By Carla Jones
To close out the year, the sixth-grade students at KIPP Academy Chicago participated in their very first writing competition: the On the Corner Contest. We asked students to write about a significant memory they experienced in the city of Chicago. They were prompted with questions such as: What is your favorite part about where you live? What would you want someone to know about your Chicago? Why is Chicago important to you? Out of 100 entries, we selected the top 6 stories to publish, sharing the voices of some of the youngest authors of Chicago’s history. We’re excited to announce Carla Jones as a competition finalist!
Model United Nations Fundraiser
Last year, KIPP Academy students and their teacher Ms. Harris founded KIPP’s first Model United Nations team. On March 26th 2020, Carla will be proudly representing the city of Chicago at the International Model U.N. Conference. Please help Carla and Ms. Harris’ team at KIPP make this dream come true by donating at the link below!
Harrison & Central
I have been going to my Nana’s job, which is a salon, for most of my life. She stopped working there a couple of years ago. My sister Serenity and I were always excited to go there. Serenity and I could walk across the street with no problem because people would stop for us or there was simply no one there. The street was always clean and quiet with no arguments.
When I went to Plato Learning Academy, I took a bus after school to Little Leaders. This was my kindergarten daycare. I would often play there with my sister and other kids from Plato. After that, my sister and I would walk to my Nana’s salon. I remember when you walked in the salon all you heard was laughter or the water running for someone to get their hair washed. If you walked closer, you could hear the hair dryers going. I would routinely go straight to the corner near the windows and plants and start my homework.
The next day, we would sometimes go to the park with Little Leaders. They fixed it now, but it used to have rusty swings and slides. Even though it was old, we loved it. We would play on the seesaw, and I wouldn’t mind it not moving.
My preschool was 1 to 2 blocks away from my Nana’s salon. There was a park there too. We would play kitchen, dress up, or just run around. My sister and I loved that community, and we love Chicago.
Not all parts of Chicago are what they call trashy and violent. You can’t only judge one part of a city. You have to actually know it as a whole to judge it. Chicago is my beautiful.
