Breaking News:
Voices from the Classroom
Read what the 2008 Great Books Great Teachers say about Junior Great Books.Save 40% on Classroom Sets!
Reader's Guides to Literary Classics—for The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, and Narrative of the...New Title! Talking Service: Readings for Civic Reflection
Talking Service: Readings for Civic Reflection is the ultimate resource for service-learning...Announcing the Great Schools Package!
Get 50% off K-12 classroom materials and professional development! Find out more!
Great Books News
CME Trust Awards Grant to Support Junior Great Books Programs
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Trust has awarded the Great Books Foundation $470,000 to implement three-year Junior Great Books programs in five Chicago Public Schools. The grant was announced December 12, 2006, and is one of the first grants awarded by the Trust.
“The Great Books Foundation is honored to be among the pioneering recipients of an award from the CME Trust,” said Foundation president George Schueppert. “We're excited on behalf of the hundreds of Chicago Public Schools students who will benefit from the Trust's commitment to education.”
“CME Trust is pleased to make this commitment to expand the Junior Great Books program in the Chicago Public Schools,” added Kassie Davis, executive director of the CME Trust. Most of the 20 grants announced were for Chicago-based universities, schools, and nonprofit organizations.
“A program like Junior Great Books is more important than ever. Because when reading clicks with a child, a lifetime of genuine enrichment awaits,” reads the Trust's grant summary. “The novels and stories of Langston Hughes, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Rudyard Kipling are among the noteworthy selections of the Junior Great Books program, which will now reach third, fourth, and fifth graders targeted in Chicago Public Schools.”
The following Chicago public elementary schools were selected to participate in the project after completing a competitive and intensive application process:
Charles W. Earle
Francis Scott Key
Mahalia Jackson
Nicholas Copernicus
William H. Prescott
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Trust was established by the CME in 1969, under the direction of its chairman, to provide financial protection to customers in the event a CME member firm became insolvent or unable to meet its obligations to its customers. However, no CME customer has ever suffered losses due to a member's adverse financial condition. In 2005, the CME Trust received approval to distribute the net income of the Trust to public charities.