Tuesday, Feb. 8, 7 pm – Combating Disinformation at Local School Board Meeting
Presenters Joyce Slavik & Jim McGrath, NWSOFA (Northwest Suburbs Organizing for Action)
School board meetings are increasingly adversarial, with board members and educators harassed and threatened. Boards make local decisions that impact the education and futures of our children, the vitality of our communities, and our budgets as taxpayers. Since school boards provide local governance, why are the same things happening at meetings throughout the suburbs? Our speakers from Northwest Suburbs Organizing for Action (NWSOFA)-Indivisible will provide perspective and recommend how we can support our school board members and schools.
Saturday, Feb. 12th, 10 AM: Asian Americans and the “Other” in the Era of the Pandemic and the Uprising
Our speaker, Dr. Ada Cheng, described as a “professor-turned-storyteller” will combine a storytelling performance and a facilitated dialogue. Dr. Cheng’s program shares personal stories that reflect the historical status of Asian Americans as well as the impact of current major crises facing society. The stories will address institutionalized mechanisms and individual practices that promote inequality and make immigrants of color be considered the “other.”
Dr. Cheng’s internet information lists that she was a tenured sociology professor from 2001 to 2016, who became tired of struggling against both subtle and overt gender and racial discrimination in academia. She enrolled in an improvisation class at Chicago’s Second City and found a new role as storyteller, stand-up comedian, and improv comic. Currently she is an adjunct faculty at Dominican University and works full time as the Education and Outreach Specialist with Women’s Leadership and Resource Center at UIC. On 8/27/2021, the 7th Congressional District’s Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force (MEATF) & American Multi Ethnic Coalition (AMEC) named Ada Cheng 2021 Educator of the Year.
February’s program is sponsored by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau which is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly through the Illinois Arts Council Agency, as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.
Thursday, Feb. 17, Amelia Earhart portrayed by Leslie Goddard
Here’s another AAUW program co-sponsored by Downers Grove branch and the Elmhurst branch, a dramatic portrayal of Amelia Earhart by Leslie Goddard.
Amelia Earhart’s courageous exploits and spirited personality made her an international celebrity in the early twentieth century. In this lively living-history program, meet Amelia and learn about her experiences as the first woman to cross the Atlantic by airplane (1928) and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932). She’ll describe how she learned to fly, what inspired her adventurous spirit, and why she set off in 1937 for an around-the-world flight.
Monday, Feb. 21st, 6:30 pm Did Black Lives Really Matter in Early Illinois?
The Rockford Branch presents “Did Black Lives Really Matter in Early Illinois?” via Zoom on Monday, February 21st at 6:30 PM. Public historian and educator, Caroline M. Kisiel will deliver this program through the Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholar Program and it is free and open to the public. Please join us in exploring Illinois history.The Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholar Program is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assemble through the Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA), as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, IACA, our partnering organizations, or our funders.
Confronting the Rise of School Board Disruptions
Jan. 2022
Join Indivisible Illinois, Illinois Families for Public Schools, Social Justice Alliance -Indivisible IL and other co-hosts, including AAUW Naperville Area, for an informative free webinar on Confronting the Rise of School Board Disruptions.
The Graduates/ Los Graduados
Watch online Part One of The Graduates/Los Graduados. 
This PBS film follows three Latinx girls showing first hand the unique educational challenges that face these young women in particular and Latinx High School students in general. The documentary gives insight on pressing issues in education today through the eyes of Latinx students from across the United States.
Available online from PBS. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/graduates/