826chiannualreportweb2013

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826CHI is a non-profit writing and tutoring center dedicated to

supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository

writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to

write. Our services are structured around the understanding that

great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and

that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. All

of our programs at 826CHI work to strengthen each student’s power

to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his

or her individual voice.

To meet our mission in 2012-2013, we served more than 3,700

students across Chicago. A majority of these young learners came

to us from low-income areas, and many more from schools where

resources are scarce. At 826CHI, we continued our work this year

by offering accessible, tuition-free programs as we readied each

of our students for success.

In 2005, 826CHI’s doors opened at 1331 N. Milwaukee Avenue,

Chicago, joining the 826 National network of eight urban-based

writing centers founded in 2002 by author Dave Eggers and educator

Nínive Calegari. Then, in 2007, we began sharing our space with

Chicago’s only secret agent supply shop, The Boring Store, which

serves as both our quirky fundraising enterprise and a gateway

to the Chicago community.

ABOUT US

About Us

Letter From Our Leaders

Our Programs

Publishing

Spotlight: The Galvan Family

Writing Gallery

Accomplishments

Recognition & Awards

Financial Reporting

Events

Volunteers

Donors

Who We Are

A Student’s Story

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

MISSION

HISTORY

Graphic Design by Aaron Maurer

3 of 202 of 20 FISCAL YEAR 2013FISCAL YEAR 2013

Friends, Affiliates, and Supporters,

If you’ve spent any amount of time at 826CHI’s writing and tutoring facility in Wicker Park, you’ve been witness to the process: we make sure that the adventure of learning is fun and lively while we help students harness their own imaginative power through words.

Sharing this recap of the past fiscal year with you thus presents challenges if the expectation is to match our students’ creativity and charm with our words. Running 826CHI is, after all, serious business.

Our investment in this word-craft over the past fiscal year produced student writing that was indeed creative and charming while we conducted the serious business of running our tutoring and writing center. Going forward, we see our organization developing a solid foothold in our community, and now more than ever we strategically connect each move we make to the 826CHI mission. That work and wisdom serve as the guide we use while students explore the possibilities and opportunities their writing reveals.

We are growing up—and growing into our vision of serving more of Chicago’s students.

With our funding, programming, staff, and volunteers in place, we will be ready for the inspired student authors of 2014 – 15. In one year, we will begin celebrating 826CHI’s tenth anniversary. As we look ahead and ask ourselves, “What’s next?” we see a future of more students exploring the wonder and personal empowerment that comes from writing and creative self-expression.

Thanks very much for your interest and your role in making this fun, lively operation an important and inspirational part of so many lives.

Sincerely,

Dan Kuruna Barry A. BensonPresident, Board of Directors Executive Director

OUR PROGRAMS

After-School Tutoring and Writing (“AST”), offered on Monday through Thursday afternoons at 826CHI, provides year-long academic tutoring and writing instruction to Chicago Public School students in grades 1-8. During the program, our trained volunteer tutors work one-on-one with students to focus on both daily homework assignments and creative writing prompts, and students later revise these pieces for publication in chapbooks. Field Trips take place Wednesday through Friday mornings onsite at 826CHI, where we host local classrooms for lively, writing-based sessions. One of our most popular offerings is the Storytelling and Bookmaking Field Trip, which focuses on character building and plot development with our younger learners. These students choose setting and characters and write half the story as a group before creating their own endings with help from volunteers. Each student leaves the Field Trip with his or her own published book in hand. In-School projects bring 826CHI’s dedicated volunteers into classrooms around the city to support students and teachers. Our In-School volunteers improve adult-to-student ratios in classrooms while working alongside students to tackle various short- and long- term projects, including our Young Authors’ Book Project, research papers, newspaper articles, literary magazines, and college entrance essays. Workshops are tuition-free classes developed and taught by our experienced volunteers, with each Workshop designed to foster creativity, strengthen writing skills, and provide students with a forum to execute projects that they otherwise might not have the support to undertake. Subjects range from sports writing and memoir writing to advertising pitches and poetry in hip hop, and are offered to youth in all grades year-round.

