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School District U-46 High School Counselors visit Advocate Sherman Hospital and Elgin Community College

Providing experiences for high school counselors to better advise students seeking careers in healthcare.

Counselors and administrators from all five School District U-46 high schools and the Dream Academy participated in the U-46 Healthcare Day with visits to Elgin Community College (ECC) and Advocate Sherman Hospital on January 27, 2023.

The  event, sponsored by the Alignment Collaborative for Education in partnership with School District U-46, was planned to better equip counselors in guiding students interested in healthcare careers towards appropriate high school course offerings to include CTE program and its Health Sciences course offerings. 

Nancy Coleman, Executive Director, Alignment Collaborative for Education, praised the commitment from Advocate Sherman, ECC, and U-46 in providing this opportunity to high school counselors. “Their experience strengthens their understanding of how healthcare careers can begin and flourish,” said Coleman, “while students are completing their high school experience with a seamless pathway to post-secondary education and optimal employment opportunities.”

The tour at Elgin Community College included visiting health science programs and labs to include certificate and degree programs in Dental Assisting, Medical Assisting, Massage Therapy, Physical Therapy, Nursing, Ophthalmic Technician, Radiology, and Surgical Tech.

“We are excited to introduce these programs to high school counselors to share with students about these high demand career opportunities,” said Wendy Miller, Dean, Health Professions, Math, Science and Engineering, Elgin Community College. “ECC continues to expand its program offerings in the health professions to meet the workforce development needs of our local healthcare industry.”

After the ECC visit, counselors went to Advocate Sherman Hospital and were welcomed by Advocate’s president, Sheri DeShazo.  Following a discussion of Advocate’s role in the community and the healthcare industry, counselors met key department leaders in Medical Lab Services, Nursing, Pharmacy Services, Radiology, Rehabilitation Service, and Respiratory Care.  Counselors learned about current and future job openings and salary data as well as promotion opportunities within each of these healthcare fields. Counselors then visited almost every wing of the hospital to tour each of these operations.

“As a long-time partner of Alignment Collaborative for Education, Advocate Sherman Hospital is honored to host U-46 high school counselors for Alignment’s healthcare career pathways field trip,” said DeShazo. “As the nation faces a healthcare worker shortage it’s increasingly important for us to educate students about these career opportunities, and our local high school counselors are key partners in this effort. Within the field of healthcare, there are many different roles with varying education requirements, so events like this can provide important information for a broad spectrum of healthcare careers that counselors can take back to their students.”

Alignment and School District U-46 are grateful to partner with Advocate Sherman and ECC to engage counselors and students in career exploration within healthcare, one of the strongest and fastest growing industry sectors within the Greater Elgin area. ECC and Advocate Sherman contribute greatly to the economic prosperity of the Elgin area and its quality healthcare system. Both are long-term partners with the Alignment Collaborative for Education and are always looking to the future assisting the region with workforce development initiatives starting in the middle and high schools.  

Sheri DeShazo welcomes school counselors at Advocate Sherman
Massage Therapy Classroom
Surgical Tech Lab
Medical Assisting Lab

Alignment Congratulates Bill Wright

Alignment congratulates our Governing Board Chairman Bill Wright on this prestigious honor.

Daily Herald Article
Streamwood Park District, 1/27/2023 2:16 PM

The Streamwood Park District proudly announces Commissioner William “Bill” Wright has received the Mike Cassidy Commissioner Community Service Award from the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) and the Illinois Park and Recreation Association (IPRA). The award was presented to Wright during the All-Conference Awards Luncheon at the annual IAPD/IPRA Soaring to New Heights Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago on Friday, January 27.

This annual award is presented to an elected official who has demonstrated the highest example of community service, personal integrity and ingenuity, and whose volunteer service to his or her community emulates the vision and voluntary efforts demonstrated by former IAPD Board President and longtime Commissioner with the Freeport Park District, Mike Cassidy, to improve the quality of life for those in his or her community.
Nominated for the award by Streamwood Park District Executive Director Jeffrey Janda, Wright has served as Park Board Commissioner for 15 years serving in a variety of capacities, including President, Vice President, Ethics Officer, and Committee Chairman.

Wright’s long list of accomplishments include the establishment of a Summer Reading in the Park program, which provides free lunches and early childhood learning activities for area youth, supporting area students through his leadership with Alignment Collaborative for Education, and leveraging needed funding for facilities, parks, playgrounds and educational opportunities through his relationships with local businesses, state legislators and other local officials. He even assists Santa Claus by filling in for him at local events in Streamwood during the holiday season.
Janda said Wright is the type of individual that not only gets involved but when he puts his mind to something, things get done.

