Grundy Reporter

Illinois Education Association Minooka Region issued the following announcement on Oct. 11.

The Illinois Education Association (IEA), Partnership for Resilience (PFR) and Resilient Southern Illinois (RSI) shared critical trauma-sensitive field research at the convening of By All Means 2.0, an initiative from Harvard’s Education Redesign Lab. Representatives from Illinois joined national experts, Harvard faculty and civic leaders at a two-day retreat at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education to jointly address the correlation between socioeconomic status and education outcomes.

“Together, educators, health practitioners, and community leaders can jointly address outside stressors and better serve our students,” said IEA Director of Teaching and Learning, Mary Jane Morris. “In Southern Illinois, we are implementing critical trauma-sensitive programs that address the whole child. We look forward to sharing that knowledge and learning from experts in the field so we can collaboratively build stronger schools and communities equipped to better serve our students.”

Through Partnership for Resilience, IEA has actively collaborated with the Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to equip schools and communities across Illinois with the knowledge of how to respond to trauma. This field work and research has informed the By All Means 2.0 initiative and provided a baseline of how to bring education, health and civic leaders together to address challenges faced by students in rural communities.

“The work at Harvard has empowered me to ensure that teachers have a voice in the RSI project ensuring the success of our students,” said IEA Member and Unity Point School District 140 Teacher Amanda Hilt.

IEA, PFR and RSI representatives will collaborate with the By All Means 2.0 initiative to build systems of opportunity and support from early childhood through higher education that improve educational outcomes for all students. These systems are known as Individual Student Success Plans (ISSPs), an individualized student driven plan that will capture individual strengths, needs and experiences to help every student stay connected in school and to achieve post-secondary educational and career goals.

“Our participation in Harvard Education Redesign’s By All Means convening validates our work with the Resilient Southern Illinois project; emphasizing the importance of student relationships as outcomes and building extended partnerships within our communities to ensure student success,” said Unity Point 140 Superintendent Lori James-Gross.

“Our partnerships to ensure success for all youth by whatever means necessary is needed now more than ever,” said Matt Buckman Ph. D. from Child and Adolescent Services Project, Egyptian Public and Mental Health Department.

For more information on the By All Means 2.0 initiative, click here. To learn more about all of IEA’s resilience work, Project Resilience, click here.

Original source can be found here.