The recent feedback from the kids has been amazing and according to Debbie her programme has seen 99% of her students scoring higher on the GRADE test and the DRA2 fluency test.

Students made gains of 1.5 to 2.5 years in reading. Debbie’s been in touch to let us know what’s been happening this summer and said:

“All of you at Catalyst Exhibits can feel great about being part of these kids’ growth. “If I weren’t able to keep my kids supplied with appropriate books, I would not have been able to keep them engaged. Thanks so much!!”

Debbie filled us in on what’s happening with the program this summer, pointing out that the summer gap is a crucial time to keep problem readers engaged with books.

“This summer I am coordinating a summer reading program.  Fourteen of my students volunteered to join me. On four separate occasions I took small groups to the bookstore to buy their books for summer reading.  MOST OF THEM HAD NEVER STEPPED FOOT IN A BOOKSTORE. We had a lot of fun picking out books.  Throughout the summer I will be checking in with them by phone and we will meet twice at local restaurants to talk about our books and celebrate our progress.  IMPORTANT FACT: Growth for English Language Learners (ELLs) and Non-ELLs is about the same throughout the school year. It is in the summer when the achievement gap grows.  Non-ELLs are attending camps, travelling, reading, etc.  ELLs are not engaging in many “enrichment” activities.  So, that’s why summer reading programs for ELLs are so important.

Anyway, I wanted to give my kids some extrinsic motivation, hence the lunches.  One of the lunches will be at the best sushi restaurant in town and the proprietor will talk to the kids about Japanese table manners/customs.  The other lunch will be at Q’s–one of the nicest fine dining restaurants in town.  The manager will talk to them about the following: farm to table cooking, fast vs. fine dining, and table settings.  I WANT THE KIDS TO MAKE A CONNECTION BETWEEN READING AND QUALITY OF LIFE.  It should be fun!!

I consider 50% of my job to be getting these students to enjoy reading and to form productive reading habits.  I want reading to be a natural part of their culture!!  They will then pass it on to their kids!!  Of course, the other 50% involves building their reading skills so that they can survive in any reading situation.”

Debbie’s programme is always in need of new and appropriate books. We know there’s a recession on but she and the kids could do with any support.

Contact our CEO Paul here if you’d like to help out.

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Last week we ran some photos from Chatchada Kruakaew’s brilliant travelling art program in Thailand, something Catalyst Exhibits has been actively supporting.

We just got some more shots from her kids at the Ban Rommanee school.

Below are some additional shot of Chatchada working with the kids.

If you’d like to help Chatchada keep the art program going and expand it to more schools and kids in need, then contact Paul, our CEO here at Catalyst Exhibits, here.

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One of the first people we helped out with when we at Catalyst Exhibits started our Area 3 charity activities was Chatchada Kruakaew’s travelling art program in Thailand.

Run across various districts the art and art therapy classes are designed to not only help children learn how to paint but to allow them to overcome previous hardships in their lives through art.

She sent us some shots of her students and their artwork from a few different locations that she teaches. More after the jump.

Here are some from the kids at the Bankhonok School – another shot below.

Chatchada is bringing much needed joy to tough lives and she’s always in need of funding. If you wish to help too then contact our CEO, Paul here.

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Education is a key focus for our Area 3 charity work here at Catalyst Exhibits and we’re delighted that Bekins, one of the country’s largest moving and storage companies, has decided to help out.

The company has generously agreed to sponsor a child with GMMAfrica with a very generous donation of $3,500. That money allows the organisation working in Cameroon to take another at-risk child from the streets and give them the education, housing and support they desperately need to have a chance at a better future.

Our thanks go out to Bekins CEO, Greg Hoover, who we interviewed about his involvement. Jump now to see what he said.

How did you hear about the education programme that Catalyst is involved with?

We learned about this opportunity through Catalyst.

Why did you decide to help out?

Bekins is always looking for ways to give back and support others, and to be able to partner with one of our best customers in a cause that they believed in made this a natural fit.

How important do you feel educating children is, particularly in deprived or developing nations?

Children of the world—whether they’re a block down the street or halfway around the world in Cameroon—represent our future.  We all have an obligation, not just for them but for us, to do whatever we can to feed, clothe, and educate them, and to provide them the best opportunity to learn and grow that we can.

