What’s New

Alignment Prepares Students to Go To Work

March 2, 2026

Students prepare to go to work with internship and Job Fair opportunities

From Career Panels offering industry insights for future career planning, to Resume Workshops providing guidance on planning, resume building and interviewing skills, to career exploration through Summer Internships, Alignment is working hard to prepare our region’s students for future career success!

Career Panel at Bartlett High School Equips Students with Valuable Job Insights

Alignment’s Career Panel at Bartlett High School reached nearly 500 students with vital industry insights for future career planning. The program began with a comprehensive general assembly, then transitioned into breakout sessions. In smaller groups, students engaged with professionals across Automotive, Business, Culinary, Engineering, Healthcare, and IT fields through focused industry panel discussions, gaining a clearer roadmap for their professional journeys.

alignment 2026 bartlett high school panel

alignment 2026 bartlett high school career panel

Resume Workshops Provide Students with Interviewing Skills in Preparation for Summer Employment and Internship Opportunities

Over 1,900 students throughout all four school districts benefited from resume and interview skill workshops. Providing resume guidance and conducting mock interview sessions, both in person and online, students applied dynamic career skills in preparation for summer employment and internship opportunities.

Central High School’s first Student Resource Day provided students with with specific programming dedicated to each grade level. Students received assistance in behavioral interviewing, career and technical education (CTE) course selection, the fastest growing careers, personal finance, postsecondary opportunities, etc.

alignment feb 2026 central high school behavioral interviewing session

alignment feb 2026 central high school resume session

Summer Internship Applications Open

The Summer Internship Application Acceptance opened on Monday, March 2 for students enrolled in School Districts U-46, 300, 301, and 303.

The summer internship program is a work-based learning opportunity that allows students to explore a career through placement with a local employer. Students applying for the internships are primarily juniors entering their senior year of high school. Priority will be given to students who have taken a sequence of advanced career and technical education courses, or those students enrolled in academies. All internships are competitive, and placement is not guaranteed.

Students will apply through their school district. The Alignment Collaborative for Education and the Northern Kane County Region 110 will match students to placement based on the student’s experience, academic performance, and career interests. Hosting organizations will make the final decision on student placement through a resume review and interview process.

Student applications are due by Monday, March 16, 2026.

Teachers Visit Flender’s Expanding Operations in Elgin

February 28, 2026

Teachers across the region had the opportunity to visit with Flender as part of Kane County Institute Day on Friday, February 27, learning first-hand, what it takes to build and repair high precision gear boxes necessary to power wind turbine systems.

Automotive and electronics teachers from Dundee Crown and Hampshire high schools quickly made the connection of what they teach daily to students applied on a much larger scale. Flender continues to make a powerful contribution to the Elgin community breaking ground in mid 2025 on a new facility adjacent to the service center which will include expanded warehouse operations and parts storage along with in-house gear regrinding.

teachers learn of flenders new capabilities

Region 110 Celebrates Nancy Coleman as the IACTE Carl Perkins Community Service Award Winner

February 24, 2026

Northern Kane County Vocational Region 110 proudly announces that Nancy Coleman, Executive Director of the Alignment Collaborative for Education, has been named the State of Illinois Carl Perkins Community Service Award Winner by the Illinois Association of Career and Technical Education (IACTE).

Named in honor of the late Congressman Carl Perkins, this prestigious award recognizes IACTE members who use Career and Technical Education (CTE) to make a significant, humanitarian impact on their communities. Nancy’s selection exemplifies her spirit of collaboration, relentless innovation, and unwavering commitment to student success.

As Executive Director of the Alignment Collaborative for Education, Nancy has built a powerful, partnership-driven workforce model across northern Kane County. By mobilizing a 30-member board and more than 200 business and community partners, she has successfully expanded equitable career pathways and meaningful service-learning opportunities for thousands of local students.

Under her visionary leadership, the collaborative has achieved remarkable milestones:

Skill Development: 3,418 students strengthened their resumes through regional workshops.
Exponential Growth: Internship applications skyrocketed from 65 in 2022 to 1,006 in 2025, alongside the engagement of 55 dedicated employer partners.
Career Placements: Student internship placements increased from 52 to 243, supported by $240,000 in student stipends.
Community Investment: Employers contributed 14,580 volunteer hours, representing an estimated $729,000 investment into the local community.

