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On a Saturday morning in March at Simeon Career Academy, we
put over 150 young boys to work, and despite the fact that they were working
during their spring break, not a gripe was heard! With the assistance of our
partners, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Northrop Grumman
Corporation, our boys constructed models of the Willis Tower, assembled
lighting fixtures, cooked sheared eggs and biscuits, experienced infrared
cameras and lasers, and more. Doing the instructing were 3 Simeon teachers
(Greg Stapleton: CAD and Drafting; Latisa Kindred: Electricity; and Isiah
Rowsey: Carpentry), 8 culinary staffers under the direction of Loretta
Johnson (always a big hit with the boys), former Aide to Mayor Daley Chuck
Bowen dispensing pearls of wisdom in Politics 101, and 9 engineers from
Northup Grumman Corporation (NGC).
The NGC Introduction to Engineering sessions exposed the boys to high tech
equipment as well as to straightforward and logical problem solving
techniques. Big thanks to Sherry Smith and the NGC Engineers. It was a
fantastic day and everybody had something to take home -- much
of which they themselves had made.
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