GROW YOU OWN SUMMIT MEETING May 11-12

The third annual Illinois Grow Your Own Summit was held on May 11-12, 2006 at the Club Quarters Hotel, 111 West Adams Street, Chicago. In 2004, the first summit convened a strong coalition to push for state support for Grow Your Own Teachers projects; the work to pass the Grow Your Own Teachers Act grew out of this. In 2005, the 2nd summit, held in Springfield, raised the visibility of the initiative and led in turn to the passage of the $1.5 million transitional appropriation.

One key result of that appropriation was the funding of nine planning grants and two transitional grants. This year’s summit was  highlighted by the first opportunity for these grant recipients to meet, share ideas, and build an ongoing network of communication.  More than 125 consortium members and other interested people attended (attendance list).

Some of the highlights (see Agenda) of this year's summit:

• Announcements and congratulations delivered by three state legislators, two members of the Governor's staff, and a member of the state board of education around the $3,000,000 appropriation in the state budget for full GYO implementation in FY 07.

• Strong keynote speeches by Dr. Charles Payne of Duke University and Dr. Eloise Lopez-Metcalfe of UCLA's Center X Teacher Preparation program.  (Bios)

• An inspiring panel of Grow Your Own Candidates from three programs.

• Breakout discussions on practical and visionary aspects of the Grow Your Own initiative with no speakers, just great participation.

• A Q&A session with ISBE staff, which provided excellent information and also gave the staff good feedback.

Check out the Photo Album from the summit here.  Check out others responses to some of the feedback sessions, and fill out an evaluation form on this page.