When most employees speak of “juggling” tasks or “jumping through hoops” at their place of employment, they’re speaking metaphorically, but for future participants in CircEsteem’s Social Circus Instructor Training program, it’s literally part of the job.

Founded in 2001, the Uptown-based non-profit organization uses circus arts as a tool to foster connection, creativity, and self-esteem. With a focus on underserved communities, CircEsteem provides imaginative, transformative programming for thousands of Chicago youth ages 3-19, including workshops, summer camps, and the Chicago Youth Circus (which is held on Saturdays in Uptown and Humboldt Park). Scholarships and a sliding financial aid scale are available so that no child is turned away due to financial hardship. “We strongly believe that every child should be able to play with their peers, learn through play, and try new things,” says CircEsteem’s Director of Community Outreach, Patty Aikonedo. “We never want money to prevent such experiences.”

CircEsteem is currently growing a like-minded staff by rolling out a new, paid program to train future teaching artists in circus arts with a focus on social emotional learning. The Social Circus Instructor Training program is six-months long and consists of three parts: physical training that introduces several circus art skills, teaching skills centered on social emotional learning, and observation and integration within CircEsteem’s city-wide after-school programs. The organization is currently accepting applications, and BIPOC candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For full consideration, participants must be Chicago residents and plan to continue working with CircEsteem after completion of the program.

CircEsteem’s enriching programming includes partnerships with several Chicago Public Schools (CPS) throughout the city, bringing their playful energy straight to students’ classrooms, aged 8 to 16 years old. Through their free Homework & CircusWork after-school program, they provide an environment of academics and play throughout the week for CPS students.

“In the first part of the program, we have tutors who support the students’ academic development by assisting them with homework and offering additional educational enrichment activities,” Aikonedo says. “Once their homework is completed, students spend their remaining time with our professionally trained Teaching Artists who focus on personal development through social circus activities, such as tightrope walking or acrobatics.”

“Our mission is to unite youth from across all backgrounds and identities and to build self-esteem and mutual respect through the practice and performance of circus arts,” Aikonedo says. “The great thing about our Social Circus Instructor Training program is that we are providing individuals who may not necessarily have circus arts skills or, for example, knowledge on clowning, the opportunity to learn all of that. And, in addition, we are instilling in them the necessary skills and methods to successfully pass that knowledge onto the young kids they will eventually teach.”

With support from an anonymous donor and a $4.2 million community development grant from the Department of Planning and Development’s Chicago Recovery Plan, CircEsteem has purchased the building they’ve long called home, and once was a movie theater at 4730 N. Sheridan. Plans are in the works to remodel the interior and restore the building’s exterior to its original 1920s glory. “This building is over one hundred years old, so we want to update everything on the inside to reflect modern day technology, while outside we want to keep that spirit of what the Uptown neighborhood and the community is all about,” Aikonedo says.

The Social Circus Instructor Training program honors that spirit of Uptown’s legacy as an arts and culture hub while passing the torch from one generation of Chicago artists to the next. “Our Teaching Artists are highly trained in identifying comfort zones and making sure that the environment is safe for students to explore and navigate these new skills at their own pace.” Aikonedo says. “Through the Social Circus Instructor Training program, our Teaching Artists build their own self-esteem around circus arts, so they will be able to relate to the students they’ll eventually lead through the shared experience of learning and performing circus arts.”

Visit CircEsteem online to learn more about the organization and apply for the Social Circus Instructor Training program here.

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The High Speed Rail Alliance aims to make trains a more practical option for getting across Chicago and the nation

In the second part of the Reader’s series spotlighting advocacy organizations working to make our region a better place to walk, bike, and ride buses and trains, we caught up with Rick Harnish, executive director of the Chicago-based High Speed Rail Alliance.

Founded in 1993 as the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, this nonprofit wants to see a nationwide network of 220 miles-per-hour train routes that would offer a fast, convenient, affordable, and safe alternative to driving and air travel. “We help individuals and local leaders understand what high-speed rail really is, why we need to build it, and what steps they can take to help make it a reality,” Harnish said.

If the alliance achieves its mission, it would be particularly beneficial for Chicago, since our city already has direct—albeit relatively slow and unreliable—Amtrak service to just about every major U.S. metropolis. Harnish said the only true high-speed rail corridor in the works in the U.S. will connect Los Angeles and San Francisco with a route allowing for speeds of over 200 mph, shortening the roughly 400-mile trip to under three hours. The closest thing we have to that right now in Illinois is Amtrak’s Chicago-to-St. Louis Lincoln Service route—which travels up to a relatively pokey 90 miles per hour on the Joliet-to-Alton stretch. 

