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GWTP's mission is to develop model programs and policy initiatives linking the employment and training of the neighborhood workforce with local economic development efforts and the needs of small and mid-sized employers.
Coming up at GWTP
February 24, 2012
West Town Academy
AFRICAN AMERICAN FESTIVAL!
February 29, 2012
Woodworking & Solid Surface Training Weekly Program Orientation (by appointment)
March 26, 2012
Woodworking & Solid Surface Training Class 47 begins
April 13, 2012
Shipping & Receiving Training Program Graduation
Recently at GWTP
January 19, 2012
Woodworking & Solid Surface Training Class 46 Graduation
January 19, 2012
Shipping & Receiving Training Program Class 44 begins
September 14, 2011
“ BACK TO SCHOOL JAM”
WTA Alums, now in college, return to welcome current students
June 23, 2011
West Town Academy 12th Graduating Class:
Alderman Walter Burnett gives
Commencement Address
June 2, 2011
Mongolian visitors bring international spotlight on GWTP’s Job Training and Employment Programs
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Click below for a complete list of our partners and funders |
Congratulations West Town Academy Class of 2011
On June 23rd, 2011 Greater West Town held the 12th Graduation of the West Town Academy. Sixty-seven young people comprised the Class of 2011. The Commencement Ceremony was held in the Malcolm X - Chicago Community Colleges’ Auditorium before an excited audience of family, friends, Academy staff and faculty, and other well-wishers. The Academy was honored to have two distinguished special guest speakers at the Commencement: 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr.; and Mr. Jesse Ruiz, the Vice President of the Chicago Board of Education.
Before his appointment to CPS’ Board, Mr. Ruiz chaired the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). While at ISBE, he also led a state commission dedicated to addressing the Drop Out crisis, the “Task Force On Re-Enrolling Students Who Have Dropped Out Of High School.” Mr. Ruiz is a long-time resident of West Town, and has been a champion for youth, and for West Town Academy’s mission--to reach out and re-enroll our young people to complete their high school education. Alderman Burnett, a long-time supporter of the Academy and youth in our community, gave a stirring Commencement Address. He applauded the tenacity of the graduates in overcoming their previous challenges, and urged them to pursue higher education and to make the most of the second chance at a successful life that they found at West Town Academy. Facing the graduates, Alderman Burnett declared, ‘God has given you a ‘Do-Over’!” and encouraged them to make the most of it.
West Town Academy’s Class of 2011 is yet another milestone for our community, demonstrating once again that young people who had previously left high school can return and complete their education – with the support of their family and community.
READ MORE. . .
Spring, 2011
Greater West Town Helps Lead Local, National Advocacy Efforts to Preserve Federal Job Training Funds
Massive Federal Job Training Cuts Turned Back – For NOW . . .
For more than 2 decades Greater West Town has been a leader in advocating for increased public investment in educational and economic opportunities for low-income youth and adults.
In the Spring of 2011, Greater West Town stepped up once again, to help lead the fight against a U. S. House of Representatives’ plan to “zero out” federal funding of the “Workforce Investment Act” (“WIA”). GWTP worked with fellow non-profit job training agencies, elected officials, community members, employer partners and participants in our programs to organize a “Community Speak-Out” against the cuts. Held on March 24th at our new Community Career Education & Community Development Center, the event was closely coordinated with the National Skills Coalition and dozens of other national groups that had designated March 24th as the “National Workforce Day of Action.” GWTP spearheaded the planning for the Speak-Out over several weeks, accompanied by a growing crescendo of advocacy by our students and alumni, community members, and local employers in our Business-Community Partnership. In the build-up to March 24th, all these stakeholders wrote letters and made phone calls to members of Congress, urging continued funding of WIA.
Community Partners, Erie House, JARC, OAI, Join the Fight . . .
“WIA is an essential investment in the communities we serve,” declared Bill Leavy, GWTP’s founder and Executive Director, to a crowd of more than 100 gathered at the Community Center that day. “The people we serve are the ones who are still hardest hit by this ongoing recession. Why would Congress take their opportunity and hope away? I don’t want to see one less person in our training and placement programs. We have to put people back to work!”
GWTP staff, participants and employer partners gave testimonies, as invited dignitaries U.S. Senator Dick Durbin’s Chief of Staff Clarisol Duque and U.S. Congressman Danny K. Davis listened intently, then spoke to the crowd about their unwavering support for WIA funding. Erie Neighborhood House, Jane Addams Resource Corporation, and OAI, Inc. joined GWTP for the Speak Out; their staff, employers, and WIA program participants added their success stories and calls for continued WIA funding to the testimony, to those of GWTP WIA participants. click here for success stories. Chicago media and the New York Times covered the story of grassroots support for WIA.
GWTP’s organizing and advocacy efforts, coordinated with our national coalition partners, successfully headed off massive job training funding cuts in the recent 2011 federal budget compromise. However the battle over the 2012 Federal Budget is already in high gear. Again, some Congressional leaders are targeting the most vulnerable, most in-need, and most disadvantaged Americans for further cuts. Greater West Town, our partners and allies, must be ready to again stand up for the most vulnerable among us, and work to open the doors of educational and economic opportunity for low-income families and communities.
February, 2011 African American Festival "More than just..."