LETTER FROM OUR LEADERS


PUBLISHINGOur students wrote and re-wrote, edited and re-edited, and chewed

on pencil erasers…while our tutors supported and copied and bound

their work, bringing to life the stories our students shared with

friends, family, and the wider literary community.

The Windows Reflect Everything, 826CHI’s first collection of long-form narrative journalism, is our newest student publication, and was created by our young authors from Golder College Prep and Roberto Clemente Community Academy high schools. The introduction describes these stories as marrying “earnest storytelling with the objectivity of straight news, one that values the intimate anecdote as much as the hard facts.” Foreword by Monica Eng and cover art by Thomas Quinn.

And Now 200 Year Later, We Are We Are Still Waiting for Interested Buyers features our students’ time travel stories. Foreword by our very own resident curmudgeonly publisher, Admiral Moody, and cover art by the matchless Corinne Mucha.

There I Am Looking at You with a Hungry Face reveals our students’ lively food-inspired journal entries. Foreword by local author and 826CHI tutor Stephen Markley, and cover art by comic book artist and writer Jeffrey Brown.

An Elevator with Different Floors: The Adventures of Kait & Patrick, written as an adventure-filled ode to two former 826CHI staffers, includes correspondence between foods and letters of admiration for tutors. Introduction by rising literary star Patrick Somerville, and cover art by illustrator and cartoonist Aaron Renier.

A Bubble with a Password is a chapbook in which our After-School Tutoring and Writing students shared their honest perceptions of 2012’s election season madness along with a series of “I Wish” stories. Introductory letter by 826CHI intern and chapbook editor Katy Heubel, and cover art by our own talented Kendra Curry-Khanna.

“One thing that you will always have in life is the awkwardness on public transportation.”

- “The Truth Behind the CTA” from The Windows Reflect

Everything, Daniel G.,

11th grade.


SPOTLIGHT: The Galvan FamilyMarvin Galvan is unique among his peers at 826CHI: he’s been with us since before The Boring Store’s walls were orange. His seven-year stint in our After-School Tutoring and Writing (“AST”) program has been anything but colorless, though. At 14 years old, he has not only finished many a night’s schoolwork and filled several years’ worth of journals with us, but has also published many of these pieces and even read his work aloud at Chicago’s Printers Row Lit Fest. At AST, he says, “you feel comfortable because of all the other kids here.”

Joining Marvin at 826CHI each week are sisters Kimberly, age 12; Catherine, 11; and Darlene, 8. The Galvans also have five cousins who are AST regulars. His mother, Judith Torres, remembers when she first brought Marvin here back in 2007.

SPOTLIGHT: The Galvan Family (cont’d)“It’s very different now,” she says. “A lot more students come.” But one thing she’s also noticed over the years is how storytelling has become a real part of their family life. When the new chapbooks come out, she’s heard her kids read live at 826CHI’s release parties— but they read their favorites out loud for her at home, too.

Last fall, Catherine published a story called “Visiting Grandma,” and her mother still marvels at its detail. In the story, Catherine gives a vivid account of her grandma’s cooking: “She made the mole,” Catherine writes. “Not the one you buy that is already made in the jar, but the one where you get chiles and chocolate and other stuff with fresh chicken.” Despite the tantalizing image Catherine paints, she has never tasted her grandmother’s spicy mole in Puebla, Mexico; in fact, she’s never met her.

What her story does capture, though, is a space between memory and imagination— a space where old family stories can be told anew, and become at once magic and real.

“I think a good age to drive a car is 13, but first you might need some practice in driving so you could be a good driver, and never ever crash into a car or something or someone. I would go very far, all the way to New York because I want to go fast. I would take my little cousin because he is funny.”

