The form is available on their website, www.readibida.org for download or click here to be taken directly to the form. Topics submitted should be on the subject of dyslexia and related disorders that are either theoretical or applied (practical). Issues from educational, psychosocial and medical areas are welcome. The conference committee reviewers reserve the right to group some of the presentations for panel presentations. Deadline for submissions is March 25, 2012.

“Dyslexia: Challenge & Promise”, 2012 Annual Fall Conference, will be held October 11 & 12, 2012, at the Midwest Conference Center, Northlake, Illinois.

The Lira Ensemble, which specializes in Polish music, presents its highly praised African-American/Polish-American concert performed by the NGOMA Group of African-American performers and the Lira Singers, Sunday, March 4, 2012, 3 p.m., at the DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 East 56^th Place, Chicago (at 57^th Street and south Cottage Grove in Washington Park ).

Admission is free – to both the museum and the concert

The concert is presented in celebration of DuSable Day, honoring the memory and legacy of Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable – the “Father of Chicago” – the city’s first settler and businessman.  The Museum will celebrate the day with performances and special events from 12PM through 5p.m.  Admission is free for all. 

This is the fifth performance of Lira’s African-American/Polish-American concert at the DuSable Museum . For the past 20 years, the Lira Ensemble has produced cross-ethnic concerts with African Americans and Latinos that have been lauded by community leaders.  In 2007, the National Museum of Mexican Art presented its Sor Juana Award to Lucyna Migala, Lira’s artistic director and general manager, in recognition of this work.  In 2001, Lira won the Human Relations Award of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations for this series. At the award presentation, the Commission commented:  “Combining social responsibility with artistic excellence, Lira produces and performs joint concerts with artists of other racial and ethnic groups, viewing art as a universal language with the power to confront prejudice and misunderstanding.”

The Chicago Tribune praised Lira’s African-American production in a color photo feature article, calling it “…an afternoon of unusual entertainment…of two musical worlds…of blacks and whites together.”

The concert features Polish folk and patriotic music as well as various forms of African-American music, including blues, spirituals, and gospel.  It includes narrations that point out surprising similarities between the histories and experiences of African Americans and Polish Americans in Chicago . Marcia Berry, director of NGOMA, and Lucyna Migala will serve as narrators.  The Lira Singers will be conducted by Mina Zikri, resident conductor of the Ensemble.

The NGOMA Group consists of artists from throughout the black community of Chicago.

The Lira Ensemble is the nation’s only professional performing arts company specializing in Polish music, song, and dance. The Lira company is artist-in-residence at Loyola University Chicago.

This African-American/Polish-American event is funded in part by Kraft, by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency and the CityArts Program of the Chicago Department of Tourism and Culture.

Admission to both the DuSable Museum and the concert are free on March 4^th and free parking is available adjacent to the museum. For more information about this cross-cultural event, please call the Lira Ensemble at 773-508-7040     www.liraensemble.org

Program assists small & minority-owned companies

CHICAGO, IL – Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka joined more than 50 area business leaders on Thursday in kicking-off POWER, an initiative launched by the state to assist small and minority-owned companies in competing for government contracts.

Created through legislation recently signed by the Governor, POWER (Providing Opportunities for Work through Education and Resources) teaches business owners about the state certification and procurement process, provides free counseling and guidance from leading executives through SCORE Chicago, and ensures members are alerted of state contract opportunities.

“The success of our small businesses is key to getting our economy moving again, to creating the new jobs that are so badly needed,” Topinka said. “And at the same time, POWER will expand our state contractor network, which will increase competition and ultimately save the state money.”

POWER is built upon three primary components. Specifically, the program:

• · Counsels entrepreneurs on becoming certified as a small or minority-owned business and guides them through the procurement process
• · Offers free business development workshops and private sector insights through partnership with SCORE Chicago, a nonprofit association that is dedicated to entrepreneur education
• · Provides ongoing communication, information and support to businesses as they compete for state contracts

The initiative will provide much-needed resources to small businesses, and ensure that they have the tools they need to succeed, said David Kirshner, SCORE Chicago Chapter Chairman.

“It is encouraging to see this commitment from the state, and it will make a difference,” Kirshner said. “Too often, entrepreneurs simply don’t know where to turn or how to navigate things like the state’s procurement process. The personal approach of POWER is exactly what is needed, and I’m excited about SCORE Chicago’s  involvement.”

For more information on POWER, please visit illinoiscomptroller.com, or call 312/814-2451.