At West Town Academy, students are encouraged to study, acknowledge and embrace different cultures. Every year in anticipation of African American History Month, Academy teachers and students collaborate to plan and hold an African American Festival. Not only is the festival a celebration of African American culture, it is an exploration of history, the arts, society, politics, and economics. Through this year’s home-room study projects, original music and dance performances, and student-designed interactive activities, students expanded their knowledge of the local, national and global contributions made by African Americans. They also discovered and expressed their own special talents as well. The theme of this year’s Festival was “More Than Just …” They learned that African American celebrities they studied were “more than just . . . “ , athletes, performers, and millionaire entrepreneurs; they were also social change activists, community leaders, innovators and trend setters in the arts, and philanthropists. Students and their guests visited each homeroom to see presentations of what each homeroom team learned about African American history and culture. The students also planned and held an Academy assembly. This year’s guest speaker was Dr. Conrad Worrill, Director of Northeastern Illinois University’s “Jacob Carruthers Center for Inner-City Studies.” An author, activist, teacher, and scholar, Dr. Worrill explained the origins of African American studies and the African American History Month observance – first proposed by renowned African American historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson in Chicago in 1926! He also shared his own first-hand experiences in civil rights struggles in the U.S. Dr. Worrill stressed to students the importance of making wise choices in life, urging them to become “more than just” one facet of themselves, but rather to use all their gifts to contribute back to their community and to humanity as a whole. different cultures. Every year in anticipation of African American History Month, Academy teachers and students collaborate to plan and hold an African American Festival. Not only is the festival a celebration of African American culture, it is an exploration of history, the arts, society, politics, and economics. Through this year’s home-room study projects, original music and dance performances, and student-designed interactive activities, students expanded their knowledge of the local, national and global contributions made by African Americans. They also discovered and expressed their own special talents as well. The theme of this year’s Festival was “More Than Just …” They learned that African American celebrities they studied were “more than just . . . “ , athletes, performers, and millionaire entrepreneurs; they were also social change activists, community leaders, innovators and trend setters in the arts, and philanthropists. Some West Town Academy students unveiled the debut of a music video they created, while others read original poetry, and another team performed dances. The Academy also welcomed a special guest performer -- 7-year old singer Trinity Bonafé – who demonstrated that she is “more than just” a seven year old. All of the home-room projects, performances and activities emphasized the importance of understanding our heritage and background, while growing to become “more than just” a member of one group into a contributing member of a broader community. Academy Principal Keisha Davis-Johnson ended the program with a salute to the students for their hard work and self expression in creating the Festival, and their success in demonstrating the positive power that young people can have. Every year in October, the Academy students and staff also plan and hold another major cultural celebration, the Latin American Heritage Festival.
Community Dedication & Open House Draws Over 400 to Greater West Town's "COMMUNITY CAREER TRAINING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER" -
The Dream Becomes a Reality!
December 9th, 2010 Greater West Town’s staff, Board members, and the community dedicated Greater West Town’s new Center at 500 N. Sacramento to the service and revitalization of the surrounding neighborhoods.
Student “ambassadors” from West Town Academy welcomed and signed in guests, while the SON DEL VIENTO Folkloric Ensemble greeted them with dazzling vocal and dance performances in the Academy’s new Multi-Purpose Room. Quickly the crowd swelled to more than 400 people! Among those guests: Local employers with longstanding Community-Business partnerships with GWTP’s Adult Placement and Industrial Skills Training programs; local and state officials; community residents; colleagues from other community service agencies; current GWTP Program Participants; and alumni from all the programs, eager to see GWTP’s new “home.”
GWTP Board Member Rev. Gerald Hicks gave the Dedication of the new Center at a handsome podium designed and built by Woodworking program participants, and spoke of the mission, purpose, and future of the agency – to serve and empower local residents by providing expanding educational and economic opportunities to all who take part in Greater West Town’s programs.
READ MORE
December 21, 2010
Greater West Town Project releases Overview of Chicago Public School Latest Graduation Rate Data;
" Some progress . . . . . . but a long, long way to go." Bill Leavy, Executive Director
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 Chicago’s Dropout Crisis
Hard facts about our high schools’ continuing problems
Updated December 21, 2010
Chicago Public Schools Four Year Graduation Rate; 2003-2010 by Race (click here)
Chicago Public Schools Four Year Graduation Rate; 2003-2010 by Gender (click here)
Chicago Public Schools Four Year Graduation Rate; 2000-2010 by Race and Gender (click here)
State Wide One Year Dropout Rate; 2003 - 2010 (click here)
(Percent of all Illinois High School students dropping out each year)
Look here for more details and analysis of Chicago's Dropout Crisis in coming weeks.
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October, 2010A Vision realized . . . New Community Training Center Completed! . . . Expanded Operations Begun!
In October 2010, Greater West Town Project completed construction and moved expanded operations into its new home in the community at 500 N. Sacramento Blvd. GWTP transformed an unused, outmoded 55,000 sq.ft. factory into a modern, state-of-the-art, energy efficient facility. The Center has been recognized nationally as a model community development initiative linking the education and training of disadvantaged area residents with economic development efforts and workforce needs of local businesses. The Center houses the West Town Academy Alternative High School where out-of-school youth return to earn their diplomas and prepare for careers, the Woodworking and Shipping and Receiving job training programs in partnership with local industry, and the Business Incubator that will provide affordable “green” space for start-up companies committed to local hiring. The new Center will enable Greater West Town Project o significantly expand educational and economic opportunity to Chicago residents from struggling disadvantaged communities, nearly doubling the number of community residents GWTP can serve. Get the details about the educational and economic benefits that the new Center will generate for the community: Link to Community Career Training and Economic Development Center. How is the New Community Center funded? READ MORE
October 30, 2009 US Treasury Secretary Geithner Visits GWTP
Hails Programs and Development Plans as National Model. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recognized GWTP’s training programs and development plans as national models for community economic development while announcing a major increase in Federal funds for investment and low income communities across the country. Secretary Geithner visited GWTP’s training center along with state, federal and local officials on Friday, October 30th to promote the Obama administration’s expansion of the New Market’s Tax Credit Program that Greater West Town has used to help finance its Community Career Education & Economic Development Center, which is currently under construction at 500 N. Sacramento. READ MORE |