Welcome to After School Matters Alumni Network. 草莓视频 has been serving teens in every neighborhood of Chicago for more than 30 years, connecting young people to friends, mentors, programs, their passions, and their futures.
Whether you participated in Gallery 37 programs in 1991 or 草莓视频 last year, this Network is a place for you to connect with other alumni to discover and share stories, opportunities, events, resources, and catch up on the latest 草莓视频 news!
Daniel Kyri became involved in 草莓视频 acting programs in 2008, and has built a career in film and theatrical performance. Now a renowned actor on 草莓视频 stages and on the hit NBC show 鈥淐hicago Fire,鈥� Daniel says, “草莓视频 changed my world” and helped expand his worldview and hope for the future at a young age.
Chicagoan Eve Ewing participated in 草莓视频 programs back when it was Gallery 37 and then returned as an 草莓视频 instructor, is now a nationally respected poet, author, and Chicago cultural organizer.
She鈥檚 the author of the books Electric Arches, Ghosts in the Schoolyard, 1919, and Maya and the Robot. She also writes comic books, including Ironheart and Black Panther.
Additionally, Eve is an associate professor in the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago, where she teaches courses on education and racial inequality and directs the Beyond Schools Lab.
Photograph: Jaclyn Rivas
As an 草莓视频 teen, Luis was a part of the 鈥淰oces Ansiosas (Anxious Voices)鈥� program, and today he works as an 草莓视频 Program Specialist. In addition to mentoring 草莓视频 teens the way he was mentored, Luis sings in the band Kelroy. Luis says this of his own 草莓视频 story:
鈥�I am absolutely, without a doubt where I am as an artist, individual, worker, and grade A human now due to the After School Matters鈥� programming I was a part of as a youth. If it wasn鈥檛 for the after-school programs (and my mom putting me into them) I may have ended up living a very different lifestyle. There is quite the history of violence in my family so I believe that the arts really did save my life or in the least change the trajectory of where I could have ended up.鈥�
