Staff Highlight: Ms. Norma

Have you ever watched someone while they are working and knew immediately that their job is a perfect fit? Spending a day in Ms. Norma’s classroom gives a special glimpse of such talent! Ms. Norma has a natural ability to create an engaging, comforting, and understanding classroom environment to meet the needs of children. She has developed this incredible skill over the course of her amazing teaching career. In October of 2024, Ms. Norma reached her 33rd year of working at CYC! 

We sat down to chat with Ms. Norma about her path to becoming a teacher, and some of her favorite moments throughout her time with CYC. 

Did you always know you wanted to be a teacher? 

“I am the oldest in a family of eight. I think I knew even back when I was helping my siblings with homework. At the time, I thought I wanted to be a nurse to help people. But after going to a doctor's appointment with my sister for her leukemia, I realized nursing was just not my field. I switched my major to teaching after that. I have loved everything about teaching since day one.” 

How did you know you wanted to work in Early Learning specifically? 

“My first opportunity out of college was with a preschool. Right away, I was on the floor engaging with the kids. I was offered an assistant teaching job there shortly after, and I loved every moment of it.” 

What is the most rewarding part of being a Lead Teacher at CYC? 

“When the families keep coming back and ask if I am still working here, and tell us that they used to be in my classroom. When they ask if their children will be in my classroom like they were. Or getting asked ‘are you Ms. Norma from CYC?’ when I go to the store. They will get excited and say ‘Ms. Norma, Ms. Norma- you were my teacher!’, and that really fulfills me. And of course, seeing the growth of the children. You can be so tired, but when you see the changes and impact you have made, that is the most rewarding part.” 

How would you describe your experience at CYC? 

“I love it – I love teaching in my neighborhood! CYC is a good place to be. The people I see here are committed and in the right field.” 

Do you have a favorite moment from your 33 years here? 

“Getting to teach my daughter but also letting her transition to another classroom. That was amazing for me because I saw the positive changes in her and watched how I was able to help her be more independent." 

CYC is incredibly lucky to have experts like Ms. Norma on our team. Over the years she has taught so many children, families, and staff members invaluable lessons. Her colleagues wanted to take a moment to recognize Ms. Norma for her incredible work and dedication. You can flip through their thank you notes below! 

We are so grateful for Ms. Norma for sharing her endless knowledge, care, and love with the CYC community.  

Junior Staff Superstars

CYC believes in holistically supporting children at every stage of their journey. While every age group of children learns valuable life skills through our programs, we recognized a unique need for our teens and young adults: real-world job experience. That sparked the idea for the CYC Junior Staff Program – a collaborative effort between CYC-Rebecca K. Crown and Urban Male Network, designed to offer a preview to the workplace as they look ahead to their careers. 

The Junior Staff Program offers up to nine young people, ages 16-24, a part-time position at CYC-Crown. Throughout the program, the Junior Staff Members gain foundational knowledge and training in child development, program creation, and many essential workplace skills. By building up these new talents, they can assist in all aspects of our Out-of-School Time programming. From leading an exciting club activity to providing academic support to their peers, Junior Staff gain on-the-job experience in a variety of ways at CYC! Each day brings fresh challenges and opportunities, allowing our Junior Staff to grow and adapt in real-time. 

Junior Staff Members helped the CYC-Crown Carnival run smoothly and helped the younger children have a memorable day!

Daniel was a superstar Junior Staff Member during this year’s Summer Fun session. His enthusiasm for working with children and willingness to help with any task made him a standout team member to our full-time staff. Daniel shares that his experience at CYC-Crown helped him to further develop his interpersonal skills and taught him valuable lessons in planning and time management – tools he's now applying in his college studies. 

Currently pursuing marketing at a Chicago community college with plans to transfer to Northern Illinois University, Daniel's work ethic shines through. He's balancing his studies with his new job at Urban Male Network and still finds time to volunteer at CYC multiple times a week! Anjel Williams, Center Director at CYC-Crown, mentions how excited the younger kids are to see Junior Staff Members like Daniel. She notes how the connections they’ve built have boosted children’s and Junior Staff Members’ curiosity and self-esteem. 

CYC offers a nurturing environment where teens and young adults can learn and gain confidence as they enter the workforce. By providing a safe space to make mistakes, learn, and grow, we are supporting them to lay the groundwork for their future success. 

Want to be part of this exciting journey? Support CYC's mission by donating today and help us uplift the next generation of leaders! 

