In this Issue

•  Leadership Community Updates
• It’s Not Too Late to Register for the CCE Conference
• Virtual Meetings with ISACorps Members for FAFSA Completion 

 Leadership Community Updates

MORE (Making Opportunities Real for Everyone in the Mississippi and Rock River Regions)

River Bend CUSD #2 Expands Pathways Programming

River Bend CUSD #2 is adding an education pathway course through Sauk Valley Community College on-site in fall 2024. The district’s curriculum director will teach the course and work with future teachers. Fulton High School is also expanding Future Farmers of America (FFA) programming by adding construction agriculture to its curriculum to provide additional pathway programming.

Thanks to support from the Fulton Kiwanis, the first Fulton High School student will begin the Whiteside Area Career Center Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) program, a year-long course offered to juniors and seniors. The program covers a range of business topics, including innovative thinking strategies, product development, competitive advantages, and more. Fulton students in the CEO program will travel 25 miles one way to attend courses in Sterling, Illinois.

Sauk Valley Community College (SVCC) Grows Programs, Hosts Manufacturing Day Event

• The Police Academy graduated 108 police officers in its first year, boosting the local workforce's staffing within departments.
• The new sonography program has launched, offering healthcare providers a new pool of ultrasound professionals to fill their workforce needs.
• The annual Manufacturing Day Grand Finale event was held at SVCC in May (pictured below). Approximately 200 high school students received tours of industry and participated in a fun, hands-on engineering event, assembling small race cars from local manufacturing parts.
• A new 6,000-square-foot greenhouse is now in operation, and the college has partnered with the University of Illinois Extension to assist with coordination.
• The agriculture program has expanded its dual credit offerings to seven local high schools, increasing access.

MORE Partners Host Signing Day

Northwest Educational Council for Student Success (NECSS)

D214 is Accelerating Careers with Summer Internships

D214 students are discovering their futures through D214 summer internships. Wheeling High School senior Cristal Juarez is gaining hands-on experience in the auto body shop at Tasca Chevrolet.  From sanding cars to prepping and replacing bumpers, she's diving into real-world skills that will pave her way forward.
>> Watch Cristal in action.

NCI/Starved Rock Region

Career Exploration Camps 

Illinois Valley Community College’s series of summer Career Exploration Camps introduces teens to agriculture, automotive technology, nursing, cybersecurity, and other careers. The programs expose teens ages 13-17 to careers in various fields. IVCC faculty members guide students through projects and activities using professional techniques and tools in IVCC’s state-of-the-art labs. Essential career skills are incorporated into the lessons. 
>> Learn more about the camps

Rockford

Rockford Public Schools Host Reverse Job Fair

In May, Rockford Public Schools, in collaboration with RAMP Center for Independent Living, hosted a Reverse Job Fair at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Rockford. Students with intellectual disabilities ranging in age from 18 to 22 have been working hard over the course of the school year to learn entry-level employability skills through the internship program Project SEARCH. >> Read more

Southern Illinois

ISBE Recognizes Career Pathways at Vienna High School

Students in the Vienna school system have yet again achieved state-level recognition with Career and College Pathway Endorsements (CCPE) approved by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in teacher education, social work, certified nursing, agriculture mechanics, and construction craft.

Over the last several years, Vienna has been actively working on ensuring that all students are career-connected and life-ready. The Illinois Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act establishes a process for school districts to award CCPEs to high school graduates. Students earn endorsements by completing an individualized learning plan, a career-focused instructional sequence, and professional learning opportunities.

Director of Student Career Services Leslie Bradley leads this work locally and is actively involved in state-wide implementation. Bradley states, “We continue to expand ways for students to become engaged in meaningful work that supports their future careers, which is exciting and rewarding for everyone involved.”

School superintendent Joshua Stafford added, "The investment of the community into our school system is important and our community has to get a return on that investment. Our school ensuring that students are connected with meaningful career plans is evidence of major return on the investment. We are excited for the students who reached this special designation by the state and look forward to watching these students become young flourishing adults."

Vienna offers numerous hands-on career-related courses and opportunities. The school has six career pathways with special CCPE designation from ISBE, including Ag Mechanics, Social Work, Teacher Education, Business Computer Systems, Certified Nursing Assistant, and Construction Craft. The district has established a comprehensive framework that has students actively preparing for and mapping out their future with a career/student success coach.
>> Find more information on Vienna's Career Connections

Nurses Pinning in Vienna High School

Nursing instructor Sherie Smith shared, “This class had a bit of a change. We had six seniors and eight juniors in this class. All of them worked really hard, and I am so proud of their current accomplishments and look forward to watching their future careers unfold! I am also excited to see the growth in the juniors as they get started working a year earlier!”

“You would be hard-pressed to walk into a hospital or any medical facility in Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky and not find a Vienna nursing graduate working in those facilities. This program has been a launching pad for students to go into numerous careers in the medical field. We have nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, you name it, who all started in the Vienna health occupation program while in high school,” said school superintendent Joshua Stafford.

  Upcoming Events

It’s Not Too Late to Register for the CCE Conference

July 18

Join ISAC at the 2024 College Changes Everything® (CCE) conference on July 18th at the Tinley Park Convention Center. At all levels of the education system and across all workforce sectors, we have a shared responsibility to create and support healthy communities. 

During the morning session we’ll be hearing from Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, author of Design Social Change: Take Action, Work Toward Equity, and Challenge the Status Quo. Dr. Noel is Dean of the Faculty of Design at the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD), Canada’s largest and most comprehensive art, design, and media university. She is a designer, researcher, and educator with research interests focusing on those traditionally excluded from research, design-based learning, and design thinking. She practices primarily in social innovation, entrepreneurship, education, and public health. In her research, she highlights the work of designers outside Europe and North America. She designed The Designer’s Critical Alphabet, a deck of cards to help introduce designers and design students to inclusive design concepts. She also designed Empathy Games for Children, a deck of cards with activities to help children empathize with each other. Dr. Noel is the co-founder and co-chair of the Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group of the Design Research Society, and she is a co-editor of The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression and Reflection.

Virtual Meetings with ISACorps Members for FAFSA Completion 

If you have any recent high school graduates who need assistance with completing their FAFSA or Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid, they can now book a virtual one-on-one meeting with an ISACorps member using the Teams Bookings page. They can book a virtual meeting up to seven days in advance, and there’s an option to meet with a Spanish-speaking ISACorps member. Although the target audience is recent high school graduates, ISAC welcomes anyone needing assistance. If you want to put the link on any printed materials/letters you may share with students and families, you can use https://bit.ly/4birpF5 to get to the Teams Booking webpage. ISAC thanks you for spreading the word.