While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. In the sections below I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier.  I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.
 

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This cartoon is from a blog written by Kevin Hodgson, a middle school teacher in Massachusetts.  I show it here to encourage readers to scroll through past articles on Kevin's blog to see how he uses cartoons and other visualizations to share what he does in his classroom, and what he's learning from other people via online communities.

 

Learning from others is on-going.

I led a volunteer based tutor/mentor program in Chicago from 1975 to 2011 and many of the ideas I used came from other programs and on-line friends. Kevin is one of many people who I learn from in my on-line networking. Browse this list of blogs to find many others.
 

I point to nearly 200 Chicago non-school programs in this list on my web site and to more than 150 on this list which I host on Facebook. 

I open each link at least twice a year to make sure the program is still operating and to see how they are communicating program design and strategy. Last week I visited programs on the Central and North side of Chicago and looked at photos and videos posted to Facebook.

Here's a few who I felt did a good job of showing their work and impact:

East Village Youth Program - What is EVYP?
Erie House - Extended Learning Programs
Highsight - series of videos featuring graduates, like this

Horizons 4 Youth - celebrating 2017 seniors

Off the Street Club - The House that Hope Built

Tutoring Chicago - 50 Year Anniversary
 

I'm sure that as I review Facebook Pages of programs in other parts of Chicago, and in other cities, I'll find more videos that show the good work programs are doing. However, on too many program websites, I don't find blogs used as more than bulletin boards, if there is a blog at all. Nor do I find much current information, photos or videos posted on Facebook pages.

In addition, just a handful of programs are active on Twitter who post information about their programs and re-tweet posts by myself and each other.  

 

The graphic at the top of this section of the newsletter is from a video created by an intern working with me a few years ago. The graphics below are also from intern work. You can find these at this link.

 

 

I've been doing some video creation myself.  Here's one that was created using a platform called Lumen5. click here

Here's another which I recorded using the camera on my phone, to update an animation done a few years ago by another intern. click here
 

Mine are not professional quality, but these and the ones you'll find on many tutor/mentor program web sites, demonstrate how any program can find ways to tell what is taking place in their programs and why volunteers and donors should help them.
 

These articles relate to that goal.  Read:
 

* Digging Deeper into the "here to there" graphic -click here

* Flash Animations by Interns not working - need work-around - click here