      * 2012 – Adé Williams, violin

• 2011 – Alexandra Switala, violin
• 2008 – Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, violin
• 2006 – Gabriel Cabezas, cello 

About the Academy

Founded in 2006, the Music Institute of Chicago Academy has established itself as one of the most respected pre-collegiate conservatory programs in the United States. The Academy’s internationally recognized faculty, rigorous curriculum, and instructional model, as well as the program’s highly gifted students, have solidified its preeminent reputation. Students in this prestigious program have come from throughout the United States, as well as from Central and South America, Europe, Japan, China, and Korea. The very selective program focuses on providing an intensive and comprehensive musical education and significant performance opportunities for developing musicians. The carefully assembled faculty represents teachers and performers with a passion for developing young talent and an established reputation for student achievement.

Approximately 50 young musicians participate in all aspects of the curriculum, including private lessons with Academy artist faculty, a rigorous chamber music component, a stimulating chamber orchestra, and accelerated music theory classes. Pianists additionally study keyboard literature, skills, and improvisation in an intimate group setting. A hallmark of the Academy is the Enrichment program offering regular master classes, discussion panels, lectures, and workshops with internationally recognized visiting artists, masterful pedagogues, and professional experts in the field. The Academy introduces students to a vast music community of peer musicians, pedagogical styles, and the rigors of conservatory training. The nation’s most elite college and university music conservatories, including The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Eastman School of Music, and the New England Conservatory, actively pursue graduates of the four-year program.

About the Music Institute of Chicago

The Music Institute of Chicago believes that music has the power to sustain and nourish the human spirit; therefore, our mission is to provide the foundation for lifelong engagement with music. As one of the three largest and most respected community music schools in the nation, the Music Institute offers musical excellence built on the strength of its distinguished faculty, commitment to quality, and breadth of programs and services. Founded in 1931 and one of the oldest community music schools in Illinois, the Music Institute is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Each year, the Music Institute’s world-class music teachers and arts therapists provide the highest quality arts education to more than 5,000 students of all ability levels, from birth to 101 years of age at campuses in Evanston, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Winnetka, and Downers Grove. The Music Institute also offers lessons and programs at the Steinway of Chicago store in Northbrook and early childhood and community engagement programs throughout the Chicago area and the North Shore. Nichols Concert Hall, an education and performance center in downtown Evanston, reaches approximately 14,000 people each year. The Music Institute’s community engagement and partnership programs reach an additional 6,500 Chicago Public School students annually. The Music Institute offers lessons, classes, and programs through four distinct areas: Community School, The Academy, Creative Arts Therapy (Institute for Therapy through the Arts), and Nichols Concert Hall.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois State Board of Education has announced the following meeting for February 21 via video-conference.  All State Board of Education meetings listed on this agenda will be accessible to persons with disabilities. Persons planning to attend who need special accommodations should contact the Board office no later than the date prior to the meeting. Contact the Superintendent’s office at the State Board of Education, Phone: 217-782-2221; TTY/TDD: 217-782-1900; Fax: 217-785-3972. 

Chairman Chico may call for a break in the meeting as necessary in order for the Board to go into closed session. 

State Board of Education Special Meeting via video conference

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 

9 a.m.

Chicago Location:   ISBE Video Conference Room, James R. Thompson Center, 14^th Floor

100 W. Randolph, Chicago, IL

Springfield Location: ISBE Video Conference Room, 3^rd Floor

100 N. First Street, Springfield, IL

This meeting will also be audio cast on the Internet at:  www.isbe.net

 AGENDA

   I.Roll Call/Pledge of Allegiance

A.   Consideration of and Possible Actions on Any Requests for Participation in Meeting by Other Means

II.Public Participation  

III.Resolutions & Recognition 

IV.  *Superintendent’s Report – Consent Agenda

All action consideration items listed with an asterisk (*) are considered to be routine and will be enacted in one motion and vote.  Any board member who wishes separate discussion on any item listed on the consent agenda may remove that item from the consent agenda, in which event, the item will be considered in its normal sequence. 

A.   *Approval of Minutes:

1.   Plenary Minutes: January 26, 2012

2.   Education Policy Planning Committee:  January 25, 2012

3.   Finance & Audit Committee:  January 25, 2012

4.   Governmental Relations Committee:  January 26, 2012

B.   *Rules for Initial Review

1.   Part 226 (Special Education)

2.   Part 475 (Contested Cases and other Formal Hearings) REPEAL

3.   Part 475 (Contested Cases and other Formal Hearings) NEW PART

4.   Part 485 (Appeal Proceedings before the State Teacher Certification Board) REPEAL

C.   *Contracts and Grants Over $1 Million

1.   Contract Renewal:  NCS Pearson, Inc. for Administration of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT)

2.   Contract Renewal:  NCS Pearson, Inc. for Illinois Alternate Assessment (IAA)

3.   Contract Renewal:  NCS Pearson, Inc. for Development of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT)

4.   Contract Renewal:  ACT, Inc. for Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE), EXPLORE and PLAN Assessments

