Latest news with #RegionalOfficeofEducationNo.47
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Making the Grade: Sauk Valley-area students obtain career endorsements, plan futures through Pathways program
May 30—STERLING — More than 40 high school graduates from across the Sauk Valley took advantage of a program this year that helped prepare them for careers in the education sector. Created under the state's 2016 Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act, the Illinois College & Career Pathway Endorsement Program allows students to earn a formal endorsement on their high school diploma or transcript by completing a series of structured requirements designed to prepare them for life after high school in their chosen career path. Students choose from one of seven career pathways: * Agriculture food and natural resources * Health sciences and technology * Finance and business services * Arts and communications * Information technology * Human and public services * Manufacturing, engineering, technology and trades According to the PWR Act, to qualify for the endorsement, students must complete the following requirements: * Students must complete an individualized learning plan that outlines their college pathway and relates to their career goals and plans for financial aid. They also must include a resume and a personal statement. * Complete at least two career exploration activities or one intensive experience before graduating. This can include completing a career-interest survey, attending a career fair, interviewing someone from their chosen career field, participating in a college visit and job shadowing or visiting a local business. * Complete at least two team-based projects with adult mentoring that focuses on solving a problem related to their chosen career field. * Complete 60 cumulative hours in a paid or for-credit, supervised career development experience, concluding with an evaluation of their professional skills. This can be completed at any point throughout their four years of high school, including during the summer. * Complete two years of high school coursework, or demonstrate equivalent competencies, leading toward a postsecondary credential with recognized labor market value. This includes a minimum of six hours of early college credit that can be earned by taking dual-credit classes, Advanced Placement classes or college classes. * Demonstrate college-ready proficiency in English and math by graduation. This can be done in one of several ways, including earning the required scores on the ACT, SAT, or college placement tests; achieving the required grade-point average set by their local community college, or receiving a grade of "C" or higher in transitional English and math classes. Anji Garza is the director of Professional Learning and Educational Services for Regional Office of Education No. 47 in Sterling. She said students who earn an endorsement enter college better prepared and more confident in their chosen career paths, having already explored their interests through real-world experience. "This allows students to explore their options much more intentionally, as opposed to students who go and maybe don't have that career in mind, and then they're exploring those options in college, which we know can be a very expensive career exploration endeavor," Garza said. Students with an endorsement also earn a $100 credit at Dixon's Sauk Valley Community College. In 2021, SVCC — in partnership with ROE 47 — was awarded a $249,000 grant from the Illinois State Board of Education to support career pathways for high school students. It was the first phase of a four-part grant cycle totaling $747,000. SVCC's Peer Academic Support Services Facilitator Celina Benson said the CCPE program offers students exposure to careers in their chosen field they might not have previously considered. "When you think about health sciences, the first thing you think of is a doctor or a nurse, but there's so many other careers within that sector," Benson said. "Whether it's rad tech or sonography, they might not have been exposed to some of that information. With this program, they get to see it firsthand within those careers." Additionally, students who earn their endorsement in the education pathway are advanced to the final round for the Golden Apple Scholarship, which provides the winners with four years of free college tuition and fees. In 2022, Gov. JB Pritzker signed Public Act 102-0917, which requires all Illinois high school districts to begin offering College and Career Pathway Endorsements. Starting with the Class of 2027, districts must apply to the state to offer at least one endorsement area — either on their own, through a career center, or in partnership with other districts. By 2029, they must add a second endorsement, and by 2031, districts with more than 350 high school students must offer a third. ROE 47 Digital Teaching & Learning Specialist Stacey Dinges said 18 school districts throughout the Sauk Valley currently offer at least one pathway endorsement. Participating school districts include: * Riverbend Community Unit School Dist 2 * Dixon Public Schools 170 * Rock Falls High School 301 * Morrison Community Unit School Dist 6 * Amboy Community Unit School District 272 * Ashton-Franklin Center CUSD 275 * Forrestville Valley CUSD 221 * Regional Safe School Center for Change * Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico 3 * Byron CUSD 226 * Rock Falls Elementary District 13 * Sterling District 5 * Whiteside Area Career Center * Ohio CCSD 17 * Rochelle Township High School * Oregon Community Unit School District 220 * Polo Community Unit School District * Chadwick-Milledgeville CUSD 399 * Eastland CUSD 308 As of July 1, 2025, all districts must either apply to offer the required number of endorsement areas or have a board-approved plan in place to meet the deadlines. Districts also have the option to opt out by passing a formal resolution through their school board. "Each school does it a little differently," Dinges said. "Some students use their community colleges, some districts use their Career Center, and some do it all in-house. It just depends on the district." For more information, call ROE 47 at 815-625-1495 or visit
