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Burnham Youth

Burnham Centennial Program Think Big Youth Expo

ABOUT 

  • ABOUT Big Shoulders Fund

    Founded in 1986, the Big Shoulders Fund is a private nonprofit that has raised over $180 million to support children in Catholic schools in the neediest areas of inner-city Chicago through scholarships, special education programs, instructional equipment, school facility improvements, faculty support, and operating grants. There are 76 elementary and 17 secondary Big Shoulders Fund schools serving nearly 25,000 children across Chicago.

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  • ABOUT Irma C. Ruiz Elementary School

    Irma C. Ruiz Elementary School is a fine and performing arts magnet cluster school located in the Pilsen community. Ruiz teaches children in grades pre-K through eight.  Its strong curriculum integrates the arts within all content areas and grade levels pre-K through eight. Ruiz has a variety of programs, including music, visual art, dance, and athletics.

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  • ABOUT Louisa May Alcott School

    Louisa May Alcott School seeks to provide a cohesive curriculum with an extensive focus on literature and writing that meets the needs of all students (including English language learners, multiple intelligences, individual learning styles, special needs, and gifted students) while honoring cultural diversity. Alcott provides hands-on engaged learning, innovative approaches, fine arts, foreign language integration, and reduced class sizes with parental involvement.

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  • ABOUT Medgar Evers Fine & Performing Arts School

    The mission of the Medgar Evers Fine & Performing Arts School is to provide a nurturing, caring and stimulating learning environment. The school seeks to accomplish this by fusing academics and fine and performing arts, providing for the academic, artistic, social and cultural development of all students. Through a partnership with family, staff, and community, the school strives to develop students into lifelong learners and productive citizens of society.

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  • ABOUT Robert Healy Elementary School

    Robert Healy School, a Fine and Performing Arts Magnet Cluster School, focuses on literacy, math, science, technology, and the arts to provide a quality education through partnership with parents, community organizations, cultural institutions, universities, and corporations. Healy School provides a challenging arts-integrated academic program that maximizes student potential, personal growth, and achievement within a positive nurturing environment that supports diverse learning styles, cultures, and abilities.

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  • ABOUT Words @ Play

    Words@Play, a collaboration of the Chicago Humanities Festival and the Chicago Park District, is a community-based, after-school arts program that introduces poetry and play to youth at neighborhood parks. Spoken word artists bring their love of language and expression to youth, challenging them to engage in writing and performance. Many of the children's resulting poems are performed by Barrel of Monkeys during the Children’s Humanities Festival.  Inspired in part by Daniel Burnham, the 2008 program centered around the idea of thinking big.

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During the 2008–2009 school year, students at schools throughout Chicago explored the city’s relevance to them historically, currently, and personally. Students also reflected on Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago (1909) and contemplated the city’s future and their own roles in its stewardship. Results of this exploration appear in the Think Big Youth Expo, which showcases a selection of student writings and artwork that represent the big ideas of Chicago’s youth, as represented by students from Irma C. Ruiz Elementary School, Louisa May Alcott School, Medgar Evers Fine & Performing Arts Academy, Robert Healy Elementary School, several Big Shoulders Fund schools, and Words@Play. At the expo, a capstone to the partnership between the Chicago Humanities Festival and Metropolis 2020 in celebration of the Burnham Plan centennial, student docents provide the public with an insider's view of the development of their creative ideas.

Presented in partnership with the Chicago Public Library and Chicago Matters.

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Burnham, Youth Expo, Chicago, urban design

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Broader Investigation

burnham centennial

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Burnham Centennial

Lecture

Burnham Centennial Program: Bold Plans For the Next 100 Years

Panelists looks at the future and addresses the question, "What will Chicago look like in 2109?" Chicago Metropolis 2020 vice chair Adele Simmons moderates.

Lecture

Burnham Centennial Program: The Future of Chicago How We Get There

A panel considers practical and immediate solutions to questions about housing, education, transportation, and environmental sustainability in and around Chicago.

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