D.  *Spring 2012 Waiver Report

End of Consent Agenda

E.   The New Teacher Project – Unit Recognition

F.    ESEA Flexibility Waiver

G.   Rules for Adoption

1.   Part 50 (Evaluation of Certified Employees under Articles 24A and 34 of the School Code)

  V.  Discussion Items

A.    Legislative Update

B.    District Oversight – (verbal update)

C.    Open Meetings Act Training (verbal discussion)

D.    Other Items for Discussion

VI.    Announcements

A.    IBHE Liaison Report (Dr. Proshanta Nandi)

B.    P-20 Council Liaison Report (Joyce Karon)

C.    Superintendent’s/Senior Staff Announcements

D.    Chairman’s Report

E.    Member Reports

VII.  Information Items

A.   ISBE Fiscal & Administrative Monthly Reports (available online at www.isbe.net/board/fiscal_admin_rep.htm 

VIII.  Closed Session (as needed)

IX.    Reconvene (No action will be taken following closed session, other than to adjourn the meeting.)

X.    Adjourn

Mitchell’s New Book, “When Grandmama Sings,” Adds to the Literary Record

Kansas City, KS (BlackNews.com) — Award-winning children’s book author, Margaree King Mitchell, has a new book that inspires children to sing their own song when deciding their life’s goal. When Grandmama Sings reunites Mitchell with James E. Ransome, the award-winning author and artist of Uncle Jed’s Barbershop. Mitchell’s books are set in the segregated South and focus on ordinary people who achieve extraordinary things for the time period in which they live.

She writes to inspire children to dream great dreams for their lives. “If children can see that the characters in my stories, which lived during a time of racial barriers and discrimination, could achieve their dreams, surely they will believe that they can too. I’ll never forget the little girl who said to me that because of Uncle Jed’s story she now believes she can become a doctor even though her grandmamma told her she would never be one,” says Mitchell. She adds, “In all of my school visits I always ask the kids to tell me their dreams. I want them to be heard. I want them to feel that their dreams matter to someone.”

Mitchell has listened to thousands of children sharing their dreams about the future. More children will be sharing their dreams with Mitchell in the coming months as she has programs scheduled in Northern Mississippi, South Florida, Little Rock, Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, and places in between.

Although she now lives in Kansas City, Mitchell grew up in the South. “I was born and raised in Holly Springs, Mississippi on my grandfather’s farm. My grandfather owned his own farm during a time when not many black people owned their own land. I was a firsthand witness to the struggles he went through in maintaining his farm, which is why I put obstacles to be overcome in my stories,” Mitchell says. “I want children to know that their dreams will not be easy to achieve. It seems like the bigger the dream, the bigger the obstacles that come your way. But with persistence and focus and determination, dreams can and will come true.”

Mitchell also takes time to explain the historical aspects of her books to children. “Valuable lessons can be learned from history,” Mitchell says. “If children learn the lessons of the past they will not repeat those mistakes.”

Set in the 1940’s, When Grandmama Sings follows eight year old Belle as she accompanies her grandmother, Ivory Belle Coles, a jazz singer, on a tour of southern cities. What she sees affects her deeply. But her grandmother’s handling of the obstacles she faces makes a profound impression on Belle. At the end of the tour Grandmama Coles is offered a record contract and moves up north. Belle realizes she also has a song to sing and one day her gift will takes her places. James Ransome’s imaginative watercolors breathe life into every page and every situation encountered on the tour.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with James again,” says Mitchell. “His work on Uncle Jed’s Barbershop and on When Grandmama Sings is filled with passion and exemplifies the era.”

Mitchell’s presentations also touch her adult audiences as she talks about the value of southern history in children’s literature. “I’m surprised by the way my stories affect adults, especially the ones who grew up in the South. I hear countless stories of their experiences. They tell me their stories with as much emotion as if the incidents occurred yesterday,” Mitchell says. “In some cases it is the first time they have shared family stories from the past. I hear stories from white and black people. They tell me that my books encourage them to talk to their children about the past.”

When Grandmama Sings is available online and in bookstores everywhere.

About Margaree King Mitchell

Margaree King Mitchell is the author of the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, illustrated by James E. Ransome, and Granddaddy’s Gift, illustrated by Larry Johnson. An award winning musical, featuring Broadway veteran Ken Prymus, has been adapted from Uncle Jed’s Barbershop. She is the creator of the EveryBody Has A Dream program, which empowers students in urban and rural areas to shoot for the stars with aspirations for their lives. Her new book, When Grandmama Sings, illustrated by James E. Ransome, was published January 2012 by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins. She lives in Kansas City.

