Welcome to the 2023 PaCE Symposium! Join ISAC’s Professional Development team to hear about the layout of the day, sessions offered, a brief background of the Illinois PaCE Framework, related legislative changes, and new and continued supports.

Presenters: Sara Espinosa, Manager of Training & Development and Ana Moya, Professional Development Specialist, ISAC

Welcome to 2023 PaCE Symposium Presentation

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) supports youth with lived experience in care across the State of Illinois. Our postsecondary support options provide youth with lived experience in care with mentoring, financial assistance, resources to learn about their postsecondary options, DCFS scholarships and tuition and fee waivers, federal funding, and preparing for life after high school. This session will provide information on these available postsecondary supports.

Presenter: Kim Peck, Downstate Administrator, Office of Education and Transition Services, DCFS

Accessing DCFS Post-Secondary Education Supports

Preparation for student success begins at an early age. The expanded Illinois PaCE Framework for grades 6 through 8 is based on ISAC’s middle school curriculum which presents postsecondary planning and options in a way that aligns with the different stages of student development. The curriculum includes objectives and lesson plans organized into three key areas, or domains, that encompass the five student development stages outlined in the book Ready, Willing, and Able by Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard. Learn more about ISAC’s curriculum and how you can use this developmental-focused approach with your middle school students to prepare them for successful transitions and life after high school.

Presenter: Kim Korando, Assistant Director of College Access and Outreach, ISAC

Beyond Cognitive Skills ISAC’s Developmental Curriculum for Middle School Students’ Success

A comprehensive counseling program aligned to college and career can transform how students think about school. Learn how Naperville 203 is developing a comprehensive counseling program that fosters student college & career readiness skills. Naperville will share their process for developing a 6-12th grade counseling curriculum that focuses on academic preparation, social emotional learning, and college & career readiness. The team will share how they created interactive curriculum maps that allow for student career exposure opportunities, postsecondary planning and selection, and employability skill development.

Presenter: Jill Hlavacek, Director of Innovation & Learning, RNaperville CUSD #203

Building College and Career Readiness through a Comprehensive Counseling Program

This session was not offered virtually, and no recording is available to view.

Claim Your Future is a proven, engaging educational game that encourages students to explore career pathways, financial decision making, and the future return on investment of postsecondary education and training. The game can be played online or in-person with elementary, middle, and high school students. Join this session for a live demonstration of the Claim Your Future game and learn how you can get access to your FREE kit today!

Presenter: Manuel Talavera, Professional Development Specialist, ISAC

Claim Your Future Linking Today's Educational Choices to Future Careers and Financial Stability

The Peoria Workforce Alliance (EWA) committee was established to help students in the Peoria and Greater Peoria areas to become college and career ready, by implementing a PaCE Framework across the region. Learn how the EWA supports more than 10 area high schools with PaCE Implementation and in preparing students for tomorrow's workforce!

Presenter: Beth Crider, Regional Superintendent of Peoria County, Regional Office of Education #48

Emerging Workforce Alliance Leveraging the Community to Support PaCE Work

ISAC’s First General Scholars Network (FGSN) launched in spring 2022 with the goals of connecting first generation college students with one another so they can support each other, providing additional support year-round from ISAC’s FGSN mentors, combatting summer melt, and helping to make their transition to college a whole lot easier—and successful. Because ISAC and our ISACorps near-peer mentors work with and support students through the college going process, we know students from high schools across the state and where they plan to go for college. FGSN allows us to extend this college-going assistance to help students develop a sense of belonging as they move from high school to their respective campuses in the fall. This session highlights events and activities making these student connections and how you can get your students, school, or college involved with the network.

Presenters: Abel Montoya, Director of Outreach Operations, ISAC

Junior Achievement (JA) of Central Illinois works with central Illinois K-12 educators to help students be inspired and prepared to own their economic success. Through the pathways of work and career readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship, JA programs correlate with state learning standards and the PaCE Framework. JA and the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council have collaborated for a series of successful learning experiences that engage 8th through 12th grade students in exploring career choices and connecting with local employers in the region. Join us to learn about CareerSpark & JA Inspire outcomes, best practices, and where we are going from here.

