AWARD RENAMED AFTER DOANE GRADUATE
BY JODI FUSON
Ebony Parks Excellence in English Award
Recognizes one male and one female per grade annually on each of the school's two campuses. It goes to students who pursue and achieve excellence within their English classroom, exhibit exceptional persistence and resilience in learning, demonstrate a wide range of creative and analytical skills and promote the success of their classmates.
Ebony (Lawrence) Parks didn't think high school was much to look forward to. But North Lawndale College Preparatory Charter High School in Chicago changed that. In fact, she liked high school so much she "never thought anything different than that I need to go on to college," Ebony said.
The ultimate goal of North Lawndale is to have its graduates attend college and be successful-like Ebony. Last spring an annual award that recognizes excellence in English was renamed after Ebony, who graduated from Doane in 2007 and returned to North Lawndale to teach 10th grade English that fall. The school-student population 98 percent African American and two percent Latino American-is one of 10 charter schools licensed in Chicago.
Because of her success in English and as the first graduate to return to teach at the school, a faculty member suggested the award be renamed after Ebony. "It sort of signifies what we want to be about," said Barry McRaith, English Department chair at North Lawndale. "(She's) absolutely, totally devoted to the mission of the school and the students," McRaith added. "She has such a delicate understanding of the students and of who they are and why they are."
Through classroom work and community service projects, Ebony said she learned to make adult decisions, speak in front of large groups and plan. She also gained valuable experience serving as a resident assistant and leader of the Multicultural Support Services Women's Mentoring Group.
Wilma Jackson, director of Multicultural Support Services, said Ebony shared what she had learned about adjusting. "She really motivated a lot of the females in our mentoring group," Jackson added. Ebony and Jackson have kept in touch, with Jackson traveling to Chicago for the first presentation of the renamed award last spring.
Ebony credits Doane's education program for teaching her to be patient and not expecting immediate results from her students. "Learning is a process and it's up to me to help my students find out what style of learning is best for them," she said. Ebony enjoys the freedom allowed at a charter school to take the curriculum and be more student-focused.
"The biggest thing we focus on is critical thinking and critical reading," Ebony said, especially to prepare students for the ACT and Advanced Placement tests. She credits English Professor Betty Levitov with demonstrating how to go after the deeper meanings of things. Levitov focused on Toni Morrison in the class, and that's one of the authors Ebony reads with her students.
In addition to teaching, Ebony is sponsor of the Student Council. She married Robert Parks in September of 2005, and the couple is expecting their first child in April.