Photo Caption: Bookcover

(Reprint from ReMARCs, by Marc H. Morial, President & CEO of the National Urban League) 

The National Urban League and Corinthian Colleges Inc. this week announced a $1 million partnership to create the Urban Empowered College Bound Program, an education initiative that will help people who did not finish high school to earn a GED.
 
The Urban Empowered College Bound Program will enable National Urban League to strengthen and coordinate GED programs being offered by its local affiliates around the country.  Beginning July 1, the Corinthian grant also will enable National Urban League affiliates in Pittsburgh, PA and Orlando, FL to expand their successful GED programs to serve more than 200 students.
 
We at the National Urban League have focused our mission of economic empowerment on guiding young people toward the skills they need for career success in the 21^st Century. Students who earn their GED have a better chance of completing postsecondary education, gaining full-time employment and earning higher salaries than those who do not. Corinthian has a long history of preparing students for careers in demand and of giving every student an equal opportunity to succeed.
 
Corinthian Chairman and CEO Jack Massimino said, “Both the National Urban League and Corinthian understand that education is the key to economic success and a better life.  For the 29 million Americans who don’t have a high school diploma, earning a GED is an essential first step.  Both our organizations help hundreds of people take that first step every year.  We’re proud to help the National Urban League do even more of this life-changing work.”
 
The Urban Empowered College Bound Program will be planned and overseen by the National Urban League, and managed and delivered by the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh and the Central Florida Urban League.  The affiliates will work closely with local Corinthian Colleges campuses to identify and enroll interested and qualified students.  The Program’s first classes are scheduled to begin in the summer of 2012.

Brady said 6 of 12 lame duck House Democrats who voted for tax hike now on public payroll

CHICAGO, IL  – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady condemned reports that Governor Pat Quinn was going to name former State Representative Bob Flider (D – Mount Zion) as Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

“This is just another ‘Quinn Pro Quo,’” said Brady. “Governor Quinn and his Democratic pals thought they could wait a year for no one to remember Bob Flider’s lame duck, late night flip-flop on Pat Quinn’s 66% tax hike but our state’s economy is still suffering the consequences of Flip Flop Flider’s ‘Quinncidence.’”

“Agriculture is one of our state’s most important industries. It’s an insult to every Illinois farmer who has to pay taxes that the Governor would appoint an Agriculture Director who would oppose a proposed tax hike when he was running for re-election but then cast the deciding vote for an even larger tax hike just a few months later,” said Brady. “What key agriculture issues will Flider flip-flop on for political expediency?”

During his unsuccessful 2010 re-election campaign, Flider told the news media and even issued a press release stating his opposition to Quinn’s proposed income tax hike. However, Flider voted in favor of an even larger income tax hike in his final day in office. The 66% income tax hike passed in the Illinois House of Representatives by one vote, with every Republican member opposing it.

Counting Flider’s appointment, six of the twelve lame duck Democratic House members who voted for Quinn’s tax hike have received public payroll jobs, including former State Rep. Careen Gordon, who like Flider, flip-flopped on the tax hike issue following her defeat for re-election in 2010.

Coach Michael E. Mayden is giving an open invitation to youth and high school baseball player’s to participate in his upcoming events. Baseball talent is required.

Upcoming Tournament Dates and Locations are as follows:

Summer Tournament (s)

Kissimmee, FL June 13-17

Spring Training Home of the Houston Astros

Orlando, FL June 18-23

Spring Training Home of the Atlanta Braves

Ft. Myers, FL July 24-29

Spring Training Home of the Boston Red Sox

Richmond, VA July 31-August 5

Fall/Winter Tournament (s)

Dallas, TX October 24-28

Phoenix, AZ December 26-30

Spring Training Home of the Cincinnati Reds

He will carry 18 players per team, per age group

4-outfielders, 6-infielders, 2-catchers and 6-pitchers

Tournament Format

Pool play 5 pool games (Possible 6th or 7th game)

Championship & Consolation round

The top teams will make the Championship bracket

The other teams will play in the consolation bracket

Registration Fee

$495.00 per tournament ($50.00 deposit is required to secure)

Unpaid balance due on/or before May 1, 2012

Fee includes: uniforms, insurance, hotel accommodations and transportation

(Fee do-not include meals or transportation to the tournament sight)

To secure yourself a spot

(When registering please indicate which tournament (s) you are registering for)

A $50.00 deposit is required

Please use link below to register Online now

http://www.whsn.org/custom.em?pid=863292

To register by mail:
P.O. Box 288696
Chicago , IL 60628
Attn: Youth Baseball

Name: ___________________ Home Phone: (       ) ___________________ age ____

Home Address: ______________________ City : _____________ State : ___ Zip:____

High School:  _________________ Grade in School: ____   Position:  ___   ___

E. Mail Address: _______________________________________________________

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