Dionne Stennis and I moved to Chicago from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I graduated from the fabulous Florida State University (GO NOLES!!!) in the spring of 2001 with a Bachelor’s in Textiles and Consumer Sciences. After interviewing with corporations such as Macy’s in New York, Burdines in Miami and Office Depot in Delray Beach, Florida, I decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia and work as an Assistant Buyer in Women’s Better and Bridge shoes with Rich’s Department Stores. My time as an Assistant Buyer was wonderful. However, I was also working around the city of Atlanta as a Childcare volunteer with Partner’s Against Domestic Violence and other community-based organizations, so in August of 2003, I left the corporate world to pursue life in the non-profit world. In December of 2004, I made the move back to Fort Lauderdale to go back to school and complete my minor in Sociology. After talking with one of my Sociology professors, in which I was assisting in research, I decided to pursue an AmeriCorps position as a transition into non-profit work. I was always fascinated by the history and legacy of Chicago and wanted to move there someday, so I figured it would be the perfect place to complete my year of service. To make a long story short, because it could get pretty long…I have 6 months left to my year of service with the University of Chicago’s Collegiate Scholars Program and the time that I have spent there has influenced me to get my Master’s in Educational Policy. I came to Chicago with many hopes and dreams, as well as misconceptions and this year has been a growth process in so many ways. However, as I look back to when I left my corporate job up until today, it has been an interesting and worthwhile adventure. I was accepted into Loyola’s Cultural and Educational Policy program this past month and I will be starting in September. I can’t wait to see how the rest of this “race” pans out. But if it is anything like the past 4 years, I will need a lot of Gatorade J. Most important thing I've learned this year:I am not as perfect as I thought I was. I joined AmeriCorps to help "save" the world and realized that I'm the one that needed to be saved. How do I feel I've contributed to the community? I think I have given another persepctive of a woman of African descent who went to college, but still had to take a step back and changed careers. I encourage our kids to try out everything in college until they find the classes that they love, not just tolerate Most important aspect of my VISTA service? Being receptive to new information and a different way of looking at things. You come into VISTA and the community with all of these preconceived notions about how things should be, but leave with a better understanding of the logistics of getting there. Back to Top