Moore, Perez honored by Illinois State Board of Education

Youth Literature Festival is a biennial event that celebrates the value of literature in the lives of youth by bringing together local and national authors, illustrators, and storytellers with schoolchildren in 97 schools in 7 counties in east central Illinois. The free-to-all public Community Day encourages individuals of all ages to share in the love of literature through author interactions, puppetry, storytelling, hands-on activities, and performances.

Student Opportunities for After-School Resources (SOAR) is an award-winning after-school tutoring program that supplements the efforts of bilingual educators by providing reading support and homework help for bilingual students in grades 2-5.

Martin Luther King Creative Expressions Competition invites school children from grades 2-12 to respond to a prompt drawn from Dr. King's messages in any medium they choose.

OVERVIEW

Aligned with the mission of the University of Illinois as a land grant institution and with the goals of the College of Education, the Center for Education in Small Urban Communities serves as a vital resource to local school districts and educators. The Center works collaboratively with local education agencies to create sustainable improvement in education. The core focus of the Center is to collaboratively plan and sustain long-term, job-embedded professional learning experiences for teachers. The Center partners with local schools to conduct research on these collaborative efforts in order to further understanding of what works and to explore ways to grow such efforts. The importance of the research, service, and outreach that the Center provides is based on the critical need to support the success of our schools and its students. To date, our collaborative work has resulted in expanding the capacity of local schools to deliver quality instruction as well as the establishment of other meaningful partnerships supporting literacy, mathematics, and second-language learning.

OUR MISSION

Build capacity through supporting teacher professional learning embedded in schools to affect change in student performance.

Assist in the generation of research-based understandings of our collaborative engagement in educational improvements.

Provide a point of entry for schools and the community to connect with faculty, researchers, and students at the University and in the College of Education.

Support the efforts of collaborating educators and schools in addressing their identified needs and aspirations through enabling them to access College of Education and University resources.

Moore, Perez honored by Illinois State Board of Education

Oct 17, 2016, 12:30 by the College of Education at Illinois

Lila Moore and Victor Perez have received Those Who Excel awards from the Illinois State Board of Education for their work with SOAR (Student Opportunities for After-School Resources), an afterschool volunteer tutoring program that provides literacy support and homework help to emergent Latina/o bilingual/biliterate students in grades 2-5.

The two will be honored with awards of merit Oct. 22 at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel, with Perez traveling to the event to accept the award on behalf of SOAR.

Perez is the coordinator of operations in the Center for Education in Small Urban Communities. He has focused on P-16 research projects, public policy, higher education, diversity, and equity issues in education for more than a decade. Perez said the center benefits greatly from the tutoring sessions Illinois students provide weekly at the International Prep Academy in Champaign.

“It is truly impressive to have over 120 undergraduate students from across campus take time out of their busy schedules to tutor at least two hours per week,” Perez said. “These undergraduate students certainly represent the very best of the University of Illinois and are making a positive impact on the academic achievement of local elementary students.”

SOAR is a partnership between the College of Education at Illinois and the Champaign Unit 4 School District, a collaboration Perez looks forward to continuing and building upon for many years.

Moore is the former program coordinator of the Center for Education in Small Urban Communities. She moved with her husband to Oregon in May but has continued to volunteer for the College, working remotely on the planning of the Oct. 20-22 Youth Literature Festival (YLF).

“I can’t imagine trying to organize this festival without Lila’s advice and assistance,” said Linda Tammen, coordinator of YLF.

According to a Unit 4 press release, candidates are nominated by the district or members of the community. Winners are chosen for their community involvement, views on the state’s most pressing educational needs, and outstanding service to students.