Since 2006, students and teachers from neighborhood public schools in Chicago have been traveling to New Orleans to work on disaster relief and building justice. ChiNOLA Connection is an alliance of student activists from CPS schools and their adult allies from Brighton Park Elementary, Gage Park High School, Langston Hughes Elementary, Benito Juarez Community Academy, Percy Julian High School, Ke
lly High School, Social Justice High School, Telpochcalli School, and George Washington High School. Our students are active in immigration rights, opposition to school closings and defunding, stopping the school to prison pipeline, fair trade, animal rights, and disaster relief to name a few. Our students play leadership roles in other social justice groups such as citywide VOYCE and Mikva Challenge and school clubs such as Students for Social Justice at Kelly. We emphasize student responsibility and leadership. When students participate in the trip over several years, they take on more and more of the planning and really direct the work of the trip. This intense week of experiential learning through service, interaction with activist students and adults, and self-reliance has changed the lives of many young people. Exponential growth is a frequent outcome. Many trip alumni have chosen to live, work, and study in New Orleans after graduating from high school. This page was created to unite alumni and supporters from the past 11 years of the trip, and to dream what the next years will bring. Together we are building a more beautiful and just world!
