List of a few of the Year Round Schools

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the schools include: Ashe, Avalon Park, Barnard, Beethoven, Ronald Brown, Brunson, Calhoun North, Carroll, Cather, Clark , Cook, Cuffe, Dett, DePriest, Drake, Dunne, Earhart, Edwards, Ellington, Esmond, Fernwood, Frazier Magnet, Goldblatt, Harvard, Hay, Hearst, Hefferan, Herbert, Herzl, Higgins, Hoyne, Charles Hughes, Irving, Jensen, Kellman, King, Kohn, Kozminski, Libby, Lovett, Lowell, Mann, McDowell, McNair, Melody, Morgan, Nash, National Teachers, Ninos Heroes, Nobel, O’Toole, Peck, Penn, Piccolo, Pope, Prescott, Randolph, Ryder, Ryerson, Sherman, Shoop, Smyth, Till, Walsh, West Pullman, Williams Prep, and Zapata.

Solution/Remedy

With the number of schools that were changed in the past year, Chicago Public Schools seem like they can mange converting over the rest of the other schools to the same program. The initial suggestion needs to come from a higher top position political leader. When the school district learns of this the School Board can petition for the addition of the other schools within CPS. The initial decision then is made by the Chicago Board of Education. The addition of year round schools should be done yearly. By transitioning yearly this allows for the opportunity of adjustment, not only from the students and their parents, but also for the teachers. When schools begin to change over it will spark interest among other communities of why there children aren’t going back and before one knows it all schools will change over to the year round program.

CPS Year Round Video

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6957397

Minimizing Violence

Another advantage to changing all schools within CPS to year round, is it would minimize youth violence. The City of Chicago has faced many deaths of young ones due to the violence within their neighborhoods. There is a trend to see more deaths among children during the summer months than the school year. And by eliminating the long summer vacation, there is hope to eliminate children being the victims. The Chicago Public Radio interviewed a woman who is happy to see her younger brother in a year round school. “The neighborhood is getting really bad. And I’d rather [have] him in school than to be out here doing nothing and hanging around with kids he shouldn’t be hanging around with.” Changing all the schools would offer a safe place for children. The summer months only bring boredom and trouble to children. At least when they are in school they are being supervised and constantly have something that is occupying their minds. The CPS website states that an advantage of year round schools is that it “provides children with a safe environment.”

City Room™ - Education - Chicago Public Schools Move to Year-Round Calendar

City Room™ - Education - Chicago Public Schools Move to Year-Round Calendar

Special Needs Students

Working as a special needs teacher’s assistant I think the idea of year round schooling would benefit children who are in these types of programs. Children especially with autism need a structured schedule and a year round school schedule would be beneficial for these children. Working with children with autism I see the struggles that are faced on a daily basis, when they come back to school after only a night. When they return from summer vacation it is very difficult to get these kids back on track where we left off the year prior. I have to admit that it is difficult to get their focus back after a week break but there isn’t as much struggle as there is after the three month vacation. Year round schools would allow for more time to focus on the needs these children face. Some children with special needs face the difficulty of retaining information and if they were in a year round school concepts could be reiterated a number of times and there may be some hope of some retention. Unlike in a traditional calendar school, there is all this focus on concepts, then there is a break, the children come back and the cycle starts all over again until another break occurs and then before you know it the kids are off for the summer. If teachers and assistants were allowed more time throughout the year to work with them more of these children would gain independence and retention of daily life skills. A recent example that I can think of is we are potty training a second grader. While he is at school there is tremendous progress. A few weeks ago he was out of school for a few days and in that time all his progress of using the bathroom regressed. The sense of gaining independence is like children doing exceptionally well on a standardized test. It is important to keep children on a regular school schedule, but even more so children within the special needs program.

Preperation for the Future

Children who do attend year round schools beginning with elementary school are better prepared for college and further for the world of work. Year round schools prepare children for higher education. Many colleges and universities semesters and trimesters follow a similar schedule as a year round school. There are frequent breaks, but throughout much of they year students are in classes. Having children follow a Track E calender better prepares them for the work world, when you begin a job you have only holidays off and a few occasional breaks here and there. When children are a summer off year by year, it will come as a shock to them when they enter the working world, because they summer vacation will vanish. The schedule of a year round school will help in their adjustment when they do enter college or when they begin a job in the work world.

