Latin School of Chicago

25 L AT I N S C H O O L O F C H I C A G O Uptown Partnership teachers at both schools. When Latin launched the Uptown Partnership in 2012, the work done at McCutcheon was an inspiration, and the connections made over nearly two decades served as a springboard for introducing the school to the neighborhood. In addition to the sixth grade reading buddies, Finkle, who came to Latin in 2012, and Houck currently lead a weekly after-school tutoring program at McCutcheon for which middle and upper school students volunteer. e partnership has been rewarding for students at both schools. According to Finkle, students at McCutcheon benefit greatly from the one-on-one attention and the consistency of having the same buddies and tutors. Meanwhile, Latin students are learning important skills like how to listen and how to be patient and supportive. Even students who are not the most confident readers at Latin realize that they have valuable knowledge to share. Houck and Finkle didn't realize the impact the experience had on Latin students until Katherine Askounis '02, a former reading buddy, chose to start her teaching career at McCutcheon and Jake Burack '02 requested to work at the school for his AmeriCorps City Year service commitment. Finkle admits that in some ways leaving McCutcheon to come to Latin was bittersweet because of the ongoing needs of the students she left behind. At the same time, watching Latin invest time and resources has felt almost miraculous. In 2013, the first former McCutcheon student enrolled at Latin for high school. is fall, one McCutcheon alum will enter ninth grade and two will join the fifth grade. "Never in a million years would I have imagined that a student from McCutcheon would be attending Latin," Finkle said. "at wasn't even a blip on the radar when we started this." n When she approaches a new neighborhood organization, Bunger is very clear about Latin's focus on partnership. She wants organizations to understand that the school isn't just going to swoop in to raise money or create a program just so students can serve, but that the school is hoping for meaningful, long-term connections. "I say to them: 'Tell me your needs.'" en she goes back to Latin and asks teachers, parents or students if they have ideas about how to support the organization's efforts. Lower school Spanish teacher Jackie Nees was looking for a way to engage with Uptown when she approached Bunger. Nees wanted to find a way for her fourth grade students to practice their conversational Spanish. Bunger looked around and found Goudy Elementary School, which has a bilingual transition program. Teachers there were eager to find ways to give their students more exposure to "We both saw how much the other person was invested in reading with her kids. I think that is what connected us, the passion for what we were doing." $

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