Finishing up the painting and going back to High School

Wednesday is here and it's our last full day in Chicago.  We split the crew up into two groups, half went over to Hales Francisan High School and half stayed here at St Ambrose.

Hales Franciscan has less than 100 students. Many schools are struggling in Chicago.  The City closed over 50 public schools in the past two years and laid off many teachers.  There are many factors in this, low birth rates and declining population is the easiest to understand but there have been other factors like the rise of Charter Schools and the proliferation of high end private academies.  Catholic schools, which have always been seen as the affordable option in private schools, have seen a steady decline in enrollment.  The widening gap between the rich and the poor in Chicago means there is little room for the lower and middle class education option, a niche that Catholic Schools once filled.

Eight of our students volunteered to go over to Hales this morning and help the principal make calls follow up the parents of eighth grade students who have taken the Catholic School entrance exam.  They were admissions officers for the day.

The rest oh the group stayed at St Ambrose and finished up the last two rooms on the third floor.  Navy  blue isn't often a colour that you see in wall paint.  Maybe as an accent wall but diffenately not a colour for four walls in a small room.  Painting those walls was a worthy morning's labour.