CPS announces the addition of 67 more Track E schools to start in August

I found an article on the CPS website from April 22, 2009. The article discussed the addition of Track E schools (year round). "Chicago Board of Education members are expected to vote today on increasing the number of schools that will operate on a “Track E” calendar from 65 to 132. Under the Track E calendar, schools open the first week of August instead of after Labor Day." It also discussed how children will attend the same number of schools as a school on a traditional calender. The only difference between traditional calenders and Track E calenders are that the breaks are shorter and frequently placed rather than a long vacation. In August of 2007 CPS increased the number of Track E schools from 18 to 41, than later in march added another 24 schools to follow the Track E schedule. And this past April they added another 67 elementary schools.

The article also pointed out the benefits of a Track E program

• Minimizes “learning loss” for kids who otherwise would be out of school an entire summer.
• Allows teachers better time management to design more meaningful lesson plans in shorter bursts, which can contribute to enhanced instructional programming and improved student achievement.
• Minimizes teacher burnout by providing for regular and better-spaced time off.
• Provides children with a safe environment.
• Regular scheduled time off allows for better student and staff attendance.

Year-Round Fact Sheet

Multi-track, year-round

• Students attend 180 days on each track
• Students stay with the same teacher the entire school year
• The year is divided into four quarters with 45 days of instruction followed by 15-day breaks
• Students and their teachers attend one of four tracks, each with its own 45/15 calendar
• At any given time, three tracks of students and their teachers are in school and one track is on vacation
• Each time students and their teachers return from a break, they move to another classroom
• Teachers have the same number of planning days on year-round as traditional calendar
• Students and teachers have the same holidays on year-round as traditional calendar
  

Benefits of Year-round calendar

• Multi-track schools can accommodate 20-33 percent more students in a building
• Saves on construction costs by better utilizing available space
• Saves on operating costs (for example, 6 classes of students can share 5 sets of textbooks, equipment, furniture)
• The 15-day breaks provide a time for enrichment and remedial opportunities for students
• For every three schools on a multi-track year-round calendar, that's one school you don't have to build

My Topic

The topic I choose for my final paper is the issue of Year round schooling and how it should be implemented among all the Chicago Public Schools. In the past year there CPS changed a number of schools to follow the Track E calender. I believe that all the schools within CPS should follow the same calender, frequent breaks spread throughout the year seem to be more benefiting for the children and teachers. There are many benefits to schools following the year round calender versus the traditional school calender. Children are in schools the same amount of time but the breaks for the students are placed more sporadically throughout the year rather than a long summer vacation.

Discussion of Classmate's Blog

After getting a chance to look at a few of my classmate's blog's, one really stood out to me. I really like Arzette's approach to how she incorporates her family into her blogs about a city. It is important to have strong family bonds because those are the bonds that help communities grow. I really liked her Community Building blog. Because it is true it begins with one and then grows from that point. From reading her blogs you a person can tell not only does she care about her community but so does her family. Her responses involve a lot of her knowledge about the city and after reading a few of her blogs it gave me an outlook on how all people's view differ on the city.

Article 31 "Patio Man and the Sprawl People"

This article makes me think of suburbs such as Kildeer, Long Grove and Deer Park. These are affluent suburbs that are growing, not only with hones but also the businesses near there. The description of the Patio Man and his family and friends, is a valid image among many of these new growing suburbs. People want to show that they have money and they buy things like the top of the line grills and name brand clothing for their children. The article points out many valid points about these growing suburbs. One of my closest friends grew up in Long Grove, and her dad is exactly like Patio Man. He always has to upstage his friends in his grills, the way his yard looks and is constantly changing cars for bigger and better. “Many people still have in their heads the stereotype of suburban life that the critics of suburbia established in the 1950’s.” Personally I still see suburbia as that image that people created in the 1950’s. You have a nuclear family, but instead of having a small home you have these enormous homes that require speakers systems to locate one another. These new suburbs will continue to grow and eventually become wore out and then will continue on to a newer suburb and the cycle will continue.

Article 18 "Jane Jacobs' Radical Legacy"

Jane Jacobs was a very influential person in city planning and development. She didn’t receive any formal education in her field. She began her work by observing and being active within cities. She went up against New York’s “building czar”. In her efforts to stop the “bulldozer bully”, she was arrested and jailed. Her belief was that “Cities are for the people”. She believed that cites need to be built in a manner that will allow for many different aspects, such as social interaction at the street level. In the 1960’s that was more acceptable, we don’t see much interaction among the citizens within a city. But many of her other aspects have been influential. Parks should have benches, it is evident that almost all parks have benched. We also see that cities, like Chicago are using her method of mix use buildings. It is still evident that cities are “untidy, complex and full of surprises”, no tow neighborhoods have the same exact layout. There is always something happening which keeps the cities full of surprises. She was a very influential person in how cities are being planned and built. I do not believe that there is a person who addresses urban issues in the same manner as Jane Jacobs did. I do believe that many people have used her methods for city planning and building.

