CPS Forms Technical Advisory Committees to Support
Development of New Dyett High School
Technology and Arts Committees, Made Up of Industry Experts,
Will Provide Strategic Guidance on Key Aspects of the New Dyett
Monday, September 21, 2015
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) today announced the formation
of two Technical Advisory Committees (TAC), composed of leaders from some of
the city's top universities and cultural institutions, to support the
realization of the Bronzeville community's vision for the new Walter H. Dyett
High School. CPS is bringing together experts who will provide strategic
recommendations to ensure the new Dyett High School meets the community's high
expectations.
"We have a tremendous opportunity to develop a modern,
high-quality high school at Dyett, and these industry leaders will help us
ensure that vision is realized," said CPS CEO Forrest Claypool. "They
bring a wealth of experience and wisdom crucial to the development of this
progressive school and technology center on the south side."
Launching the new Dyett High School and adjacent
technology center will require a significant amount of high-quality technical
work and expertise from the arts and technology innovation sector. By bringing
together industry experts, CPS will ensure it has the proper curriculum,
resources and partnerships to ensure the new Dyett will be a lasting, positive
force in the community.
Students
at the new Dyett High School will receive an education rich in the arts,
alongside a rigorous traditional curriculum that fosters academic, social, and
personal growth. The Arts TAC will provide counsel on the development of
academic programs and curriculum, analysis of the school's existing
infrastructure to ensure alignment with the school's arts academies, and
strategic recommendations on potential partnerships. The Arts TAC is composed
of renowned artists and proven innovators in the field that are uniquely
qualified to provide guidance on the development of Dyett.
In addition to the new Dyett neighborhood high school,
the renovated building will feature a technology innovation and training center
to leverage Chicago's rapidly growing technology sector. The center will
support Dyett students as well as students from other schools, and provide
professional development and learning opportunities for teachers, principals,
parents and staff.
"The experts who have volunteered to provide
strategic guidance for the groundbreaking technology center at Dyett will play
a critical role in developing a new pillar of the Bronzeville community,"
said CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson. "It will be the first of
its kind in the District, and we are excited to work with such accomplished
individuals to assist us in developing this groundbreaking community
resource."
The Innovation TAC will provide recommendations on
in-school and after-school programming and training, assist with the development
of the center's overall design and build-out, and help the new school
leadership team identify partnerships with colleges, nonprofits, and
businesses. These collaborations will provide important links between South
Side students and the city's growing technology and innovation network.
The following leaders have volunteered to serve on the Dyett
Innovation TAC:
Gerald Doyle, Vice Provost at the Illinois Institute of
Technology
Gerald Doyle is the Vice Provost for Student Access,
Success, and Diversity Initiatives at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).
Doyle has collaborated on the introduction of the IIT Exelon Summer Institute
as a bridge program for newly enrolled university students. In Summer 2011,
Doyle developed and launched with his colleagues the IIT Boeing Scholars
Academy—a two-year free STEM initiative to build the pipeline of diverse and
underrepresented Chicago Public School students beginning in the 11th grade.
Doyle's professional experience includes teaching economics and mathematics in
Tanzania, and working for the University of Brunei in Southeast Asia. Within
the U.S., his admission experience includes positions at Emerson College, the
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Harvard University as a Resident
Tutor, and in the Office of Admission at the University of Chicago.
Jerrold Martin, Vice Chancellor and CIO for City Colleges of
Chicago
Jerrold Martin is the Vice Chancellor and Chief Information
Officer for City Colleges of Chicago. Martin leads City Colleges' efforts to
use information systems and technology to support teaching, learning,
administrative support, and decision-making for the seven colleges and the
District Office. Martin previously served as the Vice President-IT Energy
Delivery for Exelon Business Services where he led the areas of
customer/marketing, operations, asset management, support services and real
time operations. Prior to joining ComEd in 1998, Mr. Martin held multiple IT
senior management positions at Ameritech and Accenture.
Nichole Pinkard, Associate Professor at DePaul University
and Founder of the Digital Youth Network
Nichole Pinkard is an Associate Professor in the College of
Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University in Chicago. She is the founder
of Digital Youth Network, co-founder of Inquirium LLC and Remix Learning, home
of iRemix, a social learning platform that connects learning opportunities in
school, home and beyond. In collaboration with the Chicago Public Library, Dr.
