Black Teen Summit unites students
Black suburban high school students are often ignored, Palatine High School teacher Asa Gordon says.
The social studies teacher at Palatine, where about 5 percent of the 2,500 students are black, says that, without much of a support network, they can feel isolated and don't receive the proper encouragement to participate in extracurricular activities.
"As those students get more involved, then you can have faculty and sponsors who can connect with the kids outside of the classroom," Gordon said.
Building up a support network is one of the goals of today's Black Teen Summit taking place at Harper College in Palatine. The annual event brings hundreds of students from 18 area high schools.
"We've gone from 76 students to almost 300 in the six years," said event coordinator Ruth Soil, a counselor at Maine East High School in Park Ridge.
Gordon will bring about 20 freshmen and sophomores. Besides having at least a C grade average, he requires them to dress professionally. He says he wants his students to stick out by portraying a positive image for the college admission officers who will speak to the students.
Officials from schools including Bradley University, DeVry University and University of Illinois at Chicago will be present, along with a panel of black professionals.
Among the topics to be addressed are financial aid for college, career advice and grades, along with issues like discrimination.
Palatine senior Kenisha Davis said programs like the summit show students like her that blacks can be successful after graduation. She's set to attend Eastern Illinois University in the fall.
One topic likely to come up, organizers say, is what makes a student "black enough." Some in the black community ostracize their own for certain actions, Soil said. One of the summit's goals is to give students the confidence to be both proud of their heritage without fear of being alienated.
Davis agreed, and noted Gordon's efforts.
"He wants to show there's no stereotypes for minorities," she said. "You can be who you want to be."
College admission officers, including Harper's multicultural recruiter Tamara McClain, said the summit is a good way to inform students about higher education opportunities. She said often minorities aren't properly informed.
Soil said retailer Target Co. sponsors the event with $5,000 each year, which pays for lunches and even transportation for some students.
Officials first held the summit in May five years ago, but it's since been moved to February, which is Black History Month. Gordon and Soil stressed the importance of the month. They said blacks -- like members of any other race -- need to take time to reflect over past accomplishments that may have been ignored.
"I just think if you're a minority you can use some support, whatever it is," Soil said.
Davis said celebrating the month is made easy at Palatine, though this is the first time in 10 years the school has a Black History Month student group.
"It makes me feel proud of who I am," she said.
High schools set to participate are Conant, Deerfield, Elk Grove, Evanston, Glenbrook South, Hoffman Estates, Maine East, Maine West, New Trier, Niles North, Niles West, Oswego East, Oswego West, Palatine, Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg and Wheeling.