Category Archive
On Saturday, September 21st over 90 Urban Initiatives boys and girls from three different Chicago communities came together for the Multicultural Cup at the Haas Park soccer field. The Urban Initiatives Multicultural Cup uses soccer as a tool to introduce Work to Play program participants to the abundance of cultures that exist around the world.…
After almost four years of dedicated leadership, Ron Redd, Director at BMO Capital Markets and long time Chairman of Urban Initiatives’ Board of Directors, is passing the Chairman’s torch.
The CPS Full School Day is in its second year, and the means a second year for Play with Potential at Urban Initiatives. Conceived in the first year of mandated recess for all grades, Play with Potential began serving four schools with 2,900 total students. After a great rookie year, the word got out, and…
It started 10 years ago with 12 boys and girls at Byrd Academy in Cabrini-Green. Fast forward to today where Urban Initiatives now serves over 10,000 boys and girls throughout 21 Chicago communities. Coach D and Coach Ish never thought the Work to Play program would expand to 26 schools and Urban Initiatives would offer other programs like…
Jim Dower, Urban Initiatives’ Co-Founder and Executive Director, has been selected to join Leadership Greater Chicago’s 2014 Fellows Class. Congratulations to Jim on being recognized for his consistent dedication to empowering and inspiring children and for his tireless efforts to promote social change in Chicago. We are thrilled to have him as the leader of…
We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the 10th year of the Work to Play program than to bring over 700 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders together for a day of soccer, fun and friendship.
Listen to UI’s April Lillstrom discuss health education in Chicago Public Schools on this podcast from the Centers for Disease Control. April has two years of work under her belt with the CDC’s grantee Healthy Places program, and it’s great to see another UI expert sharing knowledge with the national community of educators and health…
Throughout the month of May, urban Initiatives’ Junior board conducted a bus Campaign. the goal of the campaign was to raise $15,000 to offset urban Initiatives’ massive costs to transport students to and from practices, games, field trips and other events. Urban Initiatives spends thousands of dollars each year on over 200 bus rides for…
The Jenner team has always been a fiercely competitive team; with other teams and amongst themselves. Come to a regular practice and you will notice how in every drill they give it 110% The numbers game done at the end of most practices can have a feeling of a Game 7 in the United Center.…
Week 5’s Work to Play lesson is a time to highlight Respect. Work to Play students juggle a lot of different responsibilities during the soccer season. Being a member of the team means doing a fantastic job in and outside of the classroom. As a result of this, the student athletes on the Work to…