Pinkard helped found YOUmedia, a public learning space that immerses high
school students in a context of traditional media to make and produce new media
artifacts like music, games, videos and virtual worlds. Dr. Pinkard is the
recipient of a 2014 Northwestern Alumni Award, a 2010 Common Sense Media Award
for Outstanding Commitment to Creativity and Youth, and the 2004 the Jan
Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and
Scholarship in Learning Technologies, in addition to a NSF Early CAREER
Fellowship, and a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
for research on how digital media affects literacy.
Howard Tullman, CEO of 1871
Howard Tullman is the CEO of 1871, one of the largest
technology incubators in the United States. Tullman has over 45 years of
start-up, management, IPO and turn-around experience and an extensive
operations background in web development, online services, large-scale
information assembly and delivery systems, database design and implementation
and the development, creation and production of all types and formats of
multimedia, computer games and audio/video digital content. He has designed and
developed GUI and natural user interfaces, interactive and immersive games and
instruction systems and other electronic entertainments, training products and
services, as well as other information-based products and services in a variety
of fields including automotive, insurance, CRM, employment, real estate,
consumer goods and social media.
The following leaders have volunteered to serve on the Dyett
Arts TAC:
Homer Bryant, Artistic Director and Founder of Chicago
Multicultural Dance Center
Homer Hans Bryant is a former principal dancer with the
world renowned Dance Theater of Harlem. His professional credits span from a
command performance for the Royal Families of Norway and England to Timbuktu,
with the Legendary Eartha Kitt and the motion picture The Wiz with Diana Ross
and Michael Jackson. Homer was a former member of Prima Ballerina Maria
Tallchief's Chicago City Ballet. Bryant's approach to teaching and changing
lives has attracted many high profile students; President and First Lady
Obama's children, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Linda Johnson Rice. In
1990, Bryant founded the Bryant Ballet on the city's North side. In October of
1997, Mayor Daley issued a proclamation to officially change the growing
organization's name to the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center to reflect the
diversity of the school's students, class offerings and the overall diversity
of Chicago. In the summer of 1998, he was the lead artist for the first
downtown dance site for the City of Chicago's Gallery 37 program; currently named
After Schools Matters.
Mary Ellen Caron, CEO of After School Matters
Mary Ellen Caron, Ph.D. is Chief Executive Officer at After
School Matters. Dr. Caron is responsible for managing a workforce of more than
500 people to ensure that Chicago teens have access to the high-quality,
out-of-school opportunities that will prepare them for their futures. Prior to
After School Matters, Dr. Caron served as commissioner of the Chicago
Department of Family and Support Services. At the time of her appointment in January
2009, the department was a consolidation of several of the City's former human
service departments. Dr. Caron successfully managed the transition and worked
to provide a continuum of support for Chicago's vulnerable residents, from
birth through the senior years.
Joan Collaso, Professional Vocalist
Joan Collaso is an Emmy Award winner and international
vocalist who blends the textures of jazz, R&B, blues and gospel. Collaso
has performed at numerous jazz festivals around the world, including the Chicago
Jazz Festival where she was named one of the top 5 “must see” performances in
2012. In addition to her solo work, Collaso has supported numerous artists
including Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and Tim McGraw. In 2010
Collaso founded Timeless Gifts, a Chicago-based mentoring and performance
program for young people in the arts.
Ernest Dawkins, Musician and Composer
Ernest Dawkins is one of the world's premiere saxophonists
and composers, and an entrepreneur with years of experience working with new
media technologies to produce and promote the jazz community. Dawkins was named
‘Chicagoan of the Year' twice by the Chicago Tribune, most recently in 2001. He
received a Meet the Composers Round VII New Residencies grant in 2000 and has
been awarded the State of Illinois Governor's Fellowship award twice. In 2008,
he received a Governor's International Grant. Dawkins established The Englewood
Jazz Festival, now in its 16th year and founded Live The Spirit Residency, a
not-for-profit arts organization committed to improving access to creative and
improvised music for under-served communities within the city of Chicago.
