August 3, 2020

It may feel like it’s been years since the longest teachers strike in the history of Chicago Public Schools, but it was just last fall. The strike, along with the current COVID-19 pandemic, challenged CAASE’s prevention education team to quickly adapt their acclaimed programming to suit unprecedented classroom disruptions. Student access remained our highest priority, and through a handful of inventive measures, CAASE rose to the occasion and served 1,885 students in the 2019-2020 school year. While we certainly wished to work with more teens, we are proud of our programming’s dexterity and remain steadfast in our optimism.

Along with other educational organizations, CAASE felt the impact of the Chicago Teachers Union’s 14-day walkout at the start of the school year. Historically, October is the most popular month for scheduling CAASE’s workshops. But in 2019, the strike loomed and began its three-week span at a time typically marked by high demand from school administrators seeking out and scheduling our programming well into the future. Instead, we saw a drastic slowdown in bookings, and our usual school relationship-building activities took a hit. We remained vigilant in our mission all the same and used this time to continue evaluating and revising our curriculum, as well as training two new Masters of Social Work interns. 

When the strike ended, many teachers understandably chose to postpone external programming until the Spring. They needed all the time they could find to prioritize lessons missed during the walkout. While CAASE’s Educators looked forward to picking up where they left off, none of us could have anticipated the tragic conditions of COVD-19. In light of Illinois’ shelter-in-place restrictions and school closures, the Prevention Education team quickly focused their efforts on creating e-learning programs to supplement CPS’ online, remote schooling. We’re proud to report that CAASE has been able to empower 969 students with our digital curriculum since April 2020! Course feedback is showing the impact.

At the end of our program, 91% of students agreed that consent is required for every sexual interaction, up from 52% at the start. 92% of participants could directly identify rape culture at the end of our instruction, as opposed to 21% at the beginning. These shifts in attitude and knowledge are evident in the meaningful reflections we received from our students, too. A 9th grader from Lake View High School noted, “To end sexual violence, we start at the bottom with the small things first, like name-calling, victim-blaming, then take down bigger problems.”

“I was able to fully understand the gender stereotypes established by society and really relate that to why sexual violence may be happening or encouraged,” a 12th grader from Hancock College Prep said. “I never really put two and two together to fully understand…how outsiders who don’t fit in these two categories may feel or react to the situation.” These powerful moments of growth make our educational programs well worthwhile. 

As we look to the 2020-2021 school year, we feel prepared to accommodate changing academic settings. For now, we are offering a pre-recorded digital curriculum—the same one distributed at the end of the last semester. We will also be offering live virtual programming by facilitating workshops at classes’ scheduled times. To keep our community safe and healthy, we will be offering e-learning exclusively for the next academic year, or until a vaccine is widely available.

The extraordinary challenges of the past academic year were no match for our commitment to empowering teens. With support from people like you, we found new and creative ways to provide our crucial programming and continue in our mission to end sexual harm. 

To learn more about CAASE’s prevention programs, visit our website. You can also read about and request workshops here.

CAASE was able to meet the unprecedented academic challenges of the past school year because people like you support our Prevention Education Programs. The Race for CAASE team is a big part of that! Each year, runners, walkers, and donors raise thousands of dollars to make sure we can continue to empower teens to become allies against sexual harm. You’re invited to join us as a runner or a walker virtually this fall! Find the details here.

We thank the DeBoccles Foundation, the NoVo Foundation, and the Paul M. Angell Foundation for their continued generosity. We’re also grateful to the Greer Foundation, who is matching all funds raised during the Race for CAASE.  

This piece was authored by KT Hawbaker with assistance from Shalini Mirpuri and Hayley Forrestal. Learn more about our staff here.