Viva la Feminista

This post reflects a compensated editorial partnership with Voices for Healthy Kids , a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. My favorite class was gym or PE. Even though I got As in math & science, gym was still my favorite. I loved being able to run around, hit balls, jump, & just move. Now I know I can thank gym class & recess for my good grades. See, research shows that kids who are physically active, even for just an hour a day, do better in school. For many years my daughter’s school did not have recess and only weekly gym class. That is why I joined the Protect PE campaign as I see all physical activity as part of restoring and maintaining our children’s overall health. Sadly, when our public schools have their budgets cut, physical exercise – gym and recess - is one of the first things to go. According to the Voices for Healthy Kids , only 4% of elementary schools, 8% of middle schools, and 2% of high schools ...

My family is privileged, especially in terms of education. We live in Chicago, home to the much-maligned Chicago Public School system. She has caring teachers who push her to be her best, encourage her when she is still learning a skill and remember us by name (at least first, some still fail to remember my daughter & I don’t share a last name). Outside of the weight of her backpack, we have little to complain about. For her. Yet we understand that where we are privileged, we know it is not an even distribution across the city. When I was pregnant and even throughout the first years of Ella’s life, we would field the question, “So you’re going to move to the suburbs right?” No. As a kid who grew up in the suburbs, I dreamt of moving to “the big city” of Chicago when I was old enough. And I did. I love Chicago and the fact that despite the economic segregation we live under, we still manage to have a diverse group of people in our lives. My husband and I are also committed to ...

This is what you get when I'm trying to clean out my inbox and no time to write a lengthy piece about these stories: Voto Latino and Planned Parenthood Federation of America convened a panel discussion on Capitol Hill to discuss the importance of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the Latino community. The event was especially timely as the federal government and community partners on the ground prepare for the rollout of the Spanish language enrollment website, www.cuidadodesalud.gov , this month. Every year, more than 600,000 Latinos -- mostly Latinas -- visit Planned Parenthood health centers to access health care services, including important preventive services like well-woman exams, breast health services, and cervical cancer screenings. Soroptimist, the global women's organization, presents the annual Women’s Opportunity Awards, which provides cash grants to women for education and training. The 2013 Women’s Opportunity Award winner is Aziza Kibibi .  Aziza wa...

A special message from Naomi Watts and former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson Over the next decade, the US government will spend $600 billion on nuclear weapons. That's while the government cuts budgets for teachers and schools suffer from overcrowding. Then, when our kids are ready to go to college, they'll face ongoing tuition hikes and less financial aid. With education, health care and social services on the chopping block, now is the time for us to speak up.

or a school in your part of the U.S. of A. This is the second week of classes for Chicago Public Schools and about the 4th or 5th week for other schools. In other words, class is certainly back in session. While there are a lot of debates happening in my lil part of the world about length of school day, school year, teacher pay and on and on, one thing is perfectly clear: Some schools simply lack basic supplies to educate our children. We can have the kids in school all day, all year around, but if they don't have basic supplies, all the reforms in the world won't do jack. That is why I am encouraging you to take a peek through the Donors Choose database to see if there is a school near you or a teacher requesting supplies for your favorite subject that you can support. The beauty of Donors Choose is that even a small donation can do a long way. You also get thank you notes! If you are lucky, you get a photo too. That is my favorite part. Last year my family supporte...

I know I'm totally slacking on this mayor thing here. I did add some informational links over on the sidebar (so click on over RSS readers) to help my fellow Chicagoans make their decision. I had planned to go a little crazy blogging over the semester break, but the lure of books won out. And I know that in part one of this series, I touched on libraries, but Chico's comments to the Sun-Times Editorial Board are forcing me to revisit: If he had to choose between giving every Chicago Public School a library or every public school student a lap-top computer, he would choose: “A laptop. It opens you to the library of the world. Instead of a teacher saying, ‘Open your books, we’re going to learn about India’, she could say, ‘Pull out your lap-tops. We’re going to Skype with your fifth-grade colleagues in Mumbai.’ The purpose of a library is not to simply have access to books, but to have access to a trained librarian who can teach and guide children as they learn to be re...

While not as shocking as Daley's retirement, the timing of Ron Huberman's decision to quit on the Chicago Public Schools was a bit shocking. But it's one that many of us looking forward to a new Mayor and new head of CPS are moving past quickly. There are a lot of issues in CPS, some obvious and urgent, some not-so-obvious, but still in need of attention. I hope to write a little bit about those issues here and encourage Chicagoans to make it a priority to ask all Mayoral hopefuls not just about their dedication to public schools, but what plans they have to address certain needs such as: The scattering of CPS students: The recent decision to allow any and all siblings to go to the same magnet school is AWESOME. There are far too many parents who are shuttling all over this city to take 1 kid here and another one there. That said, why don't we go back to the idea that a school is a community center, that kids in the neighborhood go to a school down the street and t...