Community Building

Community building to me must begin with an active community that wants to better the area that they live in. A community can be defines as individuals within the same regional area such as a neighborhood or a sub-division (for those living in the suburbs), sharing a common interest. Communities can also exist among religious groups, and social classes, etc. The goal of community building is improving the area. Reducing crime is an important element many communities strive to achieve. People want others to move into their communities to stimulate that area. Also improving schools or adding schools within a community is an important aspect of community building. The key to community is working with the others that live within that area to improve the basic living needs for that area. Community building requires the ideas and voices of the residents, because they are the ones that know what needs to be addressed with priority and what can wait to be improved. It also requires action, from the residents, without them it won’t get accomplished.

A community building organization that is currently active is Imagine Chicago. Imagine Chicago has been actively working since 1992. “Imagine Chicago helps harness imagination for public good, encouraging and equipping people to become engaged in imagining and creating hopeful futures for their families and communities through both discourse and action.” Imagine Chicago was started by a woman, who previously was a banker at First Chicago, an Episcopal priest in an African American parish, the mother of three young children and active on many civic boards. Like many of Community organizations, they are begun by an ordinary citizen who wants to see change within their residential area. For more information on Imagine Chicago, view their website at http://imaginechicago.org/who.html.

2016 Olympics not in Chicago

With Chicago losing the 2016 Olympics is a devastating thing for the city. With all these hopes of job availability and the city's hopes for reconstruction, it all came to an end when Chicago was out of the running to win the Olympics. When the city was bidding for the 2016 games, there was hope for an economic boost within the city, and now that Chicago is not hosting the games, the economy will continue to suffer. It would of been nice to see Chicago's transportation system undergo some changes but with no Olympic games, there is no chance in the near future to see a improvement in the city's public transit system. With the Mayor Daley not focusing on the Olympic bid anymore, hopefully the mass problem of teen deaths can be addressed in a greater light. There are bigger problems that the city politicians need to focus rather than on the lose of the Olympics.

The jobs that the Olympics would have brought in would help the large number of people who are currently unemployed. The the current plan of how to use and utilize the space that was going to be Olympic Village, needs to be a realistic. I don't think a casino will benefit that space, city needs to put something that will benefit the city and the community around that area. And who knows when these plans will happen, because with the city of Chicago we can never be sure on anything that is being in the works. The problem is they over plan and don't have the budget to fulfill those great ideas. In my opinion, the are will remain untouched for the next year or so, maybe even longer.

Eminent Domain

The article I found pertaining to eminent domain comes from the Worldwide Faith News. The article is from February 2^nd, 2009. The city wants to destruct the cemetery to make room for the O’Hare Airport expansion. The 160-year old cemetery is located next to the airport. The cemetery took this to court to prevent the city from destroying the grounds. If the city were to take over and destroy the cemetery, what does this hold for religious beliefs? The cemetery filed a petition in the Dupage Country Circuit Court, which violates the Illinois Religious and Restoration Act. The cemetery has over 1,300 members of St. John’s United Church of Christ buried there and their relatives. If the city were to destroy this lot of land, how would the families feel that are still living. If Chicago does win the case then what does this mean for other religious places. Basically it would mean that any governmental project can win over religion. It states in the article that the petitioners accuse the city of abusing its powers for a project that will never go underway. There are no secure funds to have the expansion happen, so there is no need to destroy a sacred piece of land and destroy the resting bodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieW2fIOKqvY

