Grow Your Own Illinois

The NIU College of Education and Rockford Public Schools (RPS) are seeking Rockford residents who wish to earn their bachelor's degrees in Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University thanks in large part to a planning grant received from Grow Your Own Illinois (GYO-IL).

Grants received from Grow Your Own Illinois help universities such as NIU to recruit, support and encourage community members who are committed to classroom teaching and want to stay in their home communities.

Our planning grant from GYO-IL included Rockford Public Schools, Rock Valley College, YMCA of Rock River Valley and Wabongo Leadership Council as our core partners and led to the creation of the RISE (Rockford Inspiring School and Community Excellence) initiative. Building the RISE program included convening focus groups with RPS students, parents and teachers; Rock Valley College faculty and students; and community leaders to collect information about what Rockford needs to support its schools, families and educators, which produced a collaborative planning process.

Once eligible students enroll, GYO-IL grant dollars pay for gap courses students need to fulfill at Rock Valley and RPS. The organization's funding is also used to purchase course materials, textbooks and Chromebooks, and continues to sponsor the cohort until graduation.

RISE is housed under the umbrella of the NIU College of Education's PLEDGE (Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators) program. This current partnership with RPS 205 and Grow Your Own Illinois includes the full cost of tuition (with grades of C or better), credit for past work experience, academic advising and completion coaches.

If you are a Rockford community member interested in joining a future cohort, please contact Jennifer Johnson at jjohnson41@niu.edu or Vicci Gartner at vicci.gartner@rps205.com.

Grow Your Own Illinois Mission

"To support racially diverse and community-connected individuals to become certified teachers in hard-to-staff schools and positions in order to improve the educational opportunities and outcomes for their students."

Learn more about GYO IL.