Media reports say that the Whittier moms have come out victorious. That Whittier will soon get a library INSIDE the school and that La Casita will be renovated and leased to the Whittier parents for community use. My daughter & I returned to Whittier a few weeks ago to drop off some supplies and a few Spanish-language books. It was day 27, as the photo to the left indicates, and Columbus Day (ironic, I know). The place was far quieter than I was expecting on a school holiday. The plan was to drop off items and then return to our hectic day of errands. Instead my daughter took off for the playground. It was a nice day and me being the push over I am let her play. That's when I took the opportunity to snap a picture of the 27 Days banner. And that's when a girl playing took the opportunity to come say hi and ask if she could take some pictures too. "Can I take a picture of you?" And obviously I let this little girl who looks like she could be mi familia. She ...

I just received a call from La Casita that Whittier parents will be protesting outside of Chicago Public School main office: WHAT:: Support Whittier Parents at protest outside of CPS Main Office WHEN:: Monday, October 18, 2010 TIME:: 7 am - 10 am WHERE: CPS Main Office, 125 S. Clark Street If you cannot attend in person, Whittier parents are asking for you to call CPS CEO Ron Huberman and ask him to sign the letter given to him by Whittier parents in order to end the sit-in and start renovation of La Casita. His number is 773.553.1550 Keep up to date at Save Our Center.com  I took the above photo almost a month ago when my daughter & I first visited Whittier.

Just under a month ago, a group of full-time working outside the home, single, Latina moms began sleeping in a field house outside of their children's school, Whittier Elementary , on the southside of Chicago. Why? They believe that their children deserve a library. No, correct that, that all children deserve a library. Anne Elizabeth Moore on GritTV sums it up nicely: A few weeks ago I took my daughter out there so we could sit in solidarity. My plan is to visit again tomorrow with some Spanish-language children's book and perhaps some treats for the kids. Sadly, part of Chicago Public Schools response to this demand is "160 CPS schools are without a library." Really? That's their response? That's just sad. We don't need Superman to come in and swoop up these kids. We need Wonder Women, like these moms, who are willing to save their school themselves. I'll report back after our visit tomorrow.

I got this in the mail today. I get a lot of educational direct mail. I dunno if it's me or the fact that Chicago has so many schools. Either way, I usually just toss the mailers in the recycling box. But the kiddie drawing caught my eye. Congrats marketing artist! Then I did a double take...WTF? Yup, Kendall College , an institution of higher education was trying to convince me to give them $250 a credit by using gender stereotypes. Um, yeah. Not so much.

This was originally posted on the AWEARNESS blog.  Maria Shriver says that the battle of the sexes is over , but I think she's wrong. Not because I think that women and girls are better than those of another gender, but because there are still battles to be fought. The SAT released their latest findings in gender differences on the standardized test and some want to interpret it as more proof that girls can't do math and science . OK, to explain why there aren't more women in science at least. Same conclusion in my eyes. Of course the flip side of that argument is that there aren't any gender differences. But wait a minute; medical science continues to prove that there are biological differences between men and women, this time in the arena of heart drugs . So what's the real deal with gender differences then? Dr. Lise Eliot tries to answer that question in a tome of a book , Pink Brain, Blue Brain . What I found in PBBB is simply yes, there are differences ...

The problem with The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do by Peg Tyre is that it is a good book wrapped up in so many stereotypes it is difficult to find the true nuggets of knowledge. As a grown up tomboy who ended up marrying a man who sat still as a young boy, I find dealing in stereotypes completely unhelpful to the conversation. In fact I am so allergic to them that it takes a lot of data for me to say uncle. Tyre claims to want to rip the myths to shreds, but I fear that she merely reinforces them. One myth that needs to die is that boys are violent. Boys may be rougher than girls in their play, but violent shouldn't be tolerated. There is a line and we need to keep our boys on the proper side of that line. Tyre correctly blasts against zero tolerance rules, but we still need to deal with violence in our classrooms or the emergence of violence. Star Wars = ok, bloody murder scenes NOT o...

On one hand Chicago Public Schools is telling parents and students that they should stay home or will be sent home if they have a 100-degree temperature in an on-going effort to stem the swine flu. On the other hand, Chicago Public Schools uses absences, even illness absences, as one way to choose which student is allowed to enter into the top college prep schools in the system: [Celia Hensey] was a straight-A student who aced the selective enrollment high school entrance exam. She scored in the 90th percentile on her middle school tests and tallied 984 points out of 1,000 on the overall admissions scale. But Celia did not get in. Her likely downfall? A nasty flu bug in 7th grade that kept her out of school for five days. In the complex and competitive world of selective enrollment scoring, Celia was docked 10 points for five absences. The years that students are earning their way into the top high schools are 4th through 7th grade. When my daughter began kindergarten last ...