Uncool Cities by Joel Kotkin

“Uncool Cities” by Joel Kotkin argues the complete other side of the argument presented by Richard Florida. Kotkin’s argument is that a city will not grow if it only appeals to the creative class. His focus is on how cities are losing population to the suburbs. He also focuses on the important aspects of a failing city such as housing, educational facilities, transportation methods, occupation issues and the issue of safety. Kotkin also addresses how politicians focus on the wrong aspects to correct. In his article he also emphasizes how cities cater to the creative class, rather than focusing on the whole population. I agree with Kotkin’s emphasis on how to correct cities. City officials and politicians need to focus on the whole community rather than only focusing on the creative class. Until reading the article I agreed with Florida, while now my aspect on how to correct cities has changed. Catering to one specific group will not help fix a city. I was stunned to read that a month before Hurricane Katrina, the city held a conference on how to expand the convention center, rather than focusing on a levee. Kotkin’s views on correcting cities have a realistic approach and they do not cater only to the creative class like Florida’s ideas do. Cities are compromised of many types of classes and races and this is what needs to be addressed. In order keep a population within a city the important aspects need to be corrected and then cities can focus on how to cater to individual classes such as the creative class.

Entry of Own Choosing: no text

I have been a Cubs fan since I have been a little girl. It is the one thing that my grandfather and I shared as a favorite past time. This old 1930's photo takes me back to when my grandpa used to tell me about when his father used to go to Cubs games. This picture represents when sporting events weren't about the money or endorsements. It was truly an all american sport, that people took their families to, and were able enjoy a day at the ball park.

Entry of Own Choosing: only text

The Pretty, Pretty City

Now the city has a studded nose,
Because the city is so pretty, and the city knows:
The city, she almost fooled me underneath the
Chicken sky- The city is so pretty,
But the city lie:
I loved the city and all its vermilion moods and ice-creams,
With parks and busses and city airplanes
And city rides- City coffins and city dies;
And I watched the city get drunk and turn around
And raise its monuments and party down;
And I sat upon one of her benches in a speculating mood,
And wondered if the city was so pretty,
Why was she so rude: The vulgar nebulas of the city’s
Eyes, the narcissisms of its displays:
There are so many well suited boys better than I out walking
In their sunny city days:
And I realized, the city didn’t love me,
The city plays and paws and eats up little boys such as
Me- She said she loves her little poet boys, such as me,
But the sweet, sweet city lies,
Because the city is so pretty, studded nosed and stunning eyed,
But she uses her autumn facades to blind the autumn chicken skies-
The pretty, pretty city has me hypnotized,
But the pretty, pretty city lies.

Home Away from Home

These are the mountains that my grandparents home has a view of from their balcony.

Equity in Action

After sitting through the Equity in Action program, I have a greater respect for taxi-cab drivers. I guess I never realized the poor work conditions that they suffer and then the ill treatment for the city that they receive. I was shocked when Peter spoke about the numerous citations that taxi drivers encounter. I think it is ridiculous that a cab can only be parked in one spot on a public street for no more that two hours during the time that these people get are getting their sleep. It is sad how our cities treat hard working people. The sad part is that probably all of the people that work in places that either write these citations or create them have had the need to use a taxi in their daily life. I guess I never realized that they make below average wage. I always assumed that with the price of the fare that they would be making decent money.

The presentation by both of the presenters was very interesting. My boyfriend runs his own construction company and he has picked up laborers to work for him. When he has a larger one day job and needs extra hands that is when he finds these men that are looking for work. The event was eye opening to the types of issues laborers have and also taxi-cab drivers.

“The Rise of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida

While reading the article “The Rise of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida, in my mind I kept going back and forth on the decision if I agree or disagree with his argument. When I read the article the first time I really didn’t want to agree with his point of view, but after reading it for a second time I do agree with his points. A city would struggle if it wasn’t for the younger generation. It’s true our generation tends to spend more money than let’s say our parents’ generation. For a city to survive it needs it financial input and who is more likely to go out and spend the money, the young crowd or the people in their 50’ and up? When venturing out on to college campuses you are more likely to encounter young adults who do display their eccentric hair styles or they are completely covered in tattoos and one might not even know that this person is very intelligent. This is why workplaces are becoming more lenient to the way people look and people of older generations don’t understand how someone who is covered with tattoos might have gotten a top position. The creative class is a new trend that will attract to popular cities, who are more accepting of their lifestyles. The only part of his argument that I didn’t seem to completely agree on was the ratings of the cities. From the cities he named I was shocked not to see Chicago be part of it. The city of Chicago is one of the more creative types of cities, that does attract the creative class.