The Illinois Department of Transportation’s recently announced six-year plan includes a $246 million earmark for bumping the Lincoln Service speed limit up to 110 mph, hopefully by 2023. But Harnish says incremental progress isn’t going to get us where we need to go. “We need a network of services that all work together to connect entire regions in the entire country.”

The IDOT plan also includes $447 million for new passenger service to Moline, plus $275 million for a Rockford route. But given the opportunities for rail expansion made possible by the $1.2 billion federal infrastructure bill passed by Amtrak superfan Joe Biden, Harnish said Illinois needs to pick up the pace. “The state needs to make some decisions and get those trains running.” He also wants to see Illinois create new service to Peoria and Decatur, plus direct Amtrak access to O’Hare International Airport.

Not only would the latter make the airport more accessible from other parts of the Midwest, it dovetails with the alliance’s CrossRail plan for better crosstown Chicago transit. This would use the St. Charles Air Line, an existing rail corridor that parallels 16th Street in the South Loop, to connect Union Station to the Rock Island District and Metra Electric District lines.  “That would become the core of an entirely new express service that would go across town, as opposed to just heading into town,” Harnish said. 

CrossRail would also create a higher-speed, “one seat” ride from the southern suburbs and south side to O’Hare without the need to make a downtown transfer, making jobs at O’Hare and in the northern suburbs much more accessible for lower-income and working-class residents. “The system would be useful for so many more people,” Harnish said. “It really would be a game-changer for Chicago-area transit.”

Coverage funded by The Darrell R. Windle Charitable Fund and Polo Inn

To check their previous story in this series, visit https://chicagoreader.com/city-life/gaining-momentum-the-active-transportation-alliance-discusses-its-campaigns-to-fight-car-dependency/.

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What happens when award-winning playwright Tony Kushner, Top Chef Rick Bayless, and TikTok sensation Shermann “Dilla” Thomas walk into a room? Join us on October 19, 6:00 pm CST to find out.

The Chicago Public Library Foundation Awards are back! This year we’ve put the spotlight on storytelling and the powerful ways that stories can nourish the soul, create connection, and inspire us to act, whether they’re told around the table, at the theater, or over TikTok.

We’re inviting all of Chicago to join us on October 19 for a free YouTube broadcast of our awards ceremony, hosted by legendary Chicago newscaster Bill Kurtis. The event will feature appearances from our honorees: local historian and social media star Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, globally recognized chef and restaurateur Rick Bayless, and acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and activist Tony Kushner, who will be interviewed by best-selling author and National Public Radio (NPR) host Scott Simon.

Kushner is the 2022 recipient of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, which is given annually to an esteemed writer. Best known for his Tony-award winning 1993 play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (which he later adapted for a television miniseries directed by Mike Nichols) and the musical Caroline, or Change, Kushner’s screenwriting credits include Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Lincoln, and West Side Story.

Bayless will receive the Arts Award, which celebrates the power and impact of Chicago’s artistic community. An award-winning author who has written nine cookbooks as well as immersive food-centric plays, such as the sensual Rick Bayless in Cascabel and the farcical Recipe for Disaster, he’s become as celebrated for his innovative approach to storytelling as much as he is for his culinary prowess.

The 21st Century Award, which honors significant achievements by creators with ties to Chicago, will be presented to TikTok sensation, urban historian, and lifelong Chicagoan Shermann “Dilla” Thomas (marking the first time the award has been given to a digital artist). Thomas has become a local pop-culture phenom through sharing stories about Chicago’s people, architecture, and impact on the world over his popular social media accounts. Through his work, he’s made the city’s rich history and culture accessible and engaging to all.

The Chicago Public Library Foundation was founded in 1986 to accelerate the potential of the Chicago Public Library system by investing in resources that transform lives and communities. “What an incredible honor to be an innovation lever for the Chicago Public Library for more than 36 years—investing resources in groundbreaking programs and initiatives that transformed lives and communities. The Library Foundation will continue to be a partner to the Library in finding new ways to serve Chicago communities,” said Brenda Langstraat Bui, president and CEO of the Chicago Public Library Foundation.

Courtesy Jordan Balderas

The 2021 Chicago Library Foundation Awards were viewed by more than 8,500 people , and raised $1.5 million to advance the library’s community programs, including free help with homework, digital courses for adults, and creative opportunities for teens.

The 2022 Chicago Library Foundation Awards are presented by BMO. Mayor Lori Lightfoot & First Lady Amy Eshleman, Governor J.B. Pritzker and First Lady M.K. Pritzker are honorary chairs. All donations help support free lifelong learning programs and resources for all at Chicago Public Library. Visit cplfoundation.org/awards to learn more.

