Kids Off The Block Making a Difference!

Only Diane Latiker (Founder of KIDS OFF THE BLOCK) and the KOB'ers could put on an annual event and get Mayor Daley and local politicians and community supporters to come out and make a REAL Difference in the lives of our youth today!

Below are some of the photos! Had a great time hosting the event with my Brother of the Microphone CLiff Kelly WVON!

KOB Annual Fundraiser Dinner March 26th, 2010

It all took place at the Pullman Center
11141 S. Cottage Grove
with a live band, specialty catered gourmet food and lots of supporters who know the great work that Diane Latiker of KOB (KIDS OFF THE BLOCK) in the Roseland Community!

We Do Care! Don't believe the hype of the media!
Roseland Community Youth are worth saving!
We see possibilities where there are none!

This is why the Higher Learning Network has partnered with KOB in efforts to
save our children, and give them what they need.

We will also teach youth our speciality, behind-the-scenes Radio/TV/Print Production!

Yes, they will produce their own TV Shows, Videos, Write their own books, magazines and anything else they choose to do in media! HLN Media Group is proud to be the official Media partner with KOB!
Kudos to Ms. Diane Latiker!

Special Thanks to all the KOB supporters and Iesha Latiker!

Roseland Rocks!

and the band played on...

Evangelist Ruth Jackson and her sister welcoming guests

Evangelist Ruth Jackson..

Behind every good woman, is a good mother!
Evangelist Ruth Jackson, Diane's Mother, prays before the meal!

KOB Chairman speaks

Supporters of KOB

Mayor Daley Speaking in Support of KOB!

Mayor Daley knows a good organization when he sees one.
KOB has been making a difference in the Roseland Community since before it's incorporation in 2003!

Kudos to the Mayor for supporting today's youth!

Diane accepting award for KOB and Maror Daley

along with Jennie Betton, Member KOB and Representative from Park National/US BANK
on hand to assist with festivities!

Diane accepts flowers...

Catered Food for KOB Guests

Registration and Networking

Mr. Holt and Iesha Latiker

Commissioner Speaks

WVON's Cliff Kelly and Alderman Beale speaking

Registration and Networking

Real Supporters Write Checks!

Bottom line, supporters support!

Thanks to those
who put their money where their mouth is!

Long live supporters of KOB?




Ms. Ruth Larkin, Community Activist








President of Olive Harvey College

Educate vs. The Cost to Incarcerate...

from an N'spirational Conversation Reader:

The Cost to Educate vs. The Cost to Incarcerate Children in Chicago and Illinois


Source: AsNotSeenOnTV.info

From Marcie Hill: This story is being re-published with a few revisions because it is a topic that is really on my heart right now.

I am going to go on a limb here to discuss something that we will probably NEVER see on TV – the cost of educating a child versus the cost to incarcerate one in Chicago and Illinois. All of the research I conducted for this story was done in 2008, so some of the information may be a little outdated. The information was obtained from the Chicago Public Schools and Illinois Department of Corrections.


During the FY 2007-2008, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) spent $10,555 operating expenditure per pupil and $9,488 per capital tuition. While I don’t fully understand the per capita tuition (although I could ask), this $10,000 pales in comparison to the money Illinois state spends on juvenile detention.



Things to keep in mind as you read:

1. The average age of detained youth in Illinois is between 16 and 17 years of age.

2. Some of the facilities are overcrowded.

3. With all of the money that is being spent, is correction really going on?



Illinois Youth Center Chicago

Opened: July 1999

Capacity: 130

Level 3: Minimum-Security Juvenile Male

Average Daily Population: 104

Total Average Daily Population: 104

Average Age: 17

Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $76,095.00



IYC-Chicago is located on the west side of the city and is a leased property that occupies the third floor of a rehabbed warehouse building. The facility houses approximately 100 male youth per day. There are approximately 97 employees at the center. The institution also serves as a drop-off center for all juvenile parole violators in District 1. Transitional programming has been supplemented by federal grants that will allow the facility to contract for re-entry services. These services assist youth in their return and progress back into the community. Violence intervention programs have included Schwab “In My Shoes” presentations that discuss the impact of gang activity. Former gang members confined to wheelchairs as a result of gang-related gunfire talk to youth about their lives before and after tragic life-altering incidents in an effort to warn youth about their high-risk lifestyles.



