What does Umoja mean?
Is Umoja part of Manley High School?
Does Umoja receive its funding from the Chicago Public
Schools (CPS)?
Does Umoja only serve students at Manley Academy?
How does Umoja benefit students?
How do students get connected to Umoja’s services?
Does Umoja close down in the summer?
How does Umoja measure success?
What does Umoja mean?
Umoja, a Swahili word that means “unity,” is one if the 7 principles called "nguzo saba," developed by Dr. Karenga. These principles form a value system that builds community and serves as social glue and moral orientation. You can visit the following website to learn more about Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba: http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/7principles.shtml.
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Is Umoja part of Manley High School?
Umoja is a separate not for profit organization based within Manley and ACE Tech high schools. Umoja is truly a school-community partnership. While Umoja’s main offices are located inside of Manley (rooms 116, 120 and 124), Umoja maintains one foot in the school and one foot in the community. In practical terms, Umoja brings the resources and expertise of more than 200 business and community partners into Manley and ACE Tech each year. Additionally, Umoja develops active partnerships within the community, expanding the school walls by engaging teachers and students in community issues.
Does Umoja receive its funding from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS)?
Umoja intentionally chooses to maintain its unique and independent identity as a school-community partnership rather than becoming a CPS controlled initiative. More than 80% of our funding comes through private fundraising. This allows us to determine our own priorities based on the needs of the young people we serve, free of the unavoidable bureaucratic considerations faced by schools and other large service delivery systems. However, Umoja works in close partnership with CPS through our individual partner schools, the CEO’s office and offices of post secondary education, service learning, and student development. Each of our CPS partners contributes a combination of dollars and valuable in-kind resources to the work we do with CPS students across Chicago.
Does Umoja only serve students at Manley?
Umoja serves more than 2,000 young people annually through our deep school partnerships, ranging from 9th graders all the way through college graduates! In addition to providing services for young people at Manley and high schoolers in the surrounding North Lawndale community, Umoja offers regular services and supports to graduates. Over the last several years, Umoja has worked to develop new school partnerships in addition to our ongoing relationship with Manley. Umoja now offers services and resources to Ace Tech Charter School, and through the full implementation of Umoja University, Umoja's best practice programming is impacting more than 8,000 high school students throughout CPS.
How does Umoja benefit students?
Above all, Umoja works to develop students as learners and as leaders. Academic initiatives give students the chance to make connections between their current learning and the real world by connecting the classroom to community issues. Umoja’s model of service and leadership focuses on three areas: self-development, the development of a peer community in which students know how and when to act as leaders, and the development of an awareness of community issues and the means to address them. Through its college and career programming, Umoja exposes young people to a range of options and helps to reduce the sense of disconnection students often feel between their present and their future. Umoja defines a successful participant as one who increases his/her sense of possibilities, assumes increasing responsibilities for his/herself, and sees him/herself as an active citizen and committed leader in the school and community.
Umoja’s offices are open during lunch periods, after school, school holidays, weekends, and all summer long for students to use computers, receive tutoring, and talk with peers and staff. Umoja officially opened our Academic Resource Center (ARC) at Manley during the 2001-2002 academic year to provide students a quiet space to read, study, research and receive homework assistance. During the 2002-2003 school year, Umoja expanded the hours in which the ARC is fully staffed while also creating a small, but efficient library space and computer lab. Both the computers and most of the books were donated to Umoja for this purpose. Umoja has developed the ARC into a full educational space where Manley students can come before school, during lunch or free periods, or after school to complete homework assignments, conduct research, read, write and study.
How do students get connected to Umoja’s services?
Umoja accesses students through two channels. Large-scale programming involves the student body at partner schools in activities that are incorporated into the school and are part of students’ regular school day. Other activities ranging from leadership groups, to college trips, to summer programming for college, high school, and grammar school students operate on a first-come, first-serve basis. Programs and activities are marketed throughout the school (or community in the case of grammar school students) and participants self-select. Motivation is always the only criteria for participation in these programs. There are no GPA or previous academic achievement requirements. When space is limited, participants complete applications and often go through an interview process where they are given the chance to demonstrate their initiative and willingness to build new skills and be exposed to new ideas.
Does Umoja close down in the summer?
The summer is Umoja’s busiest time! All summer long, mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends, Umoja runs programs for grammar school students, high school students, and Manley graduates. More than 150 young people work with Umoja each summer through our own programs and through our connections with academic, leadership, and outdoor education programs all over the country.
How does Umoja measure success?
Umoja measures success in many different ways including increases in academic achievement rates, post-secondary transition rates, and active demonstrations of leadership and personal growth. Additionally, Umoja values the input of our participants and conducts evaluations and focus groups to get regular feedback from participants and families.