Do You Know These People?
In Judy Gustafson’s first teaching job, some of her students were the exact same age as she was. She was a young 21 year old graduate who was teaching developmental English. Jay Larson began his career in the financial sector. Nik Butenhoff was recognized as the Conference Coach of the Year for volleyball. And Chris
Exactly What We Hoped For
This week our Pathways team recapped sophomore site visits that occurred during the last couple of weeks in March. All RPS205 sophomores must visit a business in order to meet this college and career readiness benchmark requirement. Alignment Rockford worked with local businesses to arrange site visits for students. We worked with local businesses and
Community Leaders Assist in Shark Tank Project
A team from this year’s Chamber of Commerce Leadership Rockford graduating class has been working with the BAMIT (Business, Arts, Modern World Languages, and Information Technology) College and Career Readiness Council to support Academy efforts within the Rockford public high schools. One major effort consisted of a first-ever Shark Tank event in Mrs. Nicole Frazer’s Economic classes
Impact of Community and Education Collaboration
As community engagement coordinator for Alignment Rockford I had the privilege of attending site visits last week with RPS205 teachers and sophomores. Until I actually attended my first visit to Larson & Darby Group with 25 East High School students interested in architecture, I wondered if I was more excited than the students would be. It soon
The Power of the Volunteer
Today we hosted a meeting for the businesses who are participating in Sophomore Site Visits. Over 55 local businesses are hosting 10th graders for an interactive tour and discussion at their place of business this spring. Alignment Rockford aligns community resources to the needs of the Rockford Public Schools. A new College and Career Readiness
Relationships vs. Authority
This morning in our College Readiness A-Team meeting, we discussed how to scale up a program that is taking place at Lincoln Middle School. Started by employees of UTAS, this mentor/tutor program focuses on working with 6th through 8th grade students to increase their math skills. Currently students are taken out of math class for
Nashville Visit to Rockford
Melissa Jaggers, Associate Executive Director of Alignment Nashville, visited Rockford today and attended our Academy Expo team meeting. Her blog, below, perfectly captures the essence of the Alignment model. Rockford Pathways A-Team meeting – Rock Valley College This morning, I was privileged to be able to attend the Alignment Rockford Academy Expo Alignment Team (A-Team)
Visits to the Hospital, Jail
On July 31 I spent the day in the hospital, and on August 7 I spent the day in jail – all to support Rockford Public School teachers! Alignment Rockford support RPS205 by designing solutions around the District’s greatest strategic needs. One question posed by the District was how do we continue to support and provide
A Note from the Executive Director: Where We are Today
“You’re the new Executive Director of Alignment Rockford? What happened to Mike Schablaske?!” “No, no,” I respond. “You’re thinking of Transform Rockford. I’m with Alignment Rockford. We focus on solution design and connecting the community to Rockford Public Schools in support of their strategic plan.” This conversation took place too often as I transitioned from
A Day in the Life
Tuesday of this week a group of RPS 205 students experienced a day in the life of a UTC Aerospace Systems employee. Alignment Rockford’s Pathways team launched a job shadow pilot program for students with the help of RPS teachers. Last week teachers went on a similar job shadow experience to shape the day for students. Students were paired
