Welcome to the 2012 ACE DB Workshop!  I’m anticipating a smooth kickoff to our third year of the summer program and very excited about our  team and our 2012 client.  Our student team will be bigger (and better..!) than the previous two years, with 19 confirmed students and 2 collegiate teaching assistants.  The team will be led by myself plus two ACE co-instructors, Jason Pugh and Randy Herbstman.  Additionally, Mr. Thomas Miller will be supervising all work in the CPS wood shop and assisting the team throughout the summer.  And of course we have lots of behind the scenes help from ACE and CPS.  Please see the attached Workshop orientation package for a full program overview, class list, schedule, and portfolio of past projects.  An identical document will be mailed to each of you at your home address.

I would like to highlight two items in this package.  First, note that we will all meet for the first time on Wednesday, June 20 for a student orientation.  This meeting will take place at Curie Metro HS (4959 S. Archer) between 6:30 and 7:30pm in rm 192.  Parents or guardians are encouraged to attend.  We will go through the Workshop schedule (including field trips to be organized each Friday), discuss a few basic expectations, and answer any questions that you may have.  The program will officially begin the following day at 8:00am.

Second, I would like to announce this year’s community project.  We will be working with the Chicago-based nonprofit group, Neighbor Space.  Neighbor Space serves as an advocate for parks and community gardens throughout Chicago, and will serve as our liaison to one or more community gardens on the West side of Chicago, near the neighborhood of West Humboldt Park.  Neighbor Space is particularly interested in water management and in developing ‘rain-harvesting’ furniture or systems.  We will discuss the project in more detail at our June 20 orientation.

Please feel free to call or email with any questions about this summer’s program.  I look forward to meeting you all soon!