Jennifer Velazquez was born in Chicago and has lived on Kimball and Armitage her whole life. She has not lived in the same house the entire time, but has lived in a few houses around the area. Jennifer’s hobbies are listening to music, reading, writing, being on Facebook, and being on Instagram. Jennifer wants to continue a career in writing and hopes to become a high school English teacher. If anyone was to ask her for advice on college, Jennifer’s answer would be to start as early as possible, do things on time, and don’t be pressured!
When Jennifer Velazquez goes to meetings with the Board of Education and she would tell them things like “Kelvyn Park High School is losing money because A, B, C……” their answers are always “oooh my! Really!! “ and to Jennifer it is crazy because it’s like how do you not know this stuff. Jennifer believes there is a lot of lost communication between concerned community members and the board of education. Jennifer thinks very strongly about education! She says it’s something you invest in but something no one can take away from you and because of that you will always have an education to fall back on!
Jennifer works with our local LSNA, which stands for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. Her department works with families and has a big role in helping with immigration. One time her and her sister got arrested with hundreds of other people for protesting about what they believe is right, which is to stop the government from sending immigrants back to where they came from. Her belief is that they came here to be free and they left for a reason so why would you send them back if they have been through so much just to be here. Jennifer also works with seniors at Kelvyn Park High School and helping them go to college by using the FAFSA.
When Jennifer was younger she also faced violence in her community. One time her and her sister were at home just looking out the window and saw two groups of guys just arguing at each other and pointing towards the alley. She then saw them all walking towards the alley and one guy was not paying attention like he should be when he crossed the street to go to the alley and got hit by a car. He hit his head against the concrete and then she witnessed him get up like nothing ever happened. It made Jennifer feel very worried to witness something that traumatic and scary and she thanks god her and her little sister weren't outside when it actually happened.
Jennifer Velasquez loves Batman. He’s her definition of a hero because to her his message is that, “You don’t have to have superpowers to be a hero,” and that, “you don’t need to be from a different planet to help save our city.” To Jennifer a hero is, “someone who helps people without asking for anything in return,” like herself. Jennifer Velasquez is a community hero. Jennifer gets her inspiration from her family, but mostly from Mr. O’Bra because he’s always doing something to help our community . He is an amazing teacher because he converses with his students and he doesn't put them down, instead he puts his students on an equal level as him and he doesn't act like he is bigger or more important than them.
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