Fall Meeting – Cover Slide No Title

Fall Meeting 2021 Panels – Available Now on YouTube

The Illinois P-20 Network’s Fall Meeting in 2021 consisted of a series of individual panel discussions over a series of weeks addressing the following three topics:

Developing, Recruiting, and Retaining Diverse High-Quality Teachers – The shortage of teachers and other school staff continues to draw widespread attention, predating the start of the wider “Great Resignation” that is impacting the workforce. This diverse panel of educators representing school districts, community colleges, and universities discusses the innovative ways that they are seeking to address the teacher shortage with programs that engage potential future teachers beginning as early as high school. Panelists include:

  • Brian Giovanini & Katie Popp, Indian Prairie School District 204
  • Janis Jones, Sauk Valley Community College
  • Ron McCord, Rock Falls Township High School District 301
  • Jenny Johnson & Danielle Lauritzen, Northern Illinois University
  • Stacy Thompson, Grow Your Own Illinois, Southern Illinois University

Equity in Practice: Connecting Learners with their Schools-Colleges-Universities – Illinois closely resembles the demographic composition of the United States as a whole, and communities across Illinois have become increasingly diverse in recent decades. Along with this diversity, schools, colleges, and universities across Illinois have prioritized the importance of equity and inclusion, both as a way of honoring all learners and staff members and as a way to ensure deeper and increased learning outcomes. This unique panel explores specific attitudes and actions that must be prevalent in learning organizations in order to most likely ensure strong interpersonal connections as the foundation for teaching and learning. Panelists include:

  • Jocelyn Santana, Northern Illinois University
  • Cherry G & Sam J, Palatine High School

Career Pathway Endorsements: A Strategy for Improving Learning School-Wide – In only its third year of state-wide implementation, the Illinois Career Pathway Endorsements provide great opportunities for students to learn, practice, and demonstrate both the Technical Competencies and the Essential Skills (Cross-Sector Essential Employability Competencies). The Career Pathway Endorsements, with their focus on Authentic Learning both in the classroom and beyond, also provide opportunities for schools to shift the nature of learning significantly in their schools. This session includes representatives from two school districts: Ridgewood High School, which has had students graduate with Career Pathway Endorsements in each of the first two years that they were able to be offered, and Lake Zurich High School, which is on-track to have its first students earn Career Pathway Endorsements at the conclusion of this academic year. Panelists include:

  • Lisa Balata, Ridgewood High School
  • Zach Gimm, Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95
  • Eric Lasky, Ridgewood High School
  • Susie Wagner, Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 9