EFLC MURAL

The Chicago ENLACE Initiative at Northeastern Illinois University hosted its yearly six-day long ENLACE Future Leaders Camp at Aurora University’s Lake Geneva Campus in Williams Bay, WI. June 2006. 

The ENLACE Future Leaders Camp provides a leadership training program to selected 8th and 9th grade Latino students from Chicago middle schools and surrounding communities to motivate and encourage them to complete high school, enroll and graduate from college.

The students are provided with the skills that will help them become effective leaders in their school, and, eventually, in their communities, in business and in government. They learn to be proud of their heritage, to use leadership skills, to gain the most they can from the opportunities available to them in this country, and to strive for higher goals in education. 

All of this is achieved thanks to a staff involving undergraduate, graduate and professional volunteers who provide the students with various workshops on cultural awareness, leadership involvement in their school and in their community, college preparation, citizenship responsibilities, self esteem, public speaking, goal setting, as well as team building activities.

One of the highlights of this year's camp was the making of a mural that was presented to Dr. Salme Harju Steinberg for her outstanding support to the ENLACE Initiative and the Latino educational pathway.  This mural reflects the ENLACE students' camp experience and their hopes and aspirations as future leaders of our country.  We are grateful to Victor (RebelX) Montañez who lead the students in the designing of this artwork.  The mural has been permanently located in the Student Union building of NEIU.