Eight students from SAFE Achieve Academy of Chicago, part of the Chicago Public Schools’ Option Network, recently visited Yvenetta "Midge" Welch, the dedicated owner of Issues Barber & Beauty Salon, for a tour and Q&A session at her salon. The students, part of a cosmetology class at the school, had the opportunity to meet stylists and chat with them about their profession, as well as practice some of what they had learned about washing hair. Throughout the spring semester, Yvenetta was instrumental in nurturing the students’ passion for hair styling and grooming as a potential career path. According to Joseph Haley, executive [...]

Four students from the Safe Achieve Academy, part of the Chicago Public Schools’ Options Network, made school history when they won the Chicago Area Alternative Education League (CAAEL) Spelling Bee. While the team initially took part in the spelling bee just for entertainment, they walked away with a historic win, in part due to encouragement to do their best and a little competitive spirit from Terrance Sirleaf, a behavioral specialist at Safe Achieve Academy. “We had very little time to study for the event. We put in a lot of crunch-time hours. When we arrived, we were under the impression [...]