Dawkins is an active member in the local arts community and Chairman of the
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Theaster Gates Jr., Director of Arts and Public Life at the
University of Chicago
Theaster Gates Jr. is an is an internationally acclaimed
artist who deals with issues of urban planning and revitalization of poor and
underserved neighborhoods through combining urban planning and art practices.
In his performances, installations and urban interventions, Gates transforms
spaces, institutions, traditions and perceptions. When not making art for
museums, Gates is committed to the restoration of poor neighborhoods,
converting abandoned buildings into cultural spaces that allow not only new
cultural moments to happen in unexpected places, but raise the city's
expectations of where "place-making" happens and why. Gates has
received awards from the Joyce Foundation, Driehaus, Artadia, and the Graham
Foundation, and was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design in
2010-2011. In 2012, the Wall Street Journal recognized Gates as Arts Innovator
of the Year and he was honored as the Commissioned Artist of the New York
Armory Show and featured at Documenta (13), the international art festival in
Kassel, Germany. Currently, an exhibition of his artwork, Theaster Gates: 13th
Ballad, is featured at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.
Joan Gray, President of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago
Joan Gray first arrived at Muntu Dance Theatre in 1977 when
she joined as a principal dancer, and she has been involved in a leadership
role since 1986. Ms. Gray also currently serves on the board of directors for
the African American Arts Alliance and is a past chair of the Chicago Dance
Coalition. She has served on numerous policy and review panels for the National
Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, and several state arts
agencies around the country. Ms. Gray is a recipient of the Sidney R. Yates
Award presented by the Illinois Arts Alliance and the Paul Robeson Award
presented by the African American Arts Alliance.
Perri Irmer, President and CEO of the DuSable Museum of
African American History
Perri Irmer is an attorney and architect who currently
serves as the President and CEO of the DuSable Museum of African American
History. Irmer is a lifelong resident of the south side of Chicago and
previously served as the CEO of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which
operates U.S. Cellular Field. Irmer previously worked for the Board of
Education as the administrator for the District’s capital improvement plan, in
addition to serving in leadership roles with the Public Building Commission of
Chicago and the Chicago Department of Buildings. Perri is a lifelong resident
of the Hyde Park-Kenwood community, and she is a graduate of Kenwood Academy
High School.
Tenille Jackson, President of The Intelligence Groupt, Ltd.
As a business consultant and social strategist Tenille has
worked on a variety of arts related projects in and around the south side of
chicago including the Dan Ryan Art Wall Project with Little Black Pearl, The
Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour and most recently The Renaming of 31st
Street Beach after Dr. Margaret T. Burroughs Project. Tenille also served as
the Director of Enrollment for Chicago International Charter School Longwood
Campus and Office Manager for CICS Loomis Primary Academy where she was
responsible for family recruitment, enrollment and engagement.
Brenda (Malika ) Moore, Professional Dancer and
Choreographer
From the South Side of Chicago to Senegal, West Africa,
Brenda (Malika) Moore has fashioned a unique brand of mystical, magical dance
in motion and considers herself a dance ambassador. An electrifying performer,
incomparable choreographer and master instructor, Ms. Moore's extensive dance
career has spanned across cities, states and continents. Ms. Moore's
captivating Caribbean, mesmerizing modern, enticing African, and sizzling fire
dances have hypnotized hundreds and thrilled thousands. Ms. Moore was selected
by a panel of dance experts to participate as an Artist-in-Residence for the
City of Chicago and served on the Dance Program Advisory Panel for the Illinois
Arts Council.
Kemati Porter, Interim Executive Director of the eta
Creative Arts Foundation
Kemati Porter is the Interim Executive Director of the eta
Creative Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides training and
performance opportunities for children and adults. Porter previously
worked as a producing director at eta and has been affiliated with the
foundation since 1976. Porter has contributed to the ArtsLab at Chicago State
University as a lecturer and board member, and she serves on the Advisory
Committee for the Black Theatre Network.
Mario Rossero, Senior Vice President of Education at the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Mario Rossero is the Vice President for Education at the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Rossero previously served as Chief of
Core Curriculum for Chicago Public Schools. He began his career as a visual art
teacher in both public and private settings and has a long history as an
administrator in educational institutions.