- “Do You Think Teens Should Drive” from A Bubble with a Password,

Marvin Galvan, grade 7

Kimberly, Darlene, Catherine, and Marvin Galvan at After-School Tutoring, December 2013

December 2011

December 2013


WRITING GALLERY

“When I enjoy a mango, I peel the skin, and I grab five napkins. One for my mouth, two to hold the mango, and two to hide it from my mom.”

— Yureli F., 4th grade, “The Five Magic Mangoes”

from There I Am Looking At You With My Hungry Face

“Dinosaurs didn’t use spoons. They didn’t even eat ice cream. They ate meat and plants and didn’t even use plates, unless you count the ground. Then, yeah, they did use plates, but they didn’t use spoons, forks, or knives. Dinosaurs had no manners at all....Plus, this modern 650,900,000 year-old Quetzalcoatlus didn’t use professional fishing gear.”

— Carlos S., 6th grade, “Dinosaurs Aren’t Human-Like” from There I Am Looking At

You With My Hungry Face

Intriguing and descriptive, our students’ titles pull the reader in:

“The Importance of People in a Plane Crash,” by Eric S.

“The Tooth Fairy, an Elf, Harry Potter, and Santa,” by Kaitlyn R.

“The Lady Who Had a Cat,” by Melissa S.

“Grace Daffodil, Mindreader,” by Nevayah T.


RECOGNITION & AWARDSWe’re not the only ones who are proud of what we do! Here are some

of the ways we’ve been recognized and awarded this year:

Outstanding Partner Organization Award, May 2013 – Awarded for 826CHI’s work with Peabody Elementary and Adventure Stage Chicago.

Local Latino Recognition for Education Award, October 2012 – Awarded to 826CHI during Hispanic Heritage month in Chicago, this award recognized our initiatives that helped us to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community.

Lit 50, or Who Really Books in Chicago, June 2013 – Because of his commitment to literacy and his dedicated work at 826CHI, Barry A. Benson, our Executive Director, was recognized by Newcity Lit for playing a key role in helping the Chicago writing world keep going round.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS826CHI has had a brilliant year. Here are some standout successes

we are proud to report:

Virtual Tutoring program. Making innovative use of online technology, 826CHI’s tutors offered individualized feedback to 115 AP History students at Pritzker College Prep and Rauner College Prep. Both schools boasted the highest AP World History Exam scores among all Noble Schools, and Rauner’s AP results – for the first time in the school’s history – ranked first in the network.

Video ventures. Between “The Video Project 826CHI,” which featured several notable Chicagoans who read aloud our students’ work from 2012’s Young Authors’ Book Project, The Noise Felt Human, and our volunteer-produced innovative summer appeal video, 826CHI indeed explored exciting new avenues to promote our students’ work and reach out to friends and supporters.

Spanish language initiatives. In fall 2012, we began offering our parent orientations and newsletters in both Spanish and English, and 826CHI’s staff members voluntarily took weekly Spanish lessons so that we could better serve our community members, many of whom are native Spanish speakers.

“Because of your help,

I am a stronger writer

than when I started

sophomore year. Thank

you for taking the tim

e

out of your own lives

to

help me. Your comments

really helped me impro

ve

on the AP test.”

– Ashley Q., student a

t

Pritzker College Prep

“Thank you guys for the work that you do! 826 is absolutely instrumental in my classroom for helping my students succeed!”

