Two Summers on Hayes Avenue Documentary Viewing and Refuge High: Coming of Age in America by Elly Fishman Book

While I was taking teacher certification classes at Northeastern Illinois University in spring 2026, we were asked to do an asset mapping group exercise where we were assigned different neighborhoods in the Chicagoland area by our professor to profile and list assets to the community.

Asset mapping has different names in different professions, but it is a technique commonly found within social work where members of the community are asked to find the resources available to that community. The purpose is to look at communities with a fresh set of eyes and to view more of the assets of a neighborhood rather than the deficits.

Our neighborhood was Rodgers Park. The school we were assigned as Sullivan High School. I was introduced to a book called, Refuge High: Coming of Age in America by Elly Fishman. This book was a collection of sparking profiles of both the students and the staff at Sullivan High School, in which 43 languages are spoken. Many are coming here to America for asylum and have found a close knit, supportive community within Rodgers Park.

My graduate group and I were introduced to Tess Lacey, a recent graduate from Sullivan High School in Rodgers Park. We interviewed her on Saturday, April 11^th, 2026 at the Common Cup coffee shop in Rodgers Park, the same day that the Whitney Young High School 50^th anniversary yarn bombing was revealed at the Whitney Young High School Sneaker Ball and Yarn Con was taking place and Windy City Knitting did a knit-a-thon to raise money for our local food bank. That was a big day (whew!)!

However, even bigger things were coming forward, such as the filming and release of

Tess Lacey’s upcoming documentary. Through the Roman Susan Art Foundation during the summers of 2024 and 2025, Tess Lacey created a documentary titled, Two Summers on Hayes Avenue, a visual summary of her blog entries in The Kidler with interviews of local Rodgers Park residents and employees. Tess Lacey also is a part of the One Northside organization.

The Kidler blog site address is https://kidler.webnode.page  

The One Northside website is www.onenorthside.org

The crowd was diverse in ages, races, religions during the documentary viewing on Thursday, May 24^th, 2026. Everyone was happy that Tess and her friends were able to get this project off the ground.

Congratulations Tess Lacey! I wish nothing but the best for you and all of your future endeavors!

Sunflower Crochet Class

To treat myself for having completed my first semester of my teacher certification program at Northeastern Illinois University (whew!), I went to a sunflower crochet class at Sister Arts Studio in Chicago. I always look forward to taking classes here. On the corner is Wow! Pizzaria. They have some of the most oversized pizza slices in all of Chicago. I usually get one and then walk down the street to Sister Arts Studio. I have seen Toni of TL Yarns here as well as Krista Suh who wrote DIY Rules for a WTF World: How to Speak Up, Get Creative and Change the World. Fabulous book, by the way.

My maternal great grandmother was a master at crochet. I still have her afghans and doilies. I aspired to her greatness, but always felt disappointed by not asking her more questions when she was alive about what she was doing and my lack of success. I am forever indebted to the Whitney Young High School 50th anniversary yarn bombers who were much better at crochet than I was and gave helpful suggestions of YouTube videos to watch, such as TL Yarns, Crochet Crowd and Crochet Guru.

Before my class, I practiced my single, double and triple crochet stitches. Much like knitting, I found I was a loose crochet stitcher, as well. This meant that moving forward, I would need to drop down a crochet hook. This is what I thought.

However, there were other opinions about my crochet work:

“That looks good”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Oh keep going! You’re doing great!”

I admit it didn’t look too bad. I used the Whitney Young High School colors of blue and orange in acrylic yarn because I am a yarn bomber through and through. Actually, I liked my crochet stitch a little loose. It would be different, though, if I were placing it on car for a yarn bomb, though…

I Finished My First Semester of Teacher Certification at Northeastern Illinois University This Week and Switched My Major

I finished my first semester of teacher certification program at Northeastern Illinois University this week (Whew!) and switched my major. My undergraduate degree is in English. My graduate degree is in creative writing. I even have my own blog, if you hadn’t already noticed, where I write to all of my fellow humans out there who take time out of their busy schedules to read my blog posts and I graciously thank you.  

However, I was told two days ago that my degrees were “ineligible” to receive any funding reserved for teachers. Wait! I thought people said they needed teachers!??! I thought that the basics do not change and people needed English majors?!?!

Apparently not.

After I got over my initial shock, I consulted with AI about my dilemma. AI suggested that I switch my major. I did not grow up with AI. However, I noticed this past semester that a lot of these younger, newer students frequently run to AI for problems they may have. The new digital revolution has taken some time for me to get used to, but I will admit that in the middle of the night as I worried about my current circumstance, it was most comforting to have my problem solved by AI as well.

I then spoke to fellow classmates who had undergone the same issues and shared their experiences with me. I must add that it was better talking to humans who went through an experience similar to my own than computer software that is supposed to simulate human intelligence for guidance with my most decidedly human issue.

So, I switched my major to special education, which seemed to please the financial aid staff at NEIU as well as the U.S. Department of Education. At least for now anyways. .  .It is just as well with my background as a nurse and my work with my Whitney Young High School patient/student.

I know this is coming late, but Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate it. And not only that, but I’ve had extensive conversations with people regarding this holiday. There are people who do not have mothers for various reasons. There are caregivers, both professional and personal. There are single fathers. There are single mothers. There are grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles who are doing the work of parenting. There are mothers and fathers of furbabies.

Whatever your situation, Happy Mother’s/Caregivers Day!

I am a professional caregiver. I have elderly family members. I have friends. I have friends who have furbabies that are my surrogate furbabies. I still get presents on Mother’s Day anyway. So I tell people, Happy Mothers/Caregivers Day.

I saw my mother all weekend, even though school is about to end for me this week. My parent’s church has brunch on both Saturday and Sunday of Mother’s Day. I was present for all of it, including church. Any other time, it is not unusual for me to work on Mother’s Day and take my mother out at a separate time, but this is part of why I took this job with my Whitney Young High School student: To have more time with my elderly parents.

It was nice. I took the time to put some makeup on my face, which, although I enjoy these things, I generally do not do these things. I have patient care the majority of the time, after all, but I made time yesterday and today.

Happy Mother’s/Caregivers Day!