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Regional education office, schools partner to pinpoint, provide for Sauk Valley area's homeless students
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways May 7—STERLING — A federal program is working behind the scenes to ensure students experiencing homelessness, including those in the Sauk Valley, do not fall between the cracks. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Program is an initiative designed to support children and youths experiencing homelessness to gain equal access to a free, public education. Students are identified through registration, staff and community outreach; services include academic support, transportation, and necessities such as toiletries and clothing. Deb Sweeney is the Area 2 lead liaison for the program at the Regional Office of Education No. 47 in Sterling, which serves students across Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties. She said every school is required to ask specific questions during student registration that are designed to help identify students experiencing homelessness or forms of housing instability, such as "couch surfing." "That's why there's training needed for all the district staff, because it may be the bus driver that is seeing something when they're dropping kids off, the nurses need to know the doctor, all of the teaching staff, everybody," Sweeney said. "And some of it's just eyeballs, something's different, and then someone paying attention to that. Other times, it can be the community reaching out to the school." The McKinney-Vento Act requires school districts to post information about the educational rights of homeless children and youths on their websites, registration forms and common areas such as laundromats, public libraries, homeless shelters and soup kitchens. Sweeney said school districts' homeless liaisons undergo yearly training. She also regularly shares updated information and specialized training opportunities with other liaisons and ROEs across the region that can be shared with school staff, such as nurses and social workers. The program is funded through a state grant that helps provide students with items from laptops and school supplies to shoes and incidentals. "People so often just think of the paper, pencil part, and that's usually the easy part to say to a local church, 'Hey, could you get us five book bags,'" Sweeney said. "But that's just the basics. They need to have laundry soap so their clothes could be clean. They need transportation help, oftentimes, to get from where they're living to where they want to go to school. So, it's much bigger than paper, pencils." The program also aims to assist a special segment of the student homeless population — "unaccompanied youths." "These are kids that are not living with a parent or a legal guardian, and some are living with good, stable adults," Sweeney said. "Most are having a tendency to be couch surfing. So, two weeks here, one week there. The best we can do for those kids is to help them feel that there's someone safe at the school that they can talk to. Other counseling support may be needed, helping them with getting applied for a medical card for themselves, food stamps, or if they're going to be in college, the FAFSA." Kris Smith, the McKinney-Vento liaison for Rock Falls Township High School, reported the school currently has 20 identified McKinney-Vento-eligible students, most of whom are an unaccompanied youth. Assistant Superintendent of Dixon Public Schools Doug Stansford said DPS currently has 36 students who are classified as homeless. "The district has been using a grant to purchase needed items for students," Stansford said. "This may include gift cards for meals, gas, clothing, etc. The district has also used grant funds to cover short-term temporary hotel stays for families waiting to get housing." Sweeney said parents have the final say in decisions affecting their child's education in the program. "Our goal as the educating society side of it is to make sure that the family is understanding what all their rights are," Sweeney said. One of the most important decisions involves school placement. Under McKinney-Vento, students experiencing homelessness have the right to stay at their "school of origin" — the school they attended before their housing situation changed — or enroll in the "school of residence," which is based on where they are currently living. "Maybe now they're living in a different community, and so the child would have the right to continue where they had been going," Sweeney explained, adding that most families prefer to keep their children in the school they are familiar with, a choice schools typically support. "It's transportation that's usually the biggest problem," Sweeney said. "So, then we have to be creative." If a student's housing situation improves mid-year, they still qualify for support under the program through the end of the school year. This continued support remains even if a family signs a lease and moves into permanent housing. The reason, Sweeney explained, is rooted in national data. "Unfortunately, three times a year, these children statistically, nationwide, will become homeless again," Sweeney said. "So you do not take them off the supports just because they have reached that." There is also no limit to how long a student can be considered in transition. Each school year begins with a re-evaluation to determine if the family qualifies. "And unfortunately, many times it's yes, they do," Sweeney added. Program support does not end at high school. As students transition into higher education, McKinney-Vento liaisons help connect them with designated contacts at colleges and universities. For more information on the program or to get started, contact the school your child is attending or call Sweeney at 815-266-1221.