Illinois Youth Center Harrisburg

Opened: July 1983

Capacity: 276

Level 4: Multiple-Security Juvenile Male

Average Daily Population: 316

Total Average Daily Population: 316

Average Age: 17

Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $52,545.00

Overcrowded



Illinois Youth Center-Harrisburg serves as one of the secure medium-security Level 2 institutions for the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice currently housing an average daily population of 326 male offenders. IYC-Harrisburg provides a broad range of services to youth incarcerated at the facility. These services include remedial, secondary and college level education courses, a GED program, library services, vocational training, guidance and work training programs. Diagnostic and evaluative services and special education programs are also provided.



Illinois Youth Center Joliet

Opened: April 1959

Capacity: 344

Level 1: Maximum-Security Juvenile Male

Average Daily Population: 230

Total Average Daily Population: 230

Average Age: 17

Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $56,351.00



The Illinois Youth Center-Joliet remains focused on providing a safe and secure working and living environment for all staff and youth. As today’s society experiences increases in violent behavior, chemical dependency and a failure of our traditional institution to adequately guide young people, youths come to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice with a greater history of violence and an increased need for intervention. Youth who obtain their GED are given specific job assignments. Youth are enrolled in school immediately upon arrival to the facility.



Illinois Youth Center Kewanee

Opened: November 2001

Capacity: 180

Level 2: Medium-Security Juvenile Male

Average Daily Population: 260

Total Average Daily Population: 260

Average Age: 17

Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $96,087.00

Overcrowded



Opened in November 2001, Illinois Youth Center-Kewanee is a secure medium-security facility that houses youthful male offenders. IYC-Kewanee has five 60-cell housing units. The facility includes a Medical Unit with six infirmary beds, eight crisis cells. The Education Department has 18 general education classrooms and three vocational classrooms. IYC-Kewanee is designated as a special treatment facility, focusing on treatment for youth with severe mental health issues, substance abuse problems and sex offenders. A wide range of intensive treatment programs are in place to address these issues, including psychiatric, medical care and counseling services provided 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Academic, vocational, recreational, religious and volunteer programs support these services.



Illinois Youth Center Murphysboro

Opened: April 1997

Capacity: 156

Level 2: Medium-Security Juvenile Male

Average Daily Population: 75

Total Average Daily Population: 75

Average Age: 17

Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $84,403.00



As IYC-Murphysboro is the state’s only juvenile boot camp, its mission remains clear: to prepare youth for positive, successful lives by developing self-discipline, teamwork, self-esteem and self-worth as individuals. To accomplish this, staff consistently strives to provide a military-style environment that encourages cadets to reach a higher point in their lives. Cadets begin the eye-opening experience of participating in the boot camp program at 5:30 a.m. each morning and continue the fully programmed day until 9 p.m., seven days a week. It takes many staff, volunteers and mentors to fill those 16-hour days. Education continues to be central to all programming at IYC-Murphysboro.



Illinois Youth Center Pere Marquette

Opened: March 1963

Level 3: Minimum-Security Juvenile Female



IYC- Pere Marquette is a level three, medium security female facility with an open campus. IYC-Pere Marquette is the first juvenile facility totally dedicated to a modified therapeutic community treatment model, with a focus on regionalizing admissions based on commitment county. IYC-Pere Marquette does not house any special offender population. Youth benefit from more intense intervention and treatment-oriented programming that will ensure them an opportunity for a structured and disciplined setting to educate them in positive life building skills.



Illinois Youth Center St. Charles

Opened: December 1904

Capacity: 318

Level 2: Medium-Security Juvenile Male

Average Daily Population: 328

Total Average Daily Population: 328

Average Age: 16

Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $56,163.00

Overcrowded



The Illinois Youth Center-St. Charles is a Level 2 medium-security facility. It is unique as an institution because in addition to the general population program, the facility processes the majority of all male offenders committed to IDOC. The type of offender assigned to this facility may have an overall designation of high, medium or low escape risk. He will be classified as either high or medium security risk based on his committing offense and criminal history, size, age, level of aggressiveness and security threat group (STG) orientation. Offenders with all classes of crimes are assigned here.