– Matt McCabe, AP History teacher at Pritzker College Prep

Zach Duffy receives the “Outstanding Partner Organization Award” from Adventure Stage ChicagoPritzker students & 826CHI

volunteers gather for a Virtual Tutoring kickoff party


FINANCIAL REPORTING

REVENUE 2013 2012Direct Public Support $422,161 $344,188

Indirect Public Support $265 $325

Special Events $17,148 $30,125

In Kind Donations $61,325 –

Other Income – Unrestricted $18 $24

Total Revenue $500,917 $374,662

ExpensesProgram Services $394,478 $378,908

Fundraising $66,742 $63,025

General & Adminsitrative $17,820 $19,649

Total Expenses $479,040 $461,582

Direct Public Support 84%Indirect Public Support <1%Special Events 3%In-kind Gifts 12%Other Income – <1% Unrestricted

REVENUE

Programming 82%Fundraising 14%General & Adminsitrative 4%

EXPENSES

EVENTSYou joined us as we scavenged, “cheated,” and masqueraded our

way through the year, and helped us to make 826CHI the heart of

youthful and imaginative creative writing, tutoring, and publishing

for Chicago students.

Clandestine Quest. Questers skulked, scurried, and scavenged about the neighborhood, tracking down clues and locating unmarked hideouts, all to support our students. Scrabble for Cheaters. The Scrabble tournament with a dishonest twist raised money for an honest cause: tutoring and supporting Chicago students in the literary arts.

Promic-Con. What’s better than a crowd of comic book characters cutting a rug in a sophisticated venue like the ballroom at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago? Doing all of the above while supporting a great non-profit!


10,859 Volunteer tutoring hours in 2012-2013

VOLUNTEERS (cont’d)

Volunteer Engagement & Support Team (“VEST”)Josh LesserTheo HahnHayley MillerAparna PuppalaJeni CroneRajiv HaqueAmy KrzyzekDrew RodriguezKat BoltonKara ThorstensenDanny ResnerLauren NelsonShannon MonsonDave WelchJosh Ruddy

VEST ALUMNIAlissa WalknerWarren Yates Mando SalazarTom UrwinNaomi TaubSamuel Zelitch

INTERNSAbi HumberAbigail HowardAndrea AyersHanna Ahn Katy SteeleAlison LaceyNico DregniLainie FrombyAlissa WalknerBecky BaumannMichael LightGalen BeebeClaire GaddisKaty HeubelWarren YatesNell KlugmanAshley KeyserNick SaighJosh LesserSian KresseDaniel RiveraBryce Parsons-Twesten

Abby Ryder-HuthMeghan HickeyAngela ZhangSarah HansenDanya SherbiniElizabeth GaughanNoboru BitoyRebecca StonerPeter JensenEthan KenvargHannah CallasBrianna GielowMo KinsingerQuinn KorreckRocio PachecoEmily BeaufortTara JayakarThomas Boyle

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Spy of the MonthDave Miller- July 2013Owen Lowery - June 2013Sam Zelitch - May 2013Lauren Nelson - April 2013 Armando Salazar - March 2013Jordan Brown - February 2013Sarah Erwin - January 2013Rajiv Haque - November/December 2012Stewart Thiel - October 2012Kat Bolton - September 2012Danny Resner - August 2012

VOLUNTEERSUndeniably, it is our volunteers that make 826CHI the dynamic

community we are – a creative, safe space where Chicago youth take

risks and explore as learners and writers.

SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMIn 2012, 826CHI teamed up with college and university departments to offer service-learning partnerships for select classes of undergraduates. In their current form, these partnerships not only create a rare opportunity for college students to engage with Chicago Public School youth, but also connect us with capable volunteers seeking daytime service opportunities. In 2012-2013, these collaborations enabled us to staff 89 Field Trips and 78 In-School Projects sessions throughout the school year.

“Volunteering at 826

is a fabulous way to

make an impact on the

local community in an

approachable way. The

programming is high-

quality but flexible and

fun which makes it a great

place to get involved and

donate my time.”

– Laura Booth, volunteer

“826CHI is important to me because it gives me hope for the future. I never feel so good about the world as when I’m listening to the smart, creative, funny, weird, bright students of 826CHI.”

- Bryce Parsons-Twesten, volunteer

Bennington College

Colorado College

DePaul University

Kansas University

Northwestern University

University of Chicago

University of Illinois

at Chicago

SERVICE-LEARNING PARTNERSHIPS

BECAUSE OF YOU.