Beyond these achievements, Nancy spearheads the U-46 Explore initiative, which serves 2,300 eighth graders annually, ensuring that career readiness begins early. In 2025 alone, Alignment and its partners contributed more than 14,000 volunteer hours to local schools. Her transformative work has previously earned recognition from United Way Metro Chicago and School District U-46.

Nancy’s leadership serves as a prime example of how strategic community partnerships create lasting, generational impact. As the Illinois state winner, she will advance to regional consideration late this spring, with the potential for national consideration in the fall of 2026.

Nancy Coleman of Alignment accepts the IACTE Carl Perkins Community Service Award — Dr. Chris Merrill, Executive Director, Illinois ACTE (left), Nancy Coleman (center), Kaleb Smith, President, Illinois ACTE (right). Nancy Coleman, Executive Director of the Alignment Collaborative for Education, has been named the State of Illinois Carl Perkins Community Service Award Winner by the Illinois Association of Career and Technical Education (IACTE).

Camcraft and Matrix Attracts Students to Automation, Manufacturing and Robotics Careers

February 12, 2026

Northern Kane County Region 110, in partnership with Camcraft and Matrix, offered Central High School students the opportunity to study the latest automation and robotics applications in manufacturing. The February 12 visit attracted students interested in engineering and manufacturing careers to highly automated operations beyond the classroom. Thank you to Camcraft and Matrix for championing these experiences for the region’s future engineering and precision manufacturing workforce.

ECC Education Day Focuses on Preparing Future Teachers

February 10, 2026

ECC Education Day on February 10 attracted future teachers from School Districts 300 and U-46. More than 140 students interested in the education career pathway were joined by Elgin Community College along with Aurora University and Northern Illinois University education professionals to learn about transfer opportunities for students interested in the teaching profession. Students toured facilities, learned about 2+2 programs with Aurora and NIU, visited with educational professionals in leadership roles across the region’s school districts, and learned about upcoming paid internship opportunities dedicated to building the region’s teacher pipeline.

Student Resource Day at Elgin High School Reaches 500 Students

January 31, 2026

On January 29, in partnership with School District U-46, the Alignment Collaborative for Education hosted Student Resource Day at Elgin High School. The event reached nearly 500 students and provided students with essential life and career readiness resources.

Working alongside community partners including Color Code Personality Science Educator Tena Raglin, Elgin Community College, Elgin Neighborhood Network, Fox Valley Fire & Safety, IHC, NAMI Kane-south, DeKalb and Kendall Counties (NAMI KDK), Northern Kane County Region 110, Pregis, and Wintrust Bank, the event featured a morning of targeted programming for each grade level. Students engaged in three different presentations designed to meet specific needs as they progress through different phases of their high school careers.

For freshmen, the morning prioritized the development of healthy mental and academic foundations. Students explored career pathways through CTE courses with Northern Kane County Region 110 and participated in a Color Code Personality Science workshop with educator Tena Raglin to identify personal strengths that drive academic success.

The Elgin Neighborhood Network and NAMI KDK also delivered “Ending the Silence,” a vital training session on recognizing the warning signs of mental health conditions. Presented to both Freshmen and Sophomores, this essential resource ensured that all underclassmen were equipped with the tools to support their mental health.

Sophomores gained a unique perspective on postsecondary planning through a student-led panel that shared firsthand accounts of their internship experiences and the college search process. This peer-to-peer engagement, combined with a preview of the upcoming Virtual Postsecondary Day and Junior year summer internship opportunities, gave students a realistic roadmap for becoming career-minded upperclassmen.

As postsecondary planning intensifies for Juniors, the morning offered a “deep dive” into postsecondary options. Students coordinated their attendance for the Virtual Postsecondary Day and heard from Elgin Community College regarding transfer opportunities. Representatives from Wintrust Bank also provided a presentation focused on financial literacy, specifically building strong financial histories and credit scores for both juniors and seniors.

Seniors received career-focused resources, emphasizing the immediate need for real-world skills as they prepare to graduate. Learning about top careers for 2026 and participating in behavioral interviewing, the seniors are prepared for their entry into the workforce. Human Resource professionals from Fox Valley Fire & Safety, IHC, and Pregis volunteered their expertise to provide coaching and professional advice necessary to navigate the competitive job market.

What would have been an idle day waiting for peers to conclude schoolwide testing became a day where students learned how to actively take their future into their own hands. The success of the Student Resource Day at Elgin High School underscores the importance of providing students with essential tools for academic and career success, ensuring every student graduates academic and career ready.

Article by Annabelle Mique, Program Coordinator