Illinois Youth Center Warrenville

Opened: January 1973

Capacity: 86

Level 4: Multiple-Security Juvenile Female

Average Daily Population: 78

Total Average Daily Population: 78

Average Age: 16

Average Annual Cost Per Inmate: $80,365.00



IYC-Warrenville serves a juvenile female population with multi-service needs. The center provides GED and high school diploma academic services, an in-patient substance abuse treatment program, vocational programs, mental health services, medical services, clinical services, leisure time activities, parenting education, assessments and family reunification programming. The average age of the juvenile females at the center is 16.3 years.

***********************************************

As you can see, millions of dollars are spent on incarcerating instead of educating children in Chicago and Illinois . If a fraction of the money that was spent on locking up a child was used to effectively educate, this article would not had been written. But, since the education system is set up to fail our children, the incarceration rate will continue to grow along with profits of the prison system. This is a topic that would probably never be seen on TV.

higher learning from M.C. Hammer..

Old School learning often comes from those who paved the way for us.
Doesn't matter if we like them or not, this is not about that, but about the business of learning, Check it out!

MC Hammer Geeks Out

MC Hammer, known for his Grammy-winning music, has spent the past decade reinventing himself as a social mediaDanceJam and has spoken about social media at conferences including the Intel Capital CEO Summit.

Last week, as the opening keynote speaker at the Wharton Business Technology Conference in Philadelphia, Hammer advocated that businesses embrace social media — just as much as he has. “I love technology,” he said. “I’m a proud geek. I wear the badge with honor. I’m a super geek.”

An avid Twitter user with more than 1.8 million followers, Hammer described microblogging as one of the most important tools in social media — and a boon for businesses. “You have to help [your companies] get past old habits,” he told an audience of businesspeople and students. “Social [media] is just what it is. It’s simply a means to engage… The behavior is as old as the cave man. You don’t have to fear it.”

Hammer has tweeted about everything from his breakfast to his keynote address. “My [Twitter] feed is an ongoing conversation,” he said. “I’m creating and expanding and humanizing my brand.” When he wants to grow his business, he’ll plant the seed on Twitter. When he’s looking for commentary on an idea, it too is posted on his Twitter feed. “You can mobilize a community,” Hammer said, ”and you get that feedback.”

What turned Hammer into such a social media evangelist? In the early 1990s, he grew frustrated that just a couple of channels controlled his music. ”Eight people can say the world can’t see my art,” he said. “I don’t like monopolies to stop my art from being seen. That’s what started it for me. It was pure business.”

Now, many other businesses have hopped on the social media bandwagon, shortening the distance between their product’s creation and its distribution. Pepsi and Chase Bank, Hammer said, are examples of big companies moving money out of traditional media and into social media. “It’s the tip of the iceberg,” he said. Companies that don’t think they have to adapt to the new social media world, Hammer said, are “asleep at the wheel.”

Businesses shouldn’t be worried that a social media presence will harm their company’s public perception, he added. “Your lack of transparency can only hurt you in the long run,” he said. People will talk about your product “in places where it never goes away,” Hammer said, so the best thing for a business is to make itself part of the conversation.

As for the future of social media, Hammer named Hulu and the The Huffington Post as projects he admires. He added: ”I see the iPad as the fourth window. You’re walking around with a 9-inch television in your hand.” And he thinks Twitter could have broader reaches for business, making it a place where you don’t just read about an upcoming Rolling Stones concert, but where you can also buy tickets. “This microblogging is serious business,” he said. “We’re only scratching the surface.”

In an interview after his talk, Hammer also mentioned his interest in the growing field of citizen journalism. He said: “There are literally hundreds of thousands of good stories not being told on a daily basis. A lot of those stories are being told right here online by the Twitterverse, by Facebook users, by different communities. The opportunity to aggregate or create a destination where stories get told and indexed locally is a great opportunity.”

In all, Hammer said he’s a fan of all the available social media websites. “You adapt them to your character, to your content, to your likes and dislikes,” he said. ”The ones that you are less comfortable in, you can still update through your other platforms.”

Hammer, who faced bankruptcy in 1996, offered this piece of advice for anyone seeking to reinvent themselves and their business: ”Study and research where they want to go, so that they have all the information of the landscape. If they’re in one space and they’re going to another space and they’re reinventing themselves, they have to make sure they know what they want and all of the factors in the new space, the new you, the new business.”

Image: Brian Solis/Flickr mogul. Hammer is the co-founder of the website

Down, but never out!
We could learn a thing or two from "ole school!"