On Thursday, October 20, 2011, the 5th Annual School Rocks! fundraiser will rock out once again at the historic House of Blues, for a memorable evening with rock 'n' roll legends Cheap Trick, benefitting the students of San Miguel Schools Chicago. Visit: http://www.sanmiguelrocks.org.

Event Highlights

RAFFLE: Tiffany & Co. Raffle tickets

LIVE AUCTION: Features one-of-a-kind experiences, sporting events, vacation homes, and more

VIP PARTY: VIP Pre-Part at the Crimson Lounge with artist meet and greet

LIVE CONCERT: Rock out to Cheap Trick playing their greatest hits including "Surrender", "The Flame", and "I Want You to Want Me."

Purchase Tickets Online: http://sanmiguelchicago.givezooks.com/events/school-rocks

Learn about the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMgTC0YptGw

Back of the Yards campus is the only Chicago middle school stop on the North American tour

WHO: San Miguel middle school students, staff, and Lennon Bus producers and engineers

WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: San Miguel School, 1954 West 48th Street, Chicago (773) 890-1481

LEARN MORE: Visit www.lennonbus.org

EXPLORE: http://www.youtube.com/johnlennonbus

CONTACT: Phillip Jiménez, 773/890-0233 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ABC 7 San Miguel Schools YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMgTC0YptGw

San Miguel School: Become As One - YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_PCDX2jsbk&feature=youtu.be

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit, state-of-the-art mobile recording facility. The studio features the latest technology in multimedia production and the latest traditional musical instruments. It provides students with free, hands-on experiences in creating original music and video projects. San Miguel Schools Chicago is the only Chicago middle school selected to host the Lennon Tour Bus.

A group of San Miguel students will have the opportunity to record in the same mobile studio as Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Mos Def, Justin Timberlake and Natasha Bedingfield. The visit comes just one month before San Miguel's 5th annual "School Rocks!" rock concert and fundraiser featuring Cheap Trick on October 20, 2011.


HIGHLIGHTS:

San Miguel Schools Chicago provide innovative and accessible educational experiences for the children of inner-city families so they can complete high school with the skills, support and self awareness to make the next productive choice in life. School Rocks! is San Miguel Schools' largest annual event and raises crucial funds to provide a quality, private education for inner-city students in Chicago. 100% of School Rocks! proceeds provide scholarship and community support to San Miguel students.

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit 501(c)(3) state-of-the-art mobile audio and HD video recording and production facility. In its 14th year, with the very newest technology and gear, the Bus continues to be dedicated to providing young people with tours of the studios and participation in free songwriting and multimedia production workshops. With the assistance of three on-board engineers, students learn how to write, perform, record, and produce original songs, produce and shoot music videos and documentaries and complete a broadcast quality music video – all in one day! "Lennon" and "John Lennon" are trademarks of Yoko Ono Lennon. All artwork © Yoko Ono Lennon. Licensed exclusively through Bag One Arts, Inc. For more information, visit www.lennonbus.org

Duerr Joins Team Dedicated to Assisting Underprivileged Middle School Students in Urban Chicago

OAK BROOK, IL--(Marketwire - Jun 8, 2011) - David Duerr, chairman and chief executive officer of Chicago Internet marketing firm Straight North, recently was elected to the Board of Directors at San Miguel Schools Chicago. As a board member, Duerr will help the urban school system fulfill its mission of transforming lives and neighborhoods in inner city Chicago.

"For many underprivileged Chicago students, the ability to excel comes down to resources and support," Duerr said. "San Miguel fosters an environment in which students from difficult backgrounds can thrive. It's a mission I fully support, and I'm honored to lend a hand."

For more than 15 years, San Miguel campuses have been committed to helping Latino and African American youths succeed academically in grades five through eight. The school offers regular instruction, as well as tutoring for current students and academic support for graduates.

Duerr is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist with expertise in Internet marketing services. He has co-founded many successful businesses and has been recognized as a skilled businessman in the areas of strategy, operational management, restructuring, financing, fund-raising, and mergers and acquisitions.

In addition to his position at Straight North, Duerr serves as a director on the boards of Focus Equity Partners, Officite, Business Only Broadband and Worknet.

ABOUT STRAIGHT NORTH: Straight North is an Internet marketing and Chicago SEO company serving mid-sized and large B2B firms. We build high-performance websites, drive site traffic and generate leads. Our services cover all the bases: SEO, paid search, social media, web design and development, copywriting, video, mobile, email marketing, analytics, conversion optimization, usability analysis, branding and strategy. Our experienced B2B team makes every click count.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Ferguson
773.531.8543
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

San Miguel Chicago is aware of an announcement by the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers, also called the Irish Christian Brothers, regarding bankruptcy of their ministry corporations in New York and Chicago.

San Miguel Chicago and the De La Salle Christian Brothers have no legal, corporate or financial connection to the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers and are not affiliated in any way.

We offer our prayers and support to the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers at this difficult time.

Thank you to all of you who took the survey sent in our January E-Newsletter!  Your responses are helping us to improve our communications.  We appreciate and value your comments and we want to share the survey results with you.

• When asked how often you would like to receive e-newsletters from San Miguel Schools, a majority of respondants chose once a month at 44.4% followed by once a quarter at 33.3%.
• When asked what topics are of most interest to you, 76.7% choose "personal stories about San Miguel students, families and alumni," and 71.7% chose "stories about specific San Miguel programs."  The third most popular answer at 56.7% was "personal stories or profiles on administrators, teachers and staff."
• The next question asked which mode of communication you preferred and an overwhelming majority chose electronic only at 75.4%.  However there are some respondents who chose both (14.8%) or hard copy only (8.2%).  We have taken note of those who left their contact information to receive hard copy mail and will be mailing you our future communications.

Almost all of you believed that the San Miguel e-newsletter is effective, so thank you for your support!  However, we will always be seeking out ways to improve, so for those who replied with specific responses, thank you.  We love your future story ideas and your feedback about what you like the most and what you like the least, and we will be incorporating them in our communications in the future.

For complete survey results, please click here.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to complete our survey!