Changing Worlds brings high-quality music programing to Ashe Elementary, an under-resourced CPS school on Chicago’s West Side. Innovation 80 funding will allow Changing Worlds to expand its model to reach deeper and broader by including grades 3 through 5, giving its students an uninterrupted K-8 music curriculum. The school’s principal has requested this expansion and has championed this program. Changing Worlds also offers summer and out-of-school opportunities for upper-grade students, and family online workshops to engage parents.

changingworlds.org 

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble uses a wide variety of arts—visual arts, dance, theatre and music—to engage participants. Innovation 80’s grant is for Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble to develop a comprehensive curriculum for early childhood, ages 3-7, from PreK through 1st grade. The program’s goal is to determine what concepts and skills can be taught at each age level and to develop the tools which will prepare teaching artists to teach all arts. The curriculum will foster an early appreciation for the arts, with a focus on social/emotional learning, reading and literacy.

www.danztheatre.org

CircEsteem serves youths across all backgrounds and identities, fostering self-esteem and mutual respect through the practice and performance of circus arts. CircEsteem also provides tutors to help participants with homework and has a stellar graduation rate. The program creates opportunities for youth to find commonalities, to experience their resilience, and to reimagine the role youth can play in affecting social change and in shaping the future of Chicago. The Innovation 80 Grant will expand this program to Hefferan Elementary an under-served CPS school on the West Side of Chicago.

www.circesteem.org

Green Star Movement works with an inter-generational population—youth, adults and communities—to design and realize public art. Its mission is to build teamwork, self-esteem, and civic engagement while fostering a sense of identity and revitalizing urban neighborhoods. Through the mosaic murals they create, participants connect to each other and experience ownership of public spaces. Innovation 80 funding will support the design and execution of a mural by an inter-generational group of participants in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.

www.greenstarmovement.org

Ignition Community Glass uses the transformative power of glass arts to help youth from under-resourced communities in Chicago develop life skills. It provides a safe environment for students to experiment while learning the basics of this art form. Its programs foster self-esteem, self-confidence, and resilience, and emphasize the importance of communication and trust as participants work together in pairs and groups. ICG will collaborate with Storycatchers Theatre to run an 8-week summer course for Storycatchers participants, who will collectively create a glass quilt mural to be installed at the Storycatchers facility.

www.icg-chicago.org

ReinventAbility improves the lives of people with disabilities by promoting and facilitating engagement and inclusion. Its programs expand the horizons of dance to include disabled individuals and their families, as fully engaged audience members, in classes, and onstage. Innovation 80’s grant will fund development of Dancing With Disability, a program for grades K - 12 for South and West Side Chicago schools. Dance participation serves to dispel negative attitudes that limit opportunities of people with disabilities. It aims to increase public understanding, acceptance and inclusion.

www.reinventability.org

SitStayRead advances children’s literacy skills in under-served communities by connecting children in grades K-3 with trained literacy volunteers and Certified Reading Assistance Dogs. Its curriculum develops reading and writing skills and an appreciation of and connection with animals. By bringing non-judgmental dogs and supportive volunteers into classrooms the program transforms the learning environment. Innovation 80’s funding will create packets that include books (in English and Spanish) and supplies for children to use during the Covid-19 period and beyond.

www.sitstayread.org

Storycatchers has used a trauma-informed methodology to create Changing Voices, an 8-month performing arts jobs program for youth, ages 17-24, recently released from detention. Changing Voices combines artistic expression with social-emotional learning to prepare youth for successful re-entry. Working one-on-one with teaching artists, youth author their personal stories, share them in small peer groups and then learn basic skills of musical performance, choreography, and show-writing, collaborating to weave their collective experiences into a work of musical theater. Storycatchers has developed programs in partnership with two other Innovation 80 grantees--Ignition Community Glass and Green Star Movement--to further enrich the experiences of their Changing Voices youth.

www.storycatcherstheatre.org

West Point School of Music is a Black-led and Black-serving organization whose mission is to engage low-income, urban youth through music instruction and performance, cultivating artistically connected, socially conscious, and productive adults. Its performances make high quality, culturally diverse music accessible to all. Innovation 80 will fund the School’s steel drum program, which provides education and training, jobs and community development in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. The project includes its steel drum repair and manufacturing operation.

www.westpointsom.org