“Bill is a man of many talents and abilities and is very passionate about finding the right solution that can bring significant cultural change and make an impact for years to come,” said Janda.
Wright also annually assists the Park District in coordinating and promoting its Hoosier Grove Barn and Brew event, which benefits the organization’s scholarship fund. The 2023 edition of Hoosier Grove Barn and Brew returns this May to the grounds of the award-winning Hoosier Grove Barn, 700 W. Irving Park Road. As usual, Wright is right in the middle of soliciting beer vendors and breweries to participate.

The Streamwood Park District congratulates Commissioner Wright on this honor and for his continued service to the residents of Streamwood.

Read the full article.

Mayor Kaptain Recognizes Alignment’s Work in State of City Address

Photo Credit : James Harvey Photography

In his annual state of the city address, Mayor David Kaptain cited strong partnerships with community partners as a reason for Elgin’s success. Alignment Collaborative for Education is proud to be one of those partners.

“Workforce development and business retention have resulted in a growing city, a healthy city,” Kaptain said during a breakfast sponsored by the Elgin Area Chamber at Elgin Community College. “We’ve done a really good job of doing balanced, diversified growth.” He said the city’s focus on education in the last seven years and the efforts of Alignment Collaborative for Education are helping to create employees to support the growing business community.

“We are creating a workforce that will provide workers at all levels,” Kaptain said, adding that the group’s work has been recognized by the United Way, which gave it a $150,000 grant to continue improving workforce education.

Read the entire Daily Herald article by Rick West here.

Read the Elgin Courier-News article by Gloria Casas here.

Please join us on Giving Tuesday…

Please join us on Giving Tuesday to grow the more than 6,000 students served in 2022 to over 8,000 students by 2023.

“The hands-on experience of getting to create our own project and doing activities that are practiced in the real world was a truly rewarding experience.”

– Emily Gilmore, intern, Bartlett High School

“Today was very fun. It gave me some experiences I would never usually get.”

– Kunal Modi, Explore, Eastview Middle School

Invest in Alignment to prepare students to graduate academic and career ready. Our future workforce depends on it.

“I learned to seek good opportunities that will allow me to combine something that I’m good at with something I really care about. ”

– Anaid Braun, intern, South Elgin High School

“Overall the internship was a future changing experience.”

– Andrew Calles Cortez, intern, Larkin High School

To see our impact, view our Annual Report
To make an impact, Donate Today

Post Secondary Senior Day Highlights

More than 25 universities, colleges, and organizations joined Alignment and School District U-46 to feature its first Senior Post Secondary Virtual Day on October 12. There were 750 individual seniors that attended the event participating in more than 2,100 sessions with university and college admissions staff and visiting faculty along with receiving assistance with FAFSA, future employment opportunities, military service, and NCAA eligibility.

Seniors had the opportunity to have visits with some of the most competitive post secondary institutions of their choice before applications are due November 1. Sessions were also offered on FAFSA and NCAA Academic Eligibility. For students that are undecided about their interest in post secondary colleges and universities, sessions were also facilitated by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) about the current labor market, hiring projections within the local community, and tips on how to best access job openings and navigate the application process.

Michele Chapman, U-46 Director of Post Secondary Success, described the day as “a great opportunity for some seniors to help finalize their search prior to November 1st and for other seniors to begin the planning of their post secondary plans after graduation. The goal was to try to reach as many seniors as possible with sessions that met their future academic and career preparation needs. We thank Alignment for partnering with us to provide all U-46 seniors this experience.”

Students and parents also had the opportunity following the virtual event to visit Elgin Community College’s Post Secondary Fair held that evening to further visit with college and university representatives that they met during the day.

Thank you to the following colleges, universities, and organizations for partnering with Alignment and U-46 to offer the Senior Post Secondary Day:

Aurora University
Bradley University
DePaul University
Elgin Community College
Elmhurst University
Harper College
Honest Game – NCAA Academic Eligibility
Illinois Department of Employment Security
Illinois State University
Judson University
Lewis University
Loyola University
Marquette University
Milwaukee School of Engineering
North Central College

Northern Illinois University
Purdue University
Roosevelt University
Southern Illinois University
Universal Technical Institute
University of Dayton
University of Illinois Chicago
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Iowa
University of Missouri
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
University of Wisconsin Whitewater
U.S. Armed Forces
Valparaiso University
Western Illinois University