Advisory Council Meeting: Recap

The Grow Your Own Advisory Board met Tuesday night via Zoom. The Board discussed grant components like off-campus cohorts, Rural Teacher Corps pathways, and communication. 

The Board further discussed sustainability options through community and local college opportunities. The Board plans to meet again in the fall to continue discussion and share ideas. 

GYO Mini-Grant Winner: Megan Yager

"My name is Megan Yager. I’ve always been a small town girl and, except for a brief rebellious period in college, I’ve always wanted to stay a small town girl. I’m married to a farmer, Levi, and we have two young sons, Barrett and Dallas. We do not have livestock, but we do have dogs, cats, a rabbit, and fish. I completed my bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from Eastern Illinois University in 2012... After graduation I briefly worked for the Crawford County Health Department in the environmental health office, which means I inspected restaurants for sanitary conditions. Then I landed a job at the local ethanol plant working in the laboratory doing quality control tests. I put my scientific background to work there for six years... After doing the same tasks every day for so long, I decided I needed a change and I wanted to do something that was always different, exciting, and would actually make a difference in the world. So I sat down and asked myself what I really wanted to be when I “grew up.” As a kid I never had a set answer to that question, but I knew I loved science..."

Click here to read more!

Fall 2021 Events

Since all in-person activities were cancelled due to COVID-19, we are hoping to hold in-person events this fall if guidelines permit! Here are some potential events:

Integrating Coding into Elementary: early September

EIU Rural Teacher Corps Planning: September

Using Video in the Classroom: October

Virtual, Augmented, & Online Science Labs: November

Computer Cleanup/Tuneup: end of semester

DoIT Consortium

The DoIT K12 Consortium is a project of the Illinois Century Network (ICN) which is part of Illinois Central Management Services (CMS).

The Broadband IL Initiative Goals from 2016 started moving them this direction. In 2019 they established a consortium specifically aimed at getting more bandwidth at lower cost (even zero) to K-12 students.  They not only build the last mile, but they will provide security monitoring for hackers and virus/worm/ransomware attacks.

To learn more, click here. 

GYO Grant Submission

The GYO grant proposal is being submitted to continue our program with the same goals and objectives. 

We hope to continue the development of cohorts with Champaign as well as the work with community college-based regional networks.

Upcoming Events

• June 14 @ 9am: Community College meeting with Lakeland

• Nov 10-12: NREA Conference