Field Trip Fun in Pilsen

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the CYC 21st AVE Program recently took an exciting field trip to the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago's vibrant Pilsen neighborhood. This educational outing provided CYC children with a fun opportunity to immerse themselves in Mexican art, culture, and traditions! 

The adventure began before even stepping inside the museum. These explorers went on a walking tour of nearby murals, which are a famous, colorful tradition in the neighborhood. These giant art pieces served as a perfect preview of the vivid visual culture we would explore inside of the museum! 

During their museum visit, the children’s favorite part was the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) exhibit. They were fascinated to learn about this important Mexican tradition that honors deceased loved ones. The exhibit featured ofrendas (altars) decorated with beautiful and fun photos, favorite foods, and mementos of the deceased. The young art aficionados loved seeing the many intricate sculptures that represented ancestors and what each person loved to do during their lifetime! This immersive experience gave children a chance to understand how cultures celebrate and remember those who have passed on, just in time for the holiday on November 1st. 

The junior investigators also loved to see how these exhibits tied to their lives in Chicago. This city is known for its many talented musicians who connect people and shape the world around them through their music. One musician who greatly influenced Chicago was José Cruz Alba. We learned that Alba was an immigrant from Durango, Mexico, who played a pivotal role in bringing mariachi to the forefront of Chicago's music scene. After many kids heard mariachi music for the first time that day, they were excited to uncover its importance to the history of their hometown. They discovered the story of Mariachi Potosino, the band Alba founded in 1958 that continued to perform all the way until 2019, leaving an unforgettable mark on the city's culture. As we left, we noted how amazing it was that one person could have such a wonderful, lasting effect on the community. 

This field trip offered these CYC adventurers an amazing opportunity to engage with Mexican culture and traditions! The museum mavericks were able to gain understanding and appreciation for the impact that many Mexican-American people had and continue to have on Chicago's history. CYC provides enriching experiences like these to help children see how amazing different cultures are and to feel proud of their own heritages, too 

Keep up with more fun CYC field trips and programs over on our social media! Click the links below to find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  

Meet CYC's Interim President and CEO

On August 9th, 2024, Tina Ayala transitioned into her role as Interim President and CEO of CYC. With 29 years of experience within our organization, we are proud to have such a strong, knowledgeable, and passionate leader for our team during this interim period. We sat down to chat with Tina and are excited to share more about her journey with CYC, her deep understanding of the agency, and her continued commitment to our mission with you!  

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Could you tell us a little about yourself? 

I started at CYC about 30 years ago as a Social Work Intern from Loyola University. I am a married mother of two daughters, who are both products of CYC! They both attended the Early Learning Program as well as the Summer Fun Program.  

What drew you to social work, and why CYC?  

I was placed at CYC for my internship by my professor at Loyola. My passion has always been youth. I was always the babysitter and the one who volunteered. In high school, I would coach cheerleading programs at the park district. I always knew my passion was for community and being somehow involved in creating positive change.  

You have held several positions at CYC over the years, can you share more about your CYC story? 

Tina and fellow staff members at our August All-Staff In-Service, posing with their Del Arsenault Staff Recognition nominations.

I was placed in the Bridgeport community for my initial internship, which continued into a long-term tenure at Fellowship House. Once I graduated, I applied for a Youth Worker position and worked with the 9 to 12–year–olds and in Chicago Public Schools on behalf of CYC. I then transitioned to being the Lead Youth Worker of the Teen Program. After the Teens, I moved on to be a Program Manager, then I was a Center Director for, I believe, 8 or 9 years. Now, for the past 6 years, I have been on the Executive Leadership Team. It has been such an honor to evolve, grow, and find a home at CYC. 

What have been some of your favorite memories at CYC? 

I am really committed to community service. One of the things I am most proud of is when the teens were involved in Community Service Club. [I would help them] learn about a different social challenge each month, then there would be a monthly outing in the community. For example, one month we talked about homelessness, and during that month we made sandwiches and cocoa and brought that into the community. When we talked about food insecurities, we went to St. Pius Church where we would volunteer in the food pantries. This Service Club ultimately turned into an international trip where we were able to fundraise and partner with an organization in Jalisco, Mexico. Four youth and I brought toys, toiletries, and clothing over for families in the area. Since this was around the winter holiday season, we were able to participate in an event with the Agency for Integral Family Development where we dressed as Santa and elves to give out the toys and clothes as gifts.  

What are you looking forward to most during your time as Interim President and CEO? 

