Park District Camps!

My kids have been attending Chicago Park District Camps for the past few years, and we couldn't be happier. We've been at three different parks, and all of them have been wonderful. The staff is always great, the field trips are terrific, and you can't beat the price. This year they are at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center, and they're both having a blast. Instead of swimming every day (there is no pool at this park), they have "Beach Days" where they walk to the lake for a swim. How cool is that?

Quotable Chicago

As I update my blog on Chicago in the Summer, I feel I should update about the progress of the next StudentsXpress issue, "Life in the City." I've reached out to various Chicagoans for quotes about "What makes Chicago a great place to live." I've received quotes from Mayor Emanuel, Kerry Wood, Jesse White, Rick Kogan, Toni Preckwinkle, Pastor Corey Brooks, Tony Fitzpatrick and Dan Gargan to name a few. I still have more quotes coming in, and I'm looking forward to printing these Chicagoans' words next to the art and writing of the CPS students. As I say, StudentsXpress isn't just about the students, it's about the community. Everyone who has contributed a quote has been a positive part of that community, and I thank them all!

Random Food Trucks and Unique Spots

I can't believe it's July already. That sounds so cliche, that the summer is flying by, but it's true. We've done a lot, but I haven't been bringing my camera with me everywhere, so I haven't been posting. I do intend to bring my camera along more, since the kids grow so fast (another cliche), and I love looking back on when they were younger (as do they).

Sam has been taking gymnastics at the park district, and she loves it. After her Saturday class, we would sometimes try to go out together to a new place. This particular Saturday we went to Urban Orchard in Andersonville. I had read about it and wanted to check it out. It was a cute shop, and Sam got a brownie and a drink. We sat at their tables and hung out a bit...some girl time. On our way back to the car we saw "Flirty Cupcakes on Wheels." Though she just ate, I couldn't resist buying her a treat to take home and share with Ethan later.

No, I wouldn't normally just buy her a cupcake after she had a brownie. But I had heard so much about these food trucks and rarely saw them that I thought why not? And I happened to have my camera with me too.

Movie Day!

Usually I think of a great movie day as one when it's raining or freezing. Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Chicago. My son was home sick from school, so he was around to help me shoot this video. He had a lot of laughs at my "bloopers," but all in all, I think we had a great movie day.

Summer in Chicago

I just got back from Newsweb where I was picking up a few hundred copies of the StudentsXpress Courage issue. This is the first time I will be using a delivery service, and the copies will be delivered to the schools this week. The few hundred I picked up are extras.

The next step is to e-mail the advertisers and backers and make sure everyone knows where they can get their copy or view the magazine online. I've been updating the web site as well. At the same time, I'm working on gathering content and advertisers for our new back-to-school issue that will come out in September. I'm very excited about this issue. I've been working with the American Planning Association  on the topic of "Life in the City." The APA provided some great ways for children to explore their communities and express themselves. I can't wait to see what the students turn in this Friday.

Friday is also the deadline to be entered into a Chicago Cubs game drawing. The Cubs have offered StudentsXpress 100 tickets to a September game at Wrigley Field to coincide with our "Life in the City" issue, and I will be drawing 25 names from those students who submit work for that issue, so each winner will receive 4 tickets to the game. Thanks Chicago Cubs!

In addition, I'm starting to work on collecting quotes from Chicagoans about "What makes Chicago a great place to live." Leading up to our "Life in the City" issue, I've decided to blog about a Chicago Summer, one of the best times to be a Chicagoan. And what better time to start than Memorial Day, which was yesterday. We started out our day with a nice walk/bike ride/scooter ride to our friends' home in Lakeview where we met up with other families and enjoyed a nice brunch (and delicious mimosas). Then we all headed out to the WOOGMS parade. This is a great neighborhood parade that honors our veterans every Memorial Day. I love their slogan: "Everyone Marches--Nobody watches." So we all marched a few blocks and ended up at St. Joseph's Hospital, where Jesse White lead his tumblers in a fabulous show. The Jesse White Tumblers are wonderful representatives of Chicago. The program teaches discipline as the tumblers perfect their skills. The grades of the team members are monitored and reviewed after each marking period. As they work together, teamwork is clearly evident. Jesse himself even got in on the action, performing a headstand that the tumblers flew over as they flipped. At the end of the show, Jesse reiterated is philosophy: Do something good for someone every day. That is a great message for everyone. I've always enjoyed watching the Jesse White Tumblers, and I loved sharing the experience with my daughter, an aspiring gymnast. She came home and practiced walking on her hands, as the tumblers did across the mat. You can catch the Jesse White Tumblers at many places throughout the city, and it was a great way to start off our Summer in Chicago!

