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Back to school rally offers book bags, music and more

By Richard Muhammad on Saturday, August 19, 2006

The Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., the lead agency for NCP/Woodlawn, joined with the Third Police District CAPS Youth Committee, the Community Alternative Policing Strategy, South Side YMCA and other partners to provide a day of food and fun for parents and children. At the end of the day, each child received a book bag with school supplies to start the academic year off right.

The four-hour “Back to School Rally and Community Cook-Out” was held on the grounds of the South Side YMCA and featured music, dancing, games and agencies offering information that ranged from tutoring and banking services to help for victims of domestic violence. Deejay Phantom of WGCI-FM put in an appearance along with performances by songstress Te’Hila and several other local young artists.

With Chicago police officers minding the grill, and Jeri Porter, the chair of the youth committee, serving as the day’s emcee, parents, grandparents, assorted family members and youth had a chance to mark the ending of summer in a good way.

“We want to make sure that our babies go back to school with everything that they need, so that that they have a successful and happy school years,” said Porter, who lives in Woodlawn. Contributions allowed for distribution of about 400 back packs with school supplies, she said. “We try to give them a good time and give them what they need to go back to school.”

Her group’s ultimate goal is to offer positive things to keep young people away from the lure of street life, and improve relations between youth and police officers.

“How are we going to get them off of the street? We have to offer alternatives,” Porter said. A stark reminder of the challenge was the shooting of 12 people earlier in the week, Porter said. The Youth Committee offers basketball, bowling, golf, etiquette classes, field trips, GED classes, and other youth activities as part of a long term program. The Back to School Rally is one of the committee’s annual events. This was the event's second year.

“We host this event, not just as a recreational event, but because we feel there’s far too little importance placed on the education of our children. We feel like if we make going back to school in the fall a big event, the kids will internalize how important it is,” added Ernest Brown, commander of the Third Police District.

Investing in children, strengthening community ties

Kublai Toure, executive director of Amer-I-Can Illinois, said events like the rally are important. “You bring a lot of these youth together that probably won’t get a chance to see each other when they get in school, or they get to meet one another and they’ll know each other when they get in school. It kind of cuts down on the confusion about turf,” Toure explained. At the rally, the retired firefighter was given an award for his work with at-risk youth and ex-offenders, including giving a grant that paid for baseball uniforms and equipment for a little league team.

“We know that they have a serious problem of ‘turf’ and now they’ve closed down a lot of schools, a lot of these kids got to go through certain (gang) boundaries. This is really good to neutralize that, so they can see each other going back and forth,” he said.

Clovonne Pollion, an 18-year-old ready to complete her last year of high school, called the event “a good thing.” “It’s not a lot of things that go on in the neighborhood like this, so I was glad it happened. If you have positive people talking to (students) about the good aspects of school, they will be glad to go back to school,” said Pollion.

Sharon Davis, a mother from South Shore, came to the rally with her two daughters. “It gets us prepared for the school year, it gets them in the mindset that they need to come prepared with their school supplies before the doors open, and that people are concerned,” she said. Davis found out about a tutoring service at the rally. Her daughters will be starting kindergarten and third grade when school opens.

“Some people don’t have the money to go and buy, like, backpacks and pencils and pens and stuff,” said Tysheena Brown, an 11-year-old from Woodlawn. The rally allows students to get things they need, she said.

Otelia Thomas, youth coordinator with WPIC, felt the day went well. There were a lot of parents with children, she noted. “This is celebratory of the accomplishments that the kids make to further their education,” Thomas said. “It’s very important for children to have the tools and the equipment needed so they can advance in school and not be behind in doing the work they have to do. You fall short when you don’t have a pen to write with.”

“I was a disadvantaged youth coming up, I was raised by a single parent and I didn’t have a lot,” said local businessman R.J. Fox, who runs a realty company and Fox and Fox Janitorial Services. Fox said making a donation to the rally was a way to support youth that need help. Giving kids what they need makes it easier for them and cuts down on the temptation to just take things, he said.

But the rally wasn’t just about a day to focus on children; it was another opportunity for different groups serving youth to strengthen relationships.

“This collaboration makes it great so that when we have other activities and things of that nature, we can reach out and (other organizations) will be receptive and reciprocating to helping us with our events,” said Sandra Patterson, marketing specialist for the South Side/Wabash YMCAs.

“The children are our future and if we don’t prepare them, we have a bleak future to look forward to. We have to invest in our kids in order to look down the pike and see that our future is bright,” Patterson said.