Do you know how a child is going to benefit from your donation?

Our donation was used to assist in providing transportation for teachers in the local schools.

Is charity work something that Bekins is already involved with and, if so, what kind of charities are you helping out?

We are. We do a great deal with our headquarters to support local food banks with food contributions, and local homeless shelters with clothing; and we also have a tradition of working with local charities in whatever city we have our convention as a way of giving back to our host cities.  Over the years this has included local shelters, schools, and community programs.

Will you be checking in to see how your donation in helping?

Yes, we already appreciate the updates from the school and the photos they’ve sent.  It’s great seeing our contribution at work!

Is there anything you’d like to add to conclude this interview?

Just that we very much appreciate our partnership with Catalyst, from both a business and personal perspective.  From the business side, they are a long time customer that has always worked very well with us, which makes it easier to serve their needs and deliver outstanding service to them.  Personally, there is nothing better than doing business with people and companies that not only want to be successful but want to use their resources to help others as a part of their way of doing business.  We’re grateful for being able to share in that regard in this opportunity.

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Chicago was the location for a great gathering of marching bands recently and Hubbard St. Marching Band were there to strut their stuff in the sunshine.

The After School Band (ASB) – 52 strong – participated in the Chicago Public Schools Marching Band Showcase on May 22nd. Seven grade schools and 7 high schools showed their stuff in this non-competitive event held at Gately Stadium.

The ASB also marched in the worthy Eberhart drug awareness parade, put together by the Eberhart feeder grade school. More shots after the jump.

On May 29^th the ASB marched in the 2010 Memorial Parade downtown. The intermediate band at Hubbard, directed by Patrick Benson, also participated at the VCM Bandfest. The Hubbard Percussion ensemble played at VCM for their annual day of percussion.

It’s shaping up to be a busy summer for the marching band and we here at Catalyst Exhibits, through our Area 3 charity blog, plan to keep on supporting them. A crate of sun-block will be winging its way to you soon:)

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As a teacher in Boulder, Colorado, her unique reading programme for 12-14-year olds has helped those kids catch back-up in an educational system that has left them behind.

On top of that, she has managed to instill a love of reading, which is no mean feat.

Debbie got in touch with us this week to let us know how things are going and, apart from the constant need for funding [something Catalyst continues to help out with] things are going from strength to strength. She wrote….. ”

“……99% of my students scores rose on the GRADE test and the DRA2 fluency test. Students made gains of 1.5 to 2.5 years in reading.

Anecdotally, my students rave about their growth and they attribute it to the constant flow of new books in the classroom and the fact that the books are appropriate for their reading and interest level.  Many of them have become habitual readers.  (They love the word “habitual.”)  They are even talking about the next books they want to read and are making requests for next year. That’s unheard of with struggling readers.

Below find some of the comments from their end-of-year self-reflection/assessment.”

It’s been a hectic time over the past few months for the Hubbard St High School Band.

We caught up with band director, Dave Stahlberg, who’s been telling us that the band has been busier than ever.

From music college to numerous band festivals and marches throughout Chicago, the boys and girls of our favourite marching band have been busy as hell.

Dave said:

“The advanced band went to Vandercook College of Music (VCM) for a band festival. We received critiques from 5 teacher/directors, then Stacey Larson from VCM worked with the band for 30 minutes.

Our advanced band did an exchange with Downers Grove South (DGS) High School. The director, Craig Roselieb, and I agreed to both work on Chorale and Shaker Dance II for the VCM BandFest.  A week and a half before the festival, we went to Downers Grove South and put the two bands together to make one mass band and both Craig and I worked with them. Then my students watched me work with the DGS intermediate band.  then we all watched Craig work with his advanced band, then all the students had lunch in the DGS cafeteria.”

Keep up the good work Dave. We’ll have more on the band, which you can learn more about here and here, next week. See some more photos below.

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From bringing education to children in remote villages the bike now ferries locals around the inhospitable terrain. According to Teh Francis of GMMAfrica, the bike is becoming something of a local hero.

“The motorbike is doing more work than I ever thought it should. We were lucky to have bought a very strong and durable brand. It does not only work at the school but carries food up and down to the many needy children we help in the hilly country of Kom, Cameroon.”

