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....