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Thank you!
| Thank you to these partners who through the payment of their membership fees help our program provide high-quality career & technical education for the next generation of leaders in manufacturing:
American Mold Builders Assoc. (AMBA) Chicago Chapter Chicago Paper Tube & Can Co, Inc Columbia Metal Spinning Cragin Metals DeCardy Diecasting Freedman Seating Graymills Company Iverson & Company Label Master Laystrom Manufacturing Co. North American Die Casting Assoc. Overton Chicago Gear P-K Tool & Mfrg Co. Paasche Airbrush Co. Quality Control Corp Sunstar Americas Inc Swiss Precision Machining WaterSaver Faucet
Winzeler Gear Company
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About Austin Polytech
| Austin Polytechnical Academy is an engineering- and manufacturing-focused and college prep public high school on Chicago's West Side.
Thanks to over 60 partner companies, our students learn about the many different career opportunities in manufacturing through field trips, guest speaker visits, job shadowing opportunities, internships, and more.
Austin Polytech is a project of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council. Our career program is operated by the Center for Labor and Community Research.
Learn more at austinpolytech.org |
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Support our Students
| It takes more than a traditional high school budget to help our students engineer their future.
We need to invest in our world class machine shop, college- and career-prep program, and work-based projects and activities.
For example, APA has a SkillsUSA chapter in which students meet weekly to work on school and community leadership projects, attend regional and state conferences and participate in job skill competitions.
Please help by sending us a check, payable to the Center for Labor and
Community Research, at 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10, Chicago, Illinois 60647.
You can also contribute online securely through PayPal by clicking below:
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| Career Program | The career program at Austin Polytech is operated by the not-for-profit Center for Labor and Community Research.
If you have any questions, please call our office at 773. 534.6326 or visit us in Room 140. |
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Contact
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Austin Polytechnical Academy
231 N. Pine Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60644
Main Office: (773) 534-6301
Career Services: (773) 534-6326
Fax: (773) 534-6046
austinpolytech.org |
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APA Squad Goal: 100 New Students
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The APA Squad is back on the case! APA's Local School Council is reinitiating our community outreach effort to keep getting the word out about Austin Polytech. We have a lot to be proud about. Over the next few months, APA LSC members, students & staff are going to team up to cover high school fairs and community events to promote Austin Polytech's unique college & career prep programs. "We're going out into the community, target schools and organizations to let people know we've got a lot to offer the youth in this community," says Torres Hughes, APA Senior. If you would like to be part of the APA Squad and volunteer at least once a month to help recruit new students, please contact Erica Swinney, at the APA Career Office in Room 140, 773-534-6326 or eswinney@clcr.org.
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Building a Bridge from Austin to Australia
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A group of Australians came all the way to Chicago to visit Austin Polytech! The delegation included: Bennett Walker, Chaseley Walker, Sandy Davies of the Yalanjiwarra Jalunji Marrjanga Aboriginal Corporation; Peter Botsman of the Indigenous Stock Exchange, Paul Briggs and Djarran Whyman from Rumbalara Football/Netball Club (which provides wrap-around services for Aboriginal communities); Howard Smith from the Northern Land Council, and; Justin Mullaly of the Australian Education Union.The trip's purpose was to learn how Austin Polytech connects students to a key job-growth sector like manufacturing with the hopes of possibly implementing a similar program within the indigenous communities of Australia.
 The delegation also visited manufacturing companies Winzeler Gear and Hudson Precision Products, to see examples of American manufacturing and how they partner with Austin Polytech. There were also many opportunities for cultural exchange on this visit: Chaseley Walker (16) shadowed APA students Thyesha Parker and Desiree Wordlaw over two days, and she treated several classes to a presentation about her home living within the rainforests of Australia. Her grandfather, Bennett Walker, also shared his own experiences to the students by attending three music classes, with guitar in hand, to talk to the students about how important music has been to his life. Teachers joined the Australians for lunch over the two day Austin Polytech visit. The delegation also spoke at an Austin Coming Together event where they showed pictures and answered questions from thirty Austin residents.
 Overall the visit was very positive and inspirational for our guests. Chaseley announced she'd like to come back for her senior year so she can learn calculus and how to operate CNC machines. The group leaders plan to prepare a report of their visit and articulate the next steps they will take to start Austin Polytech-type programs to help connect their own youth to the kind of careers that can help rebuild their own communities.
Click here to see more photos
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Strive for 5 Comes Alive!
by Steven McIlrath, AP Calculus Teacher
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"If you reach for the stars, you'll never come up with a handful of mud."
This is something my grandfather used to tell me when I was a student and it is the heart of what we are trying to do with our fledgling Advanced Placement Calculus Program at Austin Polytech. Our motto "Strive for the Five" is the star for which we are reaching as a 5 is the best score a student can earn on the AP Calculus exam. Most colleges and universities in our country recognize a score of three or better on this exam as evidence of mastering the material taught in a first semester college calculus.
And so, we "Strive for the Five" in hopes that we reach this goal, and if not then we will still value for our efforts. Last year, our first group of 14 students took the test. We were told by others not to expect any 3's or better in the first few years of our program. Two of our students earned 3's on the exam and one of our students earned a 4.
This year we have expanded our Strive for the Five mantra to embrace five daily things we seek to do in our longer-term pursuit of greatness on the exam. We start each class period by standing up, raising a fist in the air, and counting off our "Strive for the Five" commitments:
In addition, we also have T-Shirts with our 5TRIVE logo emblazoned across the front. We wear these shirts on Fridays as a weekly reminder that we are pursuing and achieving greatness together. If you are looking for a way to support our mission to help APA students and reach for the stars, we are selling these T-shirts for $15 each, please contact me at SAMcilrath@cps.edu if you'd like one.
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APA Freshmen Have a "Popp'in" Good Time
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Twenty-five inquisitive APA freshmen visited Chicago's very own, C. Cretors Company for a comprehensive
tour of its manufacturing and plant operations on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Company tour guides Dennis Botts,
plant manager and Margie Heffernan, a Cretors HR representative, explained to the students how C. Cretors secured the original patent for its very first popcorn machine in the mid 1880s.
Some 126 years and five generations of family ownership later, the company is a recognized leader in the $10 billion U.S. concession business. APA students received a step-by-step overview of how C. Cretors' concession, food processing and food service equipment is manufactured, marketed and distributed worldwide. As an added treat, each student was presented ready-to-eat popcorn for the bus trip back to APA. Several students are now working with the career placement staff at Austin Polytech on a powerpoint presentation to show to teachers and their classmates.
Freshmen will be visiting another legendary Chicago company, Eli's Cheesecake, on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
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Austin Tigers' Roaring Season!
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 The Austin Tigers have an 8-1 record after having played their final game of the season on Oct. 22. In that game, the Tigers outscored Kenwood Academy 54-6 and are now gearing up for the state playoffs. This is Austin's first playoff appearance in 12 years. Go Tigers!
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