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E3 Radio is a proud member of the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA), a partnership of independent, local media entities. Today through October 17th, you can donate to our #WeAmplifyChicagoVoices campaign at SaveChicagoMedia.org.

Read on to learn more about our Anna DeShawn, the founder of CIMA partner E3 Radio and the Qube.

Chicago native Anna DeShawn became interested in broadcasting at a young age through watching Robin Roberts on ESPN, but she quickly became disillusioned by the biases and superficialities that were rampant in the television industry. “I quickly realized that I was not the face of television, because I’m masculine of center, I don’t wear makeup, and I’m not femme presenting, and that was the image I was seeing,” she says.

She eventually found her niche when, as a student at Drake University, she landed an internship for the popular radio show Tom Joyner Morning Show. “I realized I could talk to thousands of people and make an impact while wearing sweatpants. I thought, ‘This is the life.’ And so I fell in love with radio.”

Inspired by her studies of influential Black women, including activists Ella Baker and Elaine Brown, she piloted a PSA campaign that she hoped to syndicate to college radio stations. When that failed to take off, she decided to start her own show. 

In November 2009, DeShawn launched E3 Radio, which spotlights queer music and news stories. “It was a passion project, and it’s evolved so much over the past 12 years,” she says. “Today we’re on 24/7. We play queer music in high rotation and report on queer news. We believe in telling the stories and playing the music that deserves to be heard.”

Last summer, DeShawn took her vision to the next level when she founded the Qube, a curated podcasting app centering the voices of BIPOC and QTPOC talent. “The Qube is the evolution of E3 Radio, 150 percent,” she says. “The world has moved to podcasting, and we’re moving along with it, partially because we love listening to podcasts, and partially because we found it incredibly difficult to find good podcasts out there in the world that centered our experiences and had hosts who looked like us. We thought, ‘How can we solve this problem?’”

The Qube has since grown to 94 broadcasters, who together have amassed a catalog of 8,000 episodes and a listening base that’s grown beyond Chicago into other markets including Washington, D.C., New York, Oakland, Dallas, and Toledo. For DeShawn, that’s ample evidence that their content is filling a very noticeable void in the podcasting space. 

“It’s tough for us to imagine a time when television didn’t have a BET,” she says. “But there is no BET in podcasting. There’s no one uplifting people of color inside the podcasting space from an app perspective. So, if you think that should exist, then you should care about what we’re doing with the Qube. We’re looking to make content created by BIPOC and QTPOC folks accessible. We’re looking to celebrate and amplify them because they’re great, and you just can’t find them.”

Learn more about E3 Radio and the Qube at e3radio.fm, and make a donation to them and nearly 40 other local media CIMA outlets at SaveChicagoMedia.org.

The Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) is a project of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, publisher of the Chicago Reader.

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When most employees speak of “juggling” tasks or “jumping through hoops” at their place of employment, they’re speaking metaphorically, but for future participants in CircEsteem’s Social Circus Instructor Training program, it’s literally part of the job.

Founded in 2001, the Uptown-based non-profit organization uses circus arts as a tool to foster connection, creativity, and self-esteem. With a focus on underserved communities, CircEsteem provides imaginative, transformative programming for thousands of Chicago youth ages 3-19, including workshops, summer camps, and the Chicago Youth Circus (which is held on Saturdays in Uptown and Humboldt Park). Scholarships and a sliding financial aid scale are available so that no child is turned away due to financial hardship. “We strongly believe that every child should be able to play with their peers, learn through play, and try new things,” says CircEsteem’s Director of Community Outreach, Patty Aikonedo. “We never want money to prevent such experiences.”

CircEsteem is currently growing a like-minded staff by rolling out a new, paid program to train future teaching artists in circus arts with a focus on social emotional learning. The Social Circus Instructor Training program is six-months long and consists of three parts: physical training that introduces several circus art skills, teaching skills centered on social emotional learning, and observation and integration within CircEsteem’s city-wide after-school programs. The organization is currently accepting applications, and BIPOC candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For full consideration, participants must be Chicago residents and plan to continue working with CircEsteem after completion of the program.

CircEsteem’s enriching programming includes partnerships with several Chicago Public Schools (CPS) throughout the city, bringing their playful energy straight to students’ classrooms, aged 8 to 16 years old. Through their free Homework & CircusWork after-school program, they provide an environment of academics and play throughout the week for CPS students.

“In the first part of the program, we have tutors who support the students’ academic development by assisting them with homework and offering additional educational enrichment activities,” Aikonedo says. “Once their homework is completed, students spend their remaining time with our professionally trained Teaching Artists who focus on personal development through social circus activities, such as tightrope walking or acrobatics.”