Anonymous DonorAnonymous DonorAnonymous DonorAnonymous DonorAon Foundation The Ann K. Humber Trust Randall AlbersMike and Laura AllenPhyllis AmabileSarah Anderson-WellsKathryn ArgentarNathan ArnoldMichael Arvan and Arlene Sanoy Kris & Annie AtzeffBank Of America Foundation Mindy BartholomaeMiguel BassailDavid BeckerBryan and Tracie BedellJoanna BeerDebra BeinsteinBarry A. BensonTamara BerkoverAaron BibbMichele BilyChristy BloomKellye BlosserJeffrey BrownDeborah BrownNicholas BrownBrad BrubakerKyle BruckFritz BuergerBrian and Tammy BullingtonJoel BurkeHannah CallasDustin CallasKatherinel CampbellPierre CamyMegan CaptaineMary Ellen Caron

Christen CarterRegina CassidyMaura CassidyMichelle ChaissonSarah Anderson-Wells ChesterCurtis ClarkKathryn Argentar ClarkEmily ClarkRebecca ClarkMarilyn ClearyGary CohenKathryn CollierStephanie Comer and Rob CraigieThe Comer Foundation Paul ConigliaroRuth ConneelyJohn and Janet ConneelyKathryn CoonRaymond CowanLarry and Andrea CrainStephany CreamerStephen DeGrooteChristina DeidesheimerJillann DemesLaurel DettmanDaniel DomeDarin DuffyRobin D. DuffyCatriona DuncanKathleen DunneKeith EckerClaire EdlebeckElaina EdwardsDave EggersKing and Mary Carolyn EmbryEssay Fiesta Sarah ErwinEyeQuilt Food Industry News Romaine ForsytheAdrian Foster

DONORSAlexandra GalanteIllinois Arts CouncilMercedes Claire GilliomLori GordonJennifer GreenbergRicardo GrisalezJulie GrisalezJenny GryniewiczAmy HambergMegan HauserDavid HazanIan HendersonLina HilkoDough Hinckley and Jennifer James Adam HoitThomas HolmesRobert and Maureen HorrellDani HoylerDanielle HydeIllinois Humanities Council Brian and Tammy IngramJohn E. Fehsenfeld Foundation Sheryl JohnstonMantissa JohnstonThomas Joyner and Caryn Cammarata The Judy Family Foundation Aaron KaneNaomi KaneConstance KarniotisBradley KeckMarion KellerJessica KellerPatricia KileyFred KleinJohnna KnabeMichael KoenigMichael Anthony KoenigDan KurunaDan Kuruna and Justine Jentes Chris KwasiborskiIan Law

Andrea LeeCheslyn LesickMartha LiptonDominic LomoroAndrew LowenthalOwen LoweryBrian LoweryNancy Lowery-BregarLTS Chicago Andrew and Janet LubetkinPamela MacDonaldSophia MadanaBill MaherJason MalikowJudith MarcinCheryl MartAmanda MatherCynthia MatthewsJeffrey and Cathleen MazaAlisa MazurNicki MazzoccaMatthew McCabeAmanda McCoyMia McelroyKevin McKennaSean and Beth McNamaraPeter MierwinskiJune and David MillerValerie MillerBob MillerRhys MillerDavid MillerLaura MittelstaedtJerry and Soo MoonMaura MoranMorris A. Hazan Family Foundation Emily MorrisonAlyson NelsonLauren NelsonEmilie NimsBen Nissen

DONORS (cont’d)