Planning Ahead

This morning I took the el downtown to meet with the APA, American Planning Association, about some sort of collaboration for an upcoming issue of StudentsXpress. The initial plan was to have 2 issues per year. However, for the next issue, all of the submissions will be in by the end of March. That gives the students all of April and May to work on submissions for the new "back-to-school" issue that will come out in September (and that I can work on over the summer). That will be the "Living in the City" issue.

It was a really nice meeting. I learned a little more about Urban Planning, and they learned a little more about StudentsXpress. One of the best things to come out of it is the fact that we can get two issues out of it.  The first one can be all about urban environments, transportation, neighborhoods etc., while the second one can focus more on nature in the city, a topic all by itself. I really think the kids will turn in some beautiful work for both of these.

As for planning ahead, here are the topics I have lined up:
• Courage
• Living in the City--Urban Environments
• Bullying
• The Humor Issue
• Living in the City--Nature in the City

I'm looking forward to all of them!

Time Management

I love having a lot of things going on. I work best when I have a lot to do in a little time. I had so much going on right before the holidays and the distribution date for StudentsXpress. Now, as I should be used to from having worked in the magazine business for so long, I'm in between deadlines. But there's still a lot to do. Because I have a lot of projects. I thought I'd use this blog post to organize my thoughts.

• Yesterday I had my first "Under the Influence....of Art!" after school class since last year. It was so nice. It's a small class (2 boys and 2 girls) and we're up in the art room (last year we were in a 1st grade classroom). The children are wonderful, and everyone worked well together and independently. It was just a really nice time. I'll be teaching that class every Tuesday after school.

• I relisted a few pieces in my raspberrykidz etsy shop today. I haven't been on that site in so long, I felt kind of lost. The set up changed, and I'm not sure how to do a few things, like where did the chat rooms go? Oh well. Sent an e-mail out to my sis, and I'm sure she'll update me. I'd love to get some orders going there, so maybe I'll hang a few ads up at school to drum up a little business.

• I Am Not A Nut. OK, I might be, but I have medication for that. I Am Not A Nut is actually the children's book my sister wrote and I started illustrating. I have not worked on it for a long time. It might be time to get that out again.

• StudentsXpress. Though I'm between issues, that doesn't mean there's nothing to do. I'm still looking for advertisers and sponsors, and I continue to work on publicity. And I have to keep my contacts informed about the upcoming issue, all about courage. I think I'll print out a reminder sheet to put in the teacher's mailboxes at Nettelhorst.

OK, I knew I had all that to do. Just wanted to get it out from being jumbled in my head and down on paper...or on the screen. Time to get back to work!

New Year, New Opportunities (or Lights, Camera, Action!)

With Univision Reporter Paula Gomez and Nettelhorst student (and StudentsXpress contributor) Andrea Benetar

On the first morning of the new year, I was making "New Year Pancakes" for my kids (these are regular pancakes made extra-special by adding sprinkles and sometimes chocolate chips) when I got a call from my dad. It was fairly early, and I didn't know what to expect.
"Are you speaking to Rick Kogan today?" he asked.
"Um, no."
I had been in touch with WGN radio host, Rick Kogan about appearing on his "Sunday Papers" program at some point, but we had never nailed down a date.
"Because he just mentioned your name," my dad told me. He was talking with Greg Jacobs of 'Louder than a Bomb' and he said "coming up he would be talking to Rachel Switall." My dad mentioned that he didn't know if Rick was referring to some time on a future show, but it sounded like he meant 'after this commercial break.'
"Well, I never heard from him," I said, "so he must be talking about some time in the future." I hung up with my dad and went back to flipping pancakes. About five minutes later the phone rang. Again, it was my dad. "I think you should call in the radio. Rick is asking for you to call in."
"Now?"
"Now."
So, I called in and had my first radio interview:
http://www.wgnradio.com/shows/sundaypapers/wgnam-kogan-120101-rachel-switall-studentsxpress,0,5587964.mp3file


Though my voice was definitely shaky at first, I did manage to get through it ok. I know me, and my voice can shake in front of a small room of people, so I was pretty proud of it overall. I must say, Rick was wonderful (as was his producer Casey). He said such nice things, he asked some great questions, and when he read the entries from the magazine, he made them sound so professional. After the interview, Casey immediately sent me the podcast link, which I proceeded to send out to anyone and everyone I could think of. As I mentioned, I'm still looking for a major sponsor for the magazine, and I hope Rick's endorsement might help people see what a great thing that could be.


On Jan. 2,  a segment I worked on for Univision aired on their 5:00 news. Though I meant to write about the experience at the time, I never did get around to it. I'm planning to be better at tracking each step of this whole process in this blog. In the meantime, here is the Univision link:

http://univisionchicago.univision.com/videos/video/2012-01-03/lanzaron-revista-sobre-estudiantes-de

And here's looking forward to new adventures and opportunities in the new year....