Category Archive
Urban Initiatives uses sport and play as a key strategy to positively impact our program participants’ social emotional learning (SEL). Play can have profound impacts on youths’ SEL, and Urban Initiatives has intentionally developed its recess curriculum and overall program approach to positively impact SEL outcomes through intentional, active games and SEL skill-building.
Although pop culture has led many to believe that leadership is a talent or a set of innate skills possessed by few, leadership skills are practicable. By breaking down what it means to be a leader and what specific skills and capacities it takes to lead, we can encourage leaders from all backgrounds, experiences, and…
On Friday, February 1st, our Team Captains in our leadership development program — Take the Lead- participated in a leadership retreat at MB Ice Arena. MB Ice Arena is the Chicago Blackhawks’ official practice arena and we were so grateful for the Blackhawks partnership in executing an incredibly successful retreat.
Urban Initiatives is excited to announce that our 2017-2018 data and evaluation results are complete and our programs have once again showed strong results in physical activity, academic success, and social emotional learning. Urban Initiatives is committed to being a proven organization that continually evaluates our programs to determine success and to make curriculum and…
As we approach the start of a new school year, high school juniors and seniors are contemplating their future — whether headed towards the workforce or a college experience — and they are weighing their grades, extracurricular activities, and test scores to determine next steps to reach their goals. Regardless of their SAT scores, their…
On Friday, April 13th, 140 of our Take the Lead team captains traveled to Allstate headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois for their fourth retreat. The theme of the retreat was conflict transformation.
Over the last fifteen years, Urban Initiatives’ Work to Play program has grown from 12 students to 1,350 students in 44 Chicago Public Schools. Coinciding with this incredible growth is the increasing costs of transportation for our participants and their families. Busing remains a critical portion of our programming and mission. In order to continue…
Urban Initiatives is thrilled to announce that the The Chicago Blackhawks Foundation has granted us $50,000 for the third year in a row. We are so thankful for their continued support and know that their funds will go to great use for the Work to Play Program at Beidler Elementary, Otis World Language Academy and…
A first-person account from Frankie Baio, Urban Initiatives Student Board member
At Peterson Elementary, we are striving to help each child demonstrate success in our three core values: Cultural Ambassadors, Community Leaders and College Graduates. With the help of Urban Initiatives’ curriculum, we were able to create a new guide for the children to grow into our core values.
