Baxter Employees Host Sessions for Critical Thinking and Debate at Chicago High School

Jun 7, 2013 9:05 AM ET
Students from Muchin College Prep visit Baxter's headquarters in Deerfield to discuss careers.

Baxter employees host sessions for critical thinking and debate at Chicago high…

Nestled in the pages of magazines like Time, Ebony, Latina, Chicago Magazine, Sports Illustrated and The Economist are news items, ideas and controversies that high school students from Muchin College Prep in Chicago—a charter school that serves 500 students from more than 45 zip codes throughout the city and features many educational innovations—eagerly await to pore over each month.

Magazines in hand, students gather in the school's library once a month to bring the topics found in these publications to life through spirited discussion and debate, transforming the space into a salon of critical thinking.

Facilitated by six Baxter International Inc. employee volunteers, Muchin College Prep's magazine club was launched by the company's African American Leadership Council (AALC) to fill a need for periodicals to keep the students up-to-date on thought-provoking topics and current events. When touring the school in 2012, Heather Polk, senior marketing manager in Baxter's Medical Products business and community co-lead for AALC, noticed that the school didn't have magazines in its library that could help engage the students.

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