Gillian NolanAnthony NuccioColleen O’GradyErin O’SheaOut Of Print Brandon OxendineKevin PardueAustin PetersMaria PfisterGregory PierceGene PodulkaMario PonceCandace PorterThomas and Diane QuinnJordan Industries Thomas and Christine QuinnNancy QuinnMae RiceKatja RiveraRobert R. McCormick Foundation Ellen RosenGwen RosenbergLaurie RovellJohn RuarkGirlie SalgueiroJF and Maria SarwarkMatt and Megan SchrecengostThe Seabury Foundation John and Patricia ShaffnerAmy ShahJordan ShappellKaren ShimminSally ShulerCarl and Jane SmithMolly Smith-WeberMallory SohmerHelen SpaldingSpalding Family Foundation Cecil SpiethStarcom Jennifer Statler

Kaitlin SteeleMelissa StegerJoe and Sylvia StoneBene TanenbaumPeter TullochSpencer TweedyChristy UchidaBailey VanceJack and Susan WardAnna WashenkoMaggie WeitermanWilliam Blair & Company Foundation Jordan WilliamsJennifer L. WilliamsMeryl WilliamsJoseph and Gretchen WilsonLaura WimberlyDonna WindomSara WittJeffery WolfJeffrey WolfeCarl WoodwardJohn WorshamJulie WroblewskiDiane Young-SpiethMaricela Zapian

DONORS (cont’d)

“The McCormick Fou

ndation’s Journali

sm

Program has been p

roud to support

826CHI for infusin

g news literacy

into the program’s

work this year.

From our standpoin

t, partnering

with a leading cre

ative writing

program to explore

ways to increase

teen engagement wi

th news and

credible informati

on is an exciting

experiment.” - Mark H

allett,

Sr. Program Officer

,

Journalism Program

,

McCormick Foundati

on

WHO WE ARE

Barry A. Benson, Executive DirectorZach Duffy, Director of EducationKendra Curry-Khanna, Director of Volunteer ServicesMolly Walsh, Store ManagerTammy Fickel, Grants ManagerAbi Humber, Communications and Outreach CoordinatorJeanne Douglass, Events and Outreach CoordinatorAngie Rivera, Program CoordinatorSandy Moy, Programs AssociateAnna Gross, Store Supervisor

Daniel Kuruna, PresidentJennifer Statler, Vice-PresidentJan Zasowski, TreasurerD. R. Edwards, SecretaryJohn ConneelyTran HaKaty KlassmanMia McElroy Christine QuinnBailey Vance

826CHI STAFF

826CHI BOARD OF DIRECTORS


A STUDENT’S STORY826CHI’s story begins with our students and their words and tales.

So, we believe it fitting to leave you with a story written by one

of our students.

“The Goal” from The Windows Reflect Everything By Brandon Ramirez, 12th grade

I remember when my dad used to come home from work tired. Still, he would

take a moment to study at midnight for the citizenship test. I used to see him

worry about it. He would think, “What if I fail the test?” That made him work

harder. He used to sit at the kitchen table for hours. He even asked me for help.

He told me to ask him the questions to see if he got them right. He always

had a busy schedule. He used to go to school in the mornings, in the evenings

he worked late, and when he came home he always took his book out of his

backpack and started studying.

We moved to Chicago in 2007 from Guadalajara, Mexico, because my dad

wanted my family and me to have a better education and better life. We wanted

to stay in Mexico, but my dad explained that it was easier for us to come to the

U.S. to have a better education, and that he may have better job opportunities.

We came here as permanent residents, but my dad thought that if we were going

to be living here, that it would be easier for him and for us to become citizens,

and that we would have more benefits and rights as citizens. Two of the rights

of citizens are to vote, and to have an American passport.

After all his effort, he finally took the test. I remember when he went to take the

test he left the house nervous, and in the car he was still re-reading the questions.

We got to the place where he took the test, and they made us wait outside while

he went into a room. After an hour or so he came out crying. We thought he

failed. My mom asked him what happened, and he said that he passed, so we all

went to my dad to hug him. He told us that everything is possible if you try for

it. He accomplished his dream, and now are we all living it with him in the U.S.

22 of 20 FISCAL YEAR 2013

1331 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622

[email protected] www.826chi.org

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