The volunteers who come to work with us periodically also find that the motorbike can transport them to the scene of work. Much of the roads in rural Cameroon are bad and a motorbike is  an easy way of carrying people across. We really thank you for all the work.”

Teh wants to get two more bikes up and running as dedicated local taxis, which will help to pay to get more children in danger off the streets and into the school programme.

Contact us here if you want to help.

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We’ve been working with GMMAFRICA in poverty-ridden Cameroon to bring education to children in remote villages.

Thanks to the supply of a new motorbike, the teacher can now be ferried across inhospitable terrain to remote villages, where many children would not otherwise receive basic education.

Since then, the success of the bike with the locals, we’ve been working to get GMM two more bikes to use as taxis for locals in the harsh terrain. The money raised will allow GMM to take 25 orphaned kids off the streets and give them a better start in life.

Earlier this week we heard from GMM’s Teh Francis about National Day in Cameroon, held on May 20th each year to celebrate Cameroon’s re-unification in 1972. This year the celebrations were larger than normal as Cameroon also celebrated its 50th year of independence from colonial rule.

As you can see from the photos he sent, it was riot of colour and celebration. Keep up the good work.

If you want to help us here at Catalyst Exhibits with the educational programmes, contact us here.

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Remember we mentioned the 24 Hour Race Of LeMons a few weeks back? Not the French one with very cool million dollar cars. You know, the one where mad people with big hearts and heavily modified $500 rust-buckets rocket around a race track in order to raise money for charity?

Well, it’s a wrap and we’re happy to report that the brave souls behind the Catalyst Exhibits machine managed to place a very respectable 15th out of 60 starters. That’s us in the red 308 with the unfeasibly large spoiler with the traffic cones on top. It was a blast!

Follow the link to find out what else transpired and see some more action shots.

The brave drivers, we are happy to report, also returned with all of their limbs intact, which is more than can be said for our mean machine. More importantly, they raised $2,200 for the excellent Alexander Leigh Center for Autism, located in Lake in the Hills.

After 358 laps (over 700 miles) and 16-hours of frantic, pedal-to-the-metal driving, you can expect some hiccups. Here are some highlights:

- Sin binned for overtaking on a yellow flag. Punishment: Write “I will not pass under yellow” 50 times with a Sharpie on the roof of our car.

- 7 hours in, blew the clutch hydraulic line, filled the car with fragrant smoke and got towed in.

Below is a firsthand report of the day from one of those brave souls, Andy Besic, and below you will find some more shots from the race.

“The start of the race was clear blue skies with a stiff 25 mph ENE wind and a chilly 42 degrees. All of the cars are sent out onto the track in random order to circulate single file around the track. The race organizers pick the car or team that MOST annoyed them with excuses and complaining at technical safety inspection and give the green flag to the car directly Behind that team! When the green flag came out we estimated our starting position as 42 of 60 cars. We started well, immediately began passing cars like pylons in a parking lot. The twin turbo, mid- engine full size Snoopy van looks as big as a school bus in front of you when you are on a race track! We managed our way all the way up to 2nd place when we were black flagged and sent to the sin bin. We got off light, with simply having to write “I will not pass under yellow” 50 times with a Sharpie on the roof of our car. Much better than the team who had to put on dresses, wigs, and high heeled shoes and foot race up a hill. This is called the “DRAG RACE”.

Around the 7th hour of racing our rusty clutch hydraulic line burst and blew fluid on the hot exhaust to fill the car with stinky smoke and earn us the privilege of being towed in. Quick run to the South Haven Auto Zone for some parts. We had to “MacGyver” the cheesy American car parts into our fine Italian sports car and were back on track in just over an hour.

We finished the race still driving hard on 3 tires worn down to the cords and a Lavender and Periwinkle pair of painted cons zip-tied to our rear wing. This was another punishment we had to suffer in the sin-bin! We managed 15th out of 60 cars, completing 358 laps (over 700 miles) in about
16 hours of driving. It looks like Alexander Leigh Center for Autism will benefit from over $2200 in pledges from our heroic drivers, willing to stare into the face of danger and belt themselves into $500 rusty piece of junk and put the pedal to the metal.”

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