Article 5 "Bridge Blockade after Katrina Remains Divise Issue"

After reading the article by Chris Kirkham and Paul Purpura, I was ashamed in my country. One would think in a time of need the citizens of the United States would stand together to help each other out in a time of need. But instead police officials blocked off the bridge to “prevent looting and crime across the river”, I just think this was horrible what happened to these people. Not only had they lost their homes, their only exit out of area was blocked and people were being turned back at gun point. American is the land of the free, and that something like this occurred is ridiculous. Until reading this article I never knew that such an event occurred after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I think if it were displayed more throughout the news people would have taken more action towards preventing such things that were done to the victims of the hurricane. This article only goes to show how racist the country still is. Yes we have come along way with racism but the blockade only proves that the U.S still has to improve its way of handling acts of racism.

Cencus Questions

While looking over the U.S Census questions I chose number three and four off the first page.
What are the key similarities and differences between the forms?

The biggest change among the forms is the separation of people among free white and free colored people. Today we have questions distinguishing race but not based on white or colored alone. Another big difference among the forms is that in 1830 people where required to state their Christian name. Today that wouldn’t occur because people worship many other religions and Christianity is not the main religion. The biggest differene among all three forms is how race is stated. In the 1990 census form people were given an explanation of how to answer questions that were based on race, while in 1970 the census form asked for color or race and in 1830 there were only two categories white or colored.

What is your overall sense about the likelihood of achieving accuracy on these forms for accounting and gathering data about the population?

I do not think that the census can get a full account of the population based on gather the information from the census. Not ever single person in the U.S answers the questions 100%. The forms in the past were so long and I believe this is the reason people would answer the questions quickly and without thinking about them. And if immigrants were answering the questions they might not be able to understand the questions due to their complexity. The census is sort of an invasion of privacy and many people to not agree with taking the time to answer such questions. When it comes to the question of race many people have so many choices that most of the time they are unsure and they choose other, which doesn’t give a correct representation of the race among that census neighborhood.

Tale of Three Cities: September 17 Internet Readings

The National Geographic website depicting the painting “Tale of Three Cities” is really interesting. The painting is of three cities and how they compare over the 2000 years. The beginning is from Alexandria, Egypt in 1 AD, and then follows Cordoba, Spain in 1000 AD, the final time period is from New York City in the year 2000. The painting shows what was happening during that time period in the cities and how through the years way of life has changed but signs of influence from the past are still being using in the future. The painting depicts how communication has changed over time. In Alexandria we began with the creation of paper, which during that time was their key export. In Spain a 1000 years later people were using books used for educational purposes also. In the modern age we have all the technological advances; computers, telephones, and the internet. But in all we still use past inventions that were use thousands of years ago. It is also interesting to see how the people in the world have changed. In the year 1 AD, a woman would not have any of the opportunities we have in today’s day and age. Slavery completely has been vanished from our society. The way our past times have changed also. People used to be able to enjoy each others company while enjoying their free time. Today we play our video games are able to watch television and these types of past times are very impersonal. The food we consume is completely changed, we have so many convinces such as take out and drive-thru’s. If it wasn’t for earlier medicine I don’t think we would be where we are now with the medical advances. Even though time has past from the year 1 AD to the year 2000 we have been influenced by our past.

Cencus Tract

Until I had to do this assignment I never knew that the Census website had so much to offer. I knew it existed but I never really took the time to look at it unless I had to for a class or other academic reasons. I was looking at the block information for my parents home, I never realized that on our block our family in the year 2000 was the only 4-person family. After mapping my parent's address I see why the information for my Census tract is the way it is. A large portion of unincorporated Des Plaines is included in out census area which consists of many apartment complexes. I also never knew that in my census area there are 136 people within group quarters. It was also shocking to see that during the time of the 200 Census there were 489 vacant homes in the city of Des Plaines. To me it has always seemed that home here are occupied. I wasn't surprised by the median age for my neighborhood, because it does consist of a variety of ages. I really liked that I could see the wide range of races that reside in my neighborhood, I never realized that 14% of the residents for my neighborhood come from Asian descent. It seems like a big number because on my block there is only one home of Asian descent, so I was a little struck by the percentage. The average household size for renter occupied unit seems right, I currently live in a apartment complex and most of our neighbors are either young couples with one or no children or retired couples. So the average of 2.38 seems to be right and I don't think that will change very much in the 2010 census.

Interesting/Fun/Provocative/Challenging Entry

http://chicagopictures.net/

Searching for my creative post I came across this website. It is a website of pictures of Chicago taken by a guy who moved here from the West Coast in 1996. This website was a way to show his family and friends the city. After loading a few pictures it turned into a large site of photos captured by him and available for not only his friends and family to view but everyone else. The website is neat because it comes from the perspective of a Chicago citizen. Currently he has added a gps tracker of where the photos were taken. There are photos from all around the city, from pictures of buildings to pictures of Events around Chicago. It is a beneficial website if someone is ever in need of a specific picture from the city, but the good thing about it is that he requires to be contacted to use his pictures.