Presenters: Angie Houck, Program Director and Mary Pile, President, Junior Achievement of Central Illinois

Hands-On Work and Career Readiness Experiences Meeting the PaCE Framework CareerSpark & JA Inspire

Implementing the Illinois PaCE framework is a big undertaking, and there’s no reason you should do it alone; we are here to help! Our highly trained ISACorps members offer a wide array of support services to assist students through the college application and financial aid processes. From near-peer mentoring to presentations to application completion, the ISACorps’ supports, and services align with different benchmarks of the Illinois PaCE Framework. Learn more and let us help you prepare your students for life after high school!

Presenter: Abel Montoya, Director of Outreach Operations, ISAC

Happy to Help! Supporting PaCE Implementation Through the ISACorps

This session will describe the goals and implementation strategy used to create and pilot a Purpose Pathways workshop series this Spring at City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). The pilot is for first year CCC students who were introduced to these concepts during their time at a Chicago Public School high school, with the goal of continuing their journey of postsecondary exploration and self-discovery. Participants will learn about the Chicago Roadmap and its work to lift up postsecondary success of Chicago's youth. Participants will gain understanding of how the career exploration objective came to be a core tenant of the Chicago Roadmap's program implementation plan, as well as details on how to replicate a Purpose Pathway in one's own institution.

Presenter: Amanda Wojan, Manager, Chicago Roadmap Special Projects at City Colleges of Chicago and Kirsten Watson, Chicago Roadmap Specialist at Chicago Public Schools

Identification of a Purpose Pathway in Achieving Postsecondary Success

Inequality and underrepresentation of people from historically marginalized communities remains stubbornly persistent in STEM fields. In this session, learn how the Rush Education and Career Hub seeks to increase and broaden STEM participation for underrepresented youth cradle-to-career by employing a framework that substantially aligns to Illinois PaCE milestones. Participants will receive promising practices for creating student-centered, community-engaged learning environments built on academic enrichment, career exploration, and the most effective evidence-based teaching, learning, and assessment strategies.

Presenters:
Heather Hampton, MEd, EdD, Director, K-12 Community Education and Pathways Program

Caroline Kerr, MAT, Middle School STEM Specialist

Tanea Culbreath-Byrd, MSIT, IT Pathways Program Coordinator

Darius Caffey, MPA, IT Pathways Program Manager Rush Education and Career Hub

Increasing Access and Success for Underrepresented Students in STEM

This session was not offered virtually, and no recording is available to view.

Hinckley-Big Rock CUSD #429 has been on a career readiness journey dating back to the 2013-2014 school year. In a time where PaCEing yourself is of paramount importance, we invite you to learn about our journey, lessons we have learned, and related challenges we have faced. The PaCE benchmark initiatives surrounding Financial Aid and Literacy, Career Exploration and Development, and Postsecondary Education, Exploration, Preparation, and Selection will be highlighted.

Presenters:
Travis McGuire, Superintendent, Hinckley-Big Rock CUSD #429

Jessica Sonntag, Assistant Superintendent, Hinckley-Big Rock CUSD #429

PaCEing Yourself

This session was not offered virtually, and no recording is available to view.

Public Act 102-0917 tasked the educational state agencies with extending and updating the Illinois PaCE Framework. During this session, ISAC will provide an overview of the Framework and of changes to the updated high school framework, the new middle school framework, and the resources and supports available to schools for implementation.

Presenter: Ana Moya, Professional Development Specialist, ISAC

The Illinois PaCE Framework

Ridgewood High School has been supporting their high school students for over four years by implementing a PaCE Framework. As an early supporter of PaCE and College & Career Pathway Endorsements (CCPEs), learn how Ridgewood is leading the way in expanding their framework to support students in K-7th, developing targeted supports for K-12 students, and implementing multiple CCPEs!

Presenter: Eric Lasky, Assistant Principal, Ridgewood High School

Using the PaCE Framework to Expand Support for K-12 Students and Implementing College & Career Pathway Endorsements

Postsecondary and career readiness is important for each student’s future. In K-12 education we have moved from a focus on graduating students, to preparing them for college, to now preparing them for postsecondary training that aligns with their identified career aspirations. The focused efforts of an organized educational team that fully und heir why prepares each informed student to be ready for their next step aft on. You have shown an interest in this work, or you would not be attending this conference. Learn how the PaCE Implementation Guide can refine your focus and further your impact on students' career readiness.

Presenter: Travis McGuire, Superintendent, Hinckley-Big Rock CUSD #429

Using the PaCE Implementation Guide

This session was not offered virtually, and no recording is available to view.