My daughter got some sort of cold the 3rd or 4th week of school. It was something that I thought wasn't bad enough that she needed to stay home, some Tylenol and she seemed much better. We had been thru bouts like this when she was in her pre-school/day care just a few months ago. Well, for two days she was totally wiped out by lunch time. Her fever would spike back up by dismissal around 3 pm and when I would pick her up, she was in very sad shape. What as the difference? NO SCHOOL NURSE. OK, the school does have one, but like many schools in Illinois and around the country, there isn't a full-time nurse anymore . The Illinois Administrative Code mandates that nurses working at schools must be registered professionals. The code requires school boards develop and keep a job description of a school nurse's duties. The code also talks about preventing communicable diseases, maintaining health records, conducting vision and hearing screenings, and acting as a liaison betwe...

This is a cross-post from Hormone-colored Days : I'm blogging a gathering at Kim's place with Jerry Schecter, Ph.D . Despite what Kim says, this is a party...A party of parents, mostly moms & one lone dad, coming together to learn more about how to "best" raise our children who have academic gifts. Dr. S's background includes being a school psychologist in CPS and was at the ground floor for the CPS gifted program. He helped work with underachieving gifted students - those who can do the work, but weren't. Dr. S's definition of a gifted kid is someone with an IQ in the upper 5-10% of the population. That's one way, but more typically we are talking about upper 2% - 130 and above. Upper 5% - 125, you are bright, quick and still relate well. When you get to 140 - you are a little bit more different - harder to fit in, see the world differently, get labeled as ADD 'cause their minds are racing. You should ask the school if your child is "gett...

This week I spew about the kid's pending entrance to the world of kindergarten and "official" school. It's kinda funny that I'm taking this transition hard. I didn't cry when I dropped her off for daycare after my maternity leave. She does drop off perfectly. One thing that I didn't mention in my post is that for kindergarten we literally drop them off. No more walking her to class and leaving with a hug. That's gotta happen in the car. I also won't be picking her up. We have a babysitter to do that most days. T-minus one month. I seriously need to stock up on tissues!

The AAUW released a new report today detailing education trends between girls and boys for the past 35 years. And you know what? BOTH are succeeding...BOTH are going to college. Despite cries of terror from certain circles fueled by the media, boys are NOT being left behind. The NY Times covered the report (and astonishingly NOT in the style section !): The report points out that a greater proportion of men and women than ever before are graduating from high school and earning college degrees. But, it says, “perhaps the most compelling evidence against the existence of a boys’ crisis is that men continue to outearn women in the workplace.” Linda Hallman...said the report was an effort to refocus attention on what she said were the real problems of education for poor and minority children, and away from a distracting debate about a so-called boys’ crisis. Ms. Hallman said the group’s members were concerned about arguments by conservative commentators that boys had become disadvantage...

Because I have a presentation on gender equity on Thursday, found out about another extension on a chapter I was writing & gave up on, AND the hubby is out of town meaning I have less time for me this weekend, I present you with a bullet point blog post. Enjoy! Help some awesome Radical WOC get to the Allied Media Conference . I swear, I'd be there myself to represent the not-so-radical WOC contingent, but I have to attend another conference that weekend. Oh...and if you've ever wondered where the super kewl WOC bloggers are, start with this list! kameelah writes * little black book * RGV goes to the AMC * cripchick * Writeous Sister Speaks * Mamita Mala * Tigera Consciente * A Womyn’s Ecdysis * Having Read the Fine Print . Peggy Simpson from the Women's Media Center sums up the fallout from the NARAL Pro-Choice endorsement. As does Scott at RH Reality Check is also following the fallout. (Is it me, or does he look like Bobcat Goldwaith? But of course, far les...

In case you haven't heard, the Chicago Public Schools will be opening a few new schools next year and they are magnets plus a gifted center. So you CPSers know what that means - LOTTERY TIME! More choices in that whole "school choice" thing. In reality we know it's more school luck than choice, but put as the commercials say, you can't win if you don't play. So read on about the new schools and how you can try to get your lil one in them. Here's the skinny from CPS themselves: Dear CPS Community, We're very excited about five new elementary magnet schools and a new regional gifted center that will open this fall, expanding school options for students in a variety of neighborhoods. * * Disney II Magnet School * 3815 N. Kedvale Ave., will offer a fine/performing arts and technology integration curriculum. * * LaSalle II Magnet School * 1148 N. Honore St., will provide a world language program that allows students to learn one of four different lan...