Tina presenting at the university of augsburg in germany

I am excited and curious to see where this role takes me. I plan to keep intentionally investing in our culture of working together and growing the team's confidence and expertise. I also look forward to helping expand our capacity to continue delivering quality programming in CYC communities. I aim to ensure those we serve reflect the diverse communities in Chicago. I remain committed to bringing our programs to the larger community of Chicago, so that those who do not know who we are can learn how great we are as an agency!

What existing strategic focus areas are you looking to continue investing in at CYC? 

I am looking to really build up our staff’s capacity. The work our team does each day can be tough, and funding is a challenge our programs continue to face. So, I plan to continue digging in further on funding opportunities, program visibility, and partnerships. This will help support our organizational priorities that include hiring more staff. Growing our talented team of professionals is essential to continuing to improve the quality of our programs.  

Internally, we have been talking about why we are “Proud to be CYC”. What makes you most proud to be part of this organization? 

I think what I am most proud of about being part of CYC is the smiles that you see every day. Whether that smile is from a staff member, a child, or a parent. I also feel pride knowing that we offer so many valuable resources to our community. It just feels amazing to have the capability to do that. I want to continue to offer equitable access to the resources, experiences, mentors, and safe spaces that children, families, and communities need to be their best selves. 

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The CYC Team is stepping into our Fall Programming season with confidence and enthusiasm knowing that we have such a brilliant leader overseeing our organization! As always, we look forward to sharing our ongoing impact and the holistic support CYC will continue to provide during Tina’s time as Interim President and CEO.  

Thank you to each of our supporters for being part of the CYC family and helping us bring smiles, experiences, and resources to communities across Chicago! If you want to help continue to bring high quality programming to more children and families, you can follow the link below to donate. 

Out of the Park Partnership

IT Bridge visited CYC-Sidney Epstein to introduce CYC children to some super cool technology! They spent part of their week learning about how tech is utilized in professional sports and what math is used to turn information from that technology into trackable data.  

These sessions focused on Major League Baseball and reviewed machines like bat sensors, as well as wearable transmitters used to record pitching speed. “We use this bat to see how fast we can swing. It [has] a sensor at the bottom to track the speeds,” said Amarè. CYC children were able to test these tools themselves and see in real-time how fast they could hit a baseball.  

The volunteers from IT Bridge discussed how their goal was to mix sports with learning, so kids could find a relatable and more exciting way to think about math. “We learned about three concepts: probability, percentages, and averages,” explained Nalia. And you could tell that their plan was a home run, because CYC children couldn’t get enough of these lessons! 

What really hit it out of the park was that the group closed their session with a private tour of Wrigley Field! Thank you so much to IT Bridge for sponsoring such a wonderful experience and supporting CYC children’s eagerness to learn! Want to see some of the lessons and tour? Click the link below to check out the video created by IT Bridge to see our young sports analysts' experience! 

Early Learning Celebrations

Each year the Early Learning teachers and staff host celebrations and graduations for our classes. It is a day for children, families, and staff to gather and recognize all the past year’s accomplishments! Many children move up to kindergarten, while others are moving up to the next level of CYC’s Early Learning Program. We captured some great photos from our Early Learning Program’s celebrations that you can flip through! 

At Centro Nuestro, the children were excited to show their families the Zumba routine they had been practicing, and their reading skills! Ms. Norma shared that over this past program year, she has watched the children become more independent and gain so many skills. She said her favorite part about graduation day is that families gather at the Centers and share in this success. 

The Early Learning Staff talk about how special days like this are another reminder of why they chose this career. Ms. Staggers of CYC-Sidney Epstein reminisces about her time in the classroom at CYC, and the impact the children have had on her. “My favorite memory is the first time I went into the classroom when I started working here 11 years ago. The moment I walked in, the kids had never seen me, but they came up and hugged me. It always sticks with me. Children can sense when adults are present and care for them. I still love all the hugs I get every day, and when they stick to me like glue.” 

As Summer Programming ends, and children get ready for their next step in learning, staff remind families that they always have a resource and support system at CYC. We asked our staff what they hope children hold onto as they continue growing; “I hope the children remember that learning can always be fun,” says Ms. Staggers. Ms. Norma says, “I hope the children hold on to self-respect and kindness.” It is so wonderful to see the confidence and excitement each child has built up for their next academic adventure. Congratulations again to CYC’s Early Learning class of 2024, we cannot wait to see you in our Out-of-School Time Programs and all that you will accomplish next! 

Are you looking to teach or work in Early Learning Programming? CYC could be the place for you! Check out our Careers Page to see what opportunities are available.