Discussion of Classmate's Blog

After looking at a few of my classmate’s blogs the one that stood out the most to me was Carrie’s blog. I really enjoyed reading her post on her favorite time of the year in the city. I completely agree with her, the Holidays are the best time and very well displayed in the city.

The post that stood out the most to me was her response to, “Differences...why I think we choose Suburbia over Cities?” I agree with Carrie, I don’t believe people move to the city to be left alone. In some suburbs one might be lead to believe that because people do live further away from each other, and it may seem as though neighbors don’t have as much interaction. Like she stated her in blog there are many reasons families choose to move to the suburbs versus the city. Her example of the noise level is a good one, I can relate to that because I also live in the suburbs and there isn’t much noise that comes from the roads at night, compared to if I was living in the city. The overall layout of her blogs is well put together, I like how she takes things people said in class and uses them within her work for a very well educated blog response.

After reading her response, I got to thinking about the topic, why do people choose suburbs over the city and I did ask a few of my family members who do live in the suburbs what made them choose to move to that particular area. I also asked my family who lives in the city, why haven’t they made the decision to move into the suburbs. From both questions I got a wide variety of answers and as Carrie’s blog states people choose the suburbs for different reasons and others choose to stay in the city for different reasons.

Photograph Websites of Chicago

The concept of the website Revealing Chicago is very different with all of the pictures being taken from a birds eye view. I also like how all of the pictures include the caption of what the picture is, which allows the viewer to be more familiar of where the photo is taken at. The idea of the significant pictures having a longer caption is also nice, because then the viewer knows the history of the picture. http://www.revealingchicago.org/

Picturing Chicago is a cool website because you are able to see the many areas of the city, and they are easily labeled for an easier viewing experience. The concept of arranging the pictures into categories is very nice. Chicago Image base is a great source to use if you are doing an in depth project of the city. Not only are you able to see images but you have additional information that goes along with it. http://www.picturingchicago.com/

I really enjoyed all three of these sites and the photos that were presented on each separate website. When I take photos of the city, it is mainly of the buildings, landmarks, and other structures that stick out or are displayed in the city temporarily. The landmarks are so diverse in the city and always changing with time, that its nice to have that remembrance of how it looked once or how over time the city and its buildings can change. http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/ahaa/imagebase/index.html.

Entry #2 of My Own Choosing

This past summer I got to go visit family in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the greatest trips I have ever taken. Toronto has a very beautiful downtown area. During my stay in Canada, not only did I get to and see Niagara Falls. I also had the opportunity to take the Double Decker Bus Tour of the City. During the tour I was able to see many interesting sites throughout the city. One particular landmark that stood out to me was the CN Tower, “is a communications and observation towerstanding 553.33 meters (1,815.4 ft) tall” (Wikipedia). This is the tallest free standing structure on land in the world. I always thought that the Sears tower was the tallest until I saw the CN Tower. During our tour we also got to see the Hockey Hall of Fame Museum, which was also very interesting, I have always been a huge hockey fan.

Chicago Theater

Entry #1 of My Own Choosing

Tough Streets Of Chicago Tough streets of Chicago, you made me who I am. Tough streets of Chicago, for me you had a plan. You forced me to observe, what kids my age did not. You taught me to look and see, always looking for a plot. You taught me to react, and kept me on my toes. You taught me to examine, the actions of my foes. You forced me to react, in situations dire. You made sure I would function, when I came under fire. You made sure I was tough, made sure I'd understand, the skills that I would need, when I joined uncle Sam. Tough streets of Chicago, I almost went insane. Tough streets of Chicago, you caused me so much pain. You made me grow up fast, always dodging death. You made me run from danger, could hardly catch my breath. You took most of my friends, why, I'll never understand. You made it possible to count, all my friends on one hand. You took them in their teens, you took them very young. You took them way before, to live they had begun. Tough streets of Chicago, my tour is almost up. Tough streets of Chicago, with your gangster posting up. Tough streets of Chicago, can't get you off my mind. Tough streets of Chicago, I miss those streets of mine. Tough streets of Chicago...............................

*Chicago's Cubbies*