They were inspired by a recent visit from 10-year-old Jahkil Jackson. He started the organization, Project I Am, to help the homeless in Chicago. With Jahkil, the students put together nearly 300 "Blessing Bags," which included essential toiletries. Our fourth graders will deliver these bags to the Cornerstone Shelter in Uptown in March.
In January, our lower school students learned that there is no age limit when it comes to making a difference.
They were inspired by a recent visit from 10-year-old Jahkil Jackson. He started the organization, Project I Am, to help the homeless in Chicago. With Jahkil, the students put together nearly 300 "Blessing Bags," which included essential toiletries. Our fourth graders will deliver these bags to the Cornerstone Shelter in Uptown in March.
Freyja Brandel-Tanis '14 has been named a 2022-2023 Fulbright Scholar. Brandel-Tanis will graduate from Georgia Tech with a master's in city and regional planning and MS in civil engineering this spring.
She has been awarded a Fulbright research award at NTNU in Trondheim, Norway and will be conducting stakeholder focus groups on the role of digital twins in sustainable transportation modeling. Her work will be an early stage in long-term research at NTNU to ensure the complexity of transportation systems is considered in future digital twins.
(Digital twins have established use in manufacturing and rocketry to virtually replicate physical environments and test potential scenarios, and some modelers and officials see their potential to improve on current transportation modeling technologies.)
Outside of her research, Brandel-Tanis is planning to engage with local queer organizations and ride her bike as well as exploring the Trondheim's public transit system. After her Fulbright, she plans to return to the US and work as a city planner/civil engineer before eventually pursuing a PhD.
It's middle school Project Week, which means it's 4@45 where fourth grade students get the full middle school experience at 45 N. Dearborn!
Students got a locker for the week. They got to meet fifth grade teachers. Fifth graders gave them a tour of the middle school. And they get to have their classes in the middle school building this week.
Students were greeted by fifth grade buddies, who gave them tips on opening lockers followed by special tours of the Middle and Upper Schools. The fourth graders followed their usual schedule but they also were introduced to the fifth grade teachers and had a special RoundTable class with the middle school counselor. They loved walking independently through the buildings. The highlight was always the lunchtime choices!
Lower School Computer Science and Tech Integration Specialist Fiona Deeney, Middle School Technology Coordinator Mike Demopoulos and Upper School Innovation Studio Manager Shane Enderle offered an inside look at Latin's maker spaces for parents/guardians.
At the start of the event, the team shared information about each division's maker space and projects created in them. Then they gave a tour of the upper school maker space to show some of the equipment and supplies students can access in all three divisions.
Upper School
EQUIPMENT
3D Printers
Vinyl Cutters
Laser Cutter
CNC Router
Soldering Irons and accessories
iPad Pro’s with Apple Pencils
VR Headset
SOFTWARE
Adobe Suite
Illustrator
Photoshop
In Design
Fusion 360
Sketchbook Pro
Procreate
Silhouette Studio
Mint Studio
Middle School
EQUIPMENT
3D Printer (x3)
Vinyl Cutter (x2)
Laser Cutter
CNC Router
MacBook Air (x2)
SOFTWARE
PrusaSlicer
Silhouette Studio
Mint Studio
iMovie
Lower School
EQUIPMENT
3D Printers
Vinyl Cutter
Laser Cutter
Digital Embroidery Machine
Sewing Machines
LittleBits Pro Library and STEAM Kits
SOFTWARE
Doodle 3D
TurtleStitch
Silhouette Studio
Mint Studio
Drawing Pad
Afterward, parents/guardians got the opportunity to laser engrave on a pre-cut wood roman head. They also visited stations to make leather key chains, play with Little Bits electronics from the lower school, see embroidery and sewing machines in action, and a few physical projects that students have created.
The maker spaces at Latin aid students with designing and problem-solving, as well as develop skills, talents, thinking and mental rigor.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, upper school project week is back! Students chose to spend the week on one of the 25 in-town projects or 11 out-of-town projects.
The in-town offerings included:
Ad-RAP-tation: the Latin School and Q Brothers' Collective
Art and Anatomy
Chicago: Walking, Food, and Art
Code Your Own 2D Games and Build a Mini Arcade Cabinet
Curling in Chicago
Cycle Chicago: Riding & Wrenching
Dancing with culture
Design a Chicago Bike Tour
El mundo Latino in Chicago: An Exploration of Chicago's Latinx Community
Exploring Chicago’s Queer History
Find Your Inner Chef
Habitat for Humanity
Just for Kicks
Make Your Escape (Room)
Making Music
PADI Scuba Diving Certification and Training
Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective
Survivor
Theatre in Chicago
The Greatest City in the World Chicago Gospel
Treemendous Forest Preserves
Urban Agriculture
Wellness: Mind & Body
What Makes a Neighborhood?: Art, Advocacy, and Food
Yarn Bombing
The out-of-town offerings included:
Canyoneering & Rock Climbing Adventure
Civil Rights Trail 2022
Coral Reef Experience in Florida Keys
Cycling Through the Sonoran Desert
Detroit: Invention and Reinvention in a Great American City
Exploring the Pacific: Oceanography of Southern California
Latin Iditarod: Dogsledding
Mountain Biking in Moab
The Ancestral Heritage of The Land of Enchantment
The Raw & The Cooked: A Literary Feast in Michigan
There is No Business Like Show Business!: LA TV & Film
Check out more photos and videos from our PWeek take over on Latin's Instagram @latinschoolofchicago at #latinpweek.