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On Friday, May 21st, two groups from the Kane County Regional Office of Education were recognized by the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association, or INSPRA.

The Distinguished Service Awards recognize individuals and teams who partner with their communications team to provide excellent service back to their communities.
Patricia Dal Santo is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in the Administrator Category. Dal Santo was nominated for her swift work in connecting the Kane County School District Superintendents with the Health Department in March of 2020, in order to keep the community as informed as possible during the dire time of the early pandemic. Her crisis response and communication played a key role in the return-to-learning discussions, and was made easier by the existing strong relationships she had taken the time to foster within the districts and their communities. “It is first and foremost my duty to serve the districts and the youth in this County,” said Dal Santo. “While I am honored to receive this award, I was merely answering the call for what I was elected to do - serve the people of this area.”

A team project was also recognized for its communication and contributions to the community. The team of Patricia Dal Santo, Dr. Deanna Oliver, Phil Morris, Katie Algrim, Angie Knorr, Eleanor Morris, and CJ Yoder worked quickly back in April of 2020 to convert the in-person bus driver refresher trainings mandated by the state to an online format open to not just drivers in Kane County, but to anyone across Illinois so that there would be little interruption or shortage of drivers when schools did reopen. In a matter of weeks, this staff was able to quickly get an online system up and running and train over 5,000 drivers remotely. While the challenges that arose from COVID-19 complicated the day-to-day functions of the educational world, the team at the ROE was quickly able to think on their feet and adapt to the digital landscape.

Congratulations to all who were recognized!
How Can Illinois Schools Reconnect with Missing Students?
*This article was originally published on Chalkbeat, May 25th, 2021 by Cassie Walker Burke*

The five siblings had not been logging on to remote school, so Kari Glenn set out to determine why.

They were among the tens of thousands of Illinois children who lost touch with their schools during the pandemic. Their family phone was disconnected; letters yielded no response.

The school referred the case to Glenn, a regional youth outreach coordinator and truancy officer who works in west suburban Kane County. Glenn knocked on the family’s door, but the family had moved. Four addresses later, she found the family bunked up with a relative. A parent had lost a job; the family needed food. “School is obviously super important, but my goal is to figure out what we need to put in place for families before we even care about school,” said Glenn. “So we take care of all the barriers first. School is the last thing on parents’ minds when they are trying to survive.”

Glenn said connections to a food distribution program and support from a community group nudged the five siblings back to school — an example of how school districts can reconnect with families amid troubling drops in attendance and even enrollment.
That was the topic of a recent conversation hosted by Chalkbeat Chicago, where educators, experts, and students described what’s working, what’s not, and what they need to help families. (Find the video here.)

Shared Reading with Regie Routman

The Kane ROE is excited to bring in Regie Routman on September 3rd for a workshop on shared reading. During this workshop, participants will not only have the opportunity to learn more about the Shared Reading process and how to make the most meaningful educational decisions within their shared reading, but will also have an opportunity to collaborate and practice creating meaningful, shared reading experiences that focus on the value of the reading-writing connection! 
 
Routman is a renowned author, and has more than forty-five years of experience teaching and working in diverse, under-performing schools and classrooms across the U.S. and Canada as an educational leader, mentor teacher, literacy coach, classroom teacher, and teacher of students with learning differences. Her many research-based books and resources have supported hundreds of thousands of teachers, principals, and educators at all levels, to create and sustain trusting, intellectual school cultures where hearing all the voices, ongoing professional learning, and equity for all learners are priorities.
 
This session is for a FREE session for all Kane County Educators. (Non Kane-County educators can join for a $100.) The workshop will run synchronously online from 12:30pm to 2:30pm.
Congrats to the Class of 2021!

The 2020-2021 school year was a trying one, but the year is starting to wrap up.

Throughout the year, we have recognized teachers, administrators, and other support staff who have helped to make the most out of this year.

There's one group we haven't highlighted though... the graduating SENIORS! This was not an ideal year to finish high school, but each district's graduation classed faced the adversity head-on and handled this year with grace.

So from everyone at the ROE, YOU DID IT! Congratulations!
The Progress Report: Killing the Joy of Reading

In this week's post of The Progress Report, Katie Algrim discusses how to instill a love of reading at a young age.

The Progress Report is a collaborative discussion space for professional learning. If there are any topics that you would like to see a post on or guest write yourself, please contact Katie Algrim.

#BranchingOut is on Summer Break!
"Branching Out" is our weekly YouTube series with quick videos designed to help educators branch out of their comfort zone and integrate new ideas and technology into their classroom.

To subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay up-to-date with the newest installments, click here.

Season 2 starts up on August 26th. We'll see you then!
Upcoming & Ongoing Workshops
Better Conversations

Ongoing
$50

AA#1374: Implementing Social & Emotional Learning System-Wide to Improve Student Achievement

Ongoing
$125

English Language Learner:
Evaluation & Assessment

Ongoing
$195

AA#3640: Compassion Fatigue & Burnout:
Is Your Staff At Risk?

Ongoing
$125

Kane County Regional Office of Education I 630-232-5955 I kaneroe.org