“Our mission is to unite youth from across all backgrounds and identities and to build self-esteem and mutual respect through the practice and performance of circus arts,” Aikonedo says. “The great thing about our Social Circus Instructor Training program is that we are providing individuals who may not necessarily have circus arts skills or, for example, knowledge on clowning, the opportunity to learn all of that. And, in addition, we are instilling in them the necessary skills and methods to successfully pass that knowledge onto the young kids they will eventually teach.”

With support from an anonymous donor and a $4.2 million community development grant from the Department of Planning and Development’s Chicago Recovery Plan, CircEsteem has purchased the building they’ve long called home, and once was a movie theater at 4730 N. Sheridan. Plans are in the works to remodel the interior and restore the building’s exterior to its original 1920s glory. “This building is over one hundred years old, so we want to update everything on the inside to reflect modern day technology, while outside we want to keep that spirit of what the Uptown neighborhood and the community is all about,” Aikonedo says.

The Social Circus Instructor Training program honors that spirit of Uptown’s legacy as an arts and culture hub while passing the torch from one generation of Chicago artists to the next. “Our Teaching Artists are highly trained in identifying comfort zones and making sure that the environment is safe for students to explore and navigate these new skills at their own pace.” Aikonedo says. “Through the Social Circus Instructor Training program, our Teaching Artists build their own self-esteem around circus arts, so they will be able to relate to the students they’ll eventually lead through the shared experience of learning and performing circus arts.”

Visit CircEsteem online to learn more about the organization and apply for the Social Circus Instructor Training program here.

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The Chicago Blackhawks are at the beginning of a massive rebuild. General manager Kyle Davidson traded away budding superstar Alex DeBrincat and former first-round pick Kirby Dach before the NHL Entry Draft. He also let Dylan Strome walk in free agency.

Blackhawks fans will have a hard time recognizing a lot of this year’s players outside of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Seth Jones.

They are going all in on a rebuild very much like what they did back in the early 2000s. The Blackhawks are going to be bad. Expect this season to be heavy on losses.

The hope is all this losing will pay off by acquiring the necessary talent in the draft that results in winning multiple Stanley Cups down the road. Still, tanking is never fun to watch. If there is ever a season to tank, this is the one.

If the Chicago Blackhawks lose enough games, the reward is a chance at having the best odds of winning the NHL Draft Lottery.

That means the right to draft Connor Bedard. He is a franchise-changing talent that can be the biggest impact draft pick since Patrick Kane.

Even if the Blackhawks lose out on the No. 1 pick, landing the second or third pick is still a prime draft spot. Adam Fantilli or Matvei Michkov have the potential to be special players for a long time in the NHL as well.

The 2023 NHL Entry Draft is a long way from now. There is still hockey to be played this season. While winning is not going to happen often this season, there is one reason to check out a Chicago Blackhawks this season.

This might be the farewell tour for two amazing Chicago Blackhawks legends.

Toews and Kane have been the franchise cornerstones since 2007. Together they have won three Stanley Cups and provided Chicago with countless hockey memories.

They have both skated in over 1000 games for the Chicago Blackhawks. Each has also won a Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

They are both shoe-ins for the Hall of Fame and to have their numbers hanging in the United Center rafters. Both are also entering the final year of their deals.

Having two superstars on a rebuilding team is a luxury. Kane and Toews hold more value in the trade market for the Blackhawks than they do on the ice.

Toews can probably still fetch a good draft pick or prospect return from a contender looking for a second or third-line center that can still win face-offs with the best of them.

While Toews’ skills have declined because of age and the physical nature in which he plays, Kane is still at the top of his game.

He can still yield a nice return of picks or prospects from a contending team desperate for his scoring and playmaking ability.

The catch is both have no-movement clauses so Toews and Kane would have to approve any trade.

Toews might be inclined to approve a trade at the deadline. He is not exactly thrilled with the prospect of a rebuild.

Toews is committed to guiding this year’s team. Kane might also approve a trade. He was willing to stick it out long-term if the Hawks had kept Alex DeBrincat. Now that the Hawks are in a race to the bottom, maybe Kane wants to go to another team for a shot at a Stanley Cup.

Kane admitted that there was not much to off-season trade rumors and he is committed to playing for the Chicago Blackhawks.

It is nice that neither has demanded a trade and is willing to mentor the younger Hawks. Still, with a rebuild in progress and the possibility of losing both franchise icons next off-season, it would not be a shock to see both traded before the trade deadline.

The duo’s Chicago Blackhawks’ probable last go-around will be a major theme this season. Every game might be the last chance to see those two legends skate together.

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