AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/category/news/)
De’Andre Wilborn, Austin resident and George Westinghouse College Prep senior, was one of eight Chicago high school students to receive the $20,000 scholarship award as part of the Cubs Charities Cubs Scholars Program. He was honored at a Cubs home game last month.
Markell “Kell-O-G” Mooney, spoken word poet and founder of Word Life Productions, started the patio shows at his family’s home in the 5100 block of West Concord Place in March 2003 after the death of his father, Willie E. Mooney Sr.
Organizers hope at least 700 people will participate in the fifth annual event, which kicks off in the heart of Austin the morning of Sept. 28. Registration is $35 per person, or $300 for a team of 10.
The schools – Oscar DePriest Elementary, Edward K. Duke Ellington Elementary, Howe School of Excellence, Lewis School of Excellence and Sayre Language Academy – now offer a total of 140 full-day seats. In total, all of Austin’s elementary schools have 660 full-day seats and 120 half-day seats available to West Side children.
In all, 35 young people from across Chicago were honored this month by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, which each year adds names to the city’s Rising Star Honor Roll. The teens – two from Austin – were recognized for their creativity and work either in music, theatre, dance, visual arts, media arts or literary arts.
Alexis Mendoza is one of the five young people in the Chicago area selected to be part of the 2019 Bank of America Student Leader program. This summer she had an internship at Working in The Schools (WITS), Chicago-based non-profit that focuses on increasing childhood literacy – an opportunity she received through the Bank of America award.
The City Bureau’s Public Newsroom hosted a workshop last week at Austin Community Academy High School to educate and empower West Side residents to engage with their alderman and hold them accountable. The Austin Weekly News and Austin Coming Together also sponsored the workshop.
Amara Enyia, former executive director of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and four of her senior mayoral campaign staffers face a class-action wage and overtime theft grievance. More than 20 staffers say they’re owed money from the February 2019 race.
West Side residents now can apply to take a 32-week college-credit program at Austin Town Hall starting this fall. Students in the Odyssey Project study with professors from local universities and can earn up to six transferable college credits from Bard College. The application deadline to apply for the free program is Aug. 15.
Six panelists –– state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, Dr. Elena Quintana, Flint Taylor, Amy Campanelli, Yohance Lacour and Darrell Cannon –– spoke last week about trauma, injustice and institutionalized racism. The July 25th panel discussion was inspired by the recent Netflix miniseries “When They See Us,” which tells the true story of the “Central Park Five,” five young black men wrongfully charged for the assault of a woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989.
Nearly 20 teens from the South and West sides of Chicago came together to work on a professional TV set as part of a Fresh Films program, where they worked alongside professionals including American actor Tim Kazurinsky.
