MARCH 26, 2025

The Kane County ROE prides itself on not only connecting and collaborating with educators within our office, but also serving in our capacities at schools across the area. Along with our efforts in Professional Learning, Youth Outreach, Health Life Safety, and others, we have recently enjoyed additional reasons to celebrate with staff and students.

Last week marked the annual Kane County Regional Spelling Bee at Thompson Middle School in St. Charles. Champions from 27 schools competed in semifinal events before eight finalists joined us for this competition. Yahya Mohammed, a seventh-grade student at Larsen Middle School in District U-46, earned the title of champion for the second consecutive year and another opportunity to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Second place went to Myles Godinez from Immanuel Lutheran School in East Dundee, while Diana Gomez from Dundee Middle School placed third.

The amount of effort the competitors put into preparing for this event is a feat in itself, and we congratulate every student that dedicated their time and effort towards the Bee.

Members of our staff have also begun to visit with nominees for the 49th Kane County Educator of the Year. We have already gathered a wealth of knowledge, listening to these staff members describe how they entered the educational field and what still motivates them years later. These stories will play a vital role in celebrating our 46 nominees at our banquet on May 2.

Tickets for the event are now available at your district office. We look forward to celebrating these esteemed educators and their school communities!

Patricia Dal Santo, Regional Superintendent

Designed with school and district staff members at all levels in mind, our annual Adaptive Schools Seminar is coming this May. If you manage or work with shared decision-making groups or faculty groups, the opportunities through these four days will help you to:

•Develop skills to become adaptive through successful, collaborative conversations with your teammates

•Extend your repertoire of facilitation strategies

•Organize meetings so that they are learning opportunities for all stakeholders

•Develop ways to value and use dissension, argument and conflict

•Obtain tools, concepts, and strategies to transfer from the workshops to the workplace

•Develop an increased capacity to initiate, develop and sustain high functioning groups

Cost: $125 l PD Credit: 22

*Participants must attend all four sessions. Fee includes lunch and course materials.

Evaluator Academies begin next month

April ushers in not only the start of educator licensure renewal period, but also our 2025 slate of Evaluator Academies! Whether online or in-person, initial training or retraining, we have 15 separate academies open for registration through September.

Find your best option to fulfill this evaluator designation requirement below.

(Click on the date to learn more and register.)

APRIL 16

APRIL 22

JULY 30

SEPTEMBER 11

APRIL 22-23

JUNE 24-25

SEPTEMBER 9-10

APRIL 23-24

JUNE 24-25

JULY 23-24

SEPTEMBER 17-18

JUNE 12

JUNE 17

JULY 16

SEPTEMBER 23

We're hiring!

Are you interested in serving students and educators across Kane County with the ROE? There are multiple openings with our team to explore.

Professional Learning Coordinator

Our growing Professional Learning team is looking for a Coordinator to present, lead, schedule, create, and facilitate a variety of professional learning activities both online and in-person. This position will also provide individualized support to Kane County schools under the guidance of our Director of Innovative Professional Learning.

Juvenile Justice Center Principal

The Kane County Juvenile Justice Center is hiring a School Program Principal to begin July 1, 2025.

The ROE manages the education program at the Juvenile Justice Center, and this position ensures that all students residing there have access to consistent, high-quality education. The role also works with other leadership staff at the center to oversee a safe and equitable learning environment.

Environmental Studies/Natural Science Scholarship

Each year, the Friends of Moraine Hills State Park offer scholarships to students across multiple counties that are interested in pursuing an environmental science or natural science career. Kane County students can now apply to receive one of three scholarships worth $2,000 each.

Applications are due April 30.

Is your phone due for some spring cleaning? If so, now is the perfect time to go through the apps and media on your device and clear out what you no longer need.

Phil Morris continues to help you create space with more ways to manage your phone's storage in our latest Tuesday Tech Tip, including how to offload apps and optimize photos.

Looking for previous tips? Click here to browse the full playlist.

Below is a sample of educator course offerings from the Illlinois Online Academy that can be completed within 60 days. 

Google Keep, Forms, Google Arts & Culture, Google Search & Extensions for Education

PD Credit: 6

Cost: $40

Harrassment, Bullying,

& Cyber-Intimidation

in Schools

PD Credit: 30

Cost: $200

See our full list of courses and asynchronous academies here.

Check out the latest episodes of our weekly classroom strategy series, Branching Out, for quick tips from our Professional Learning team!

Here's What, So What, Now What

Analyzing student data is an essential tool for assessing and empowering those we teach.

This strategy helps educators move beyond simply looking at numbers, using a three-column framework to guide meaningful analysis and next steps to drive instruction.

5-3-1 Summarization

Do your students need help with identifying key ideas from a lesson?

Elsa Glover will walk you through a strategy that acts as a guide for summarization. Using this method opens the door for students to think critically, collaborate, and comprehend what they have learned!

New episodes of Branching Out are released every Thursday across our social media platforms and our website. You can also browse our full catalog below. With over 100 episodes and counting, there's a video for every educator looking to branch out!

Have a question? Want to connect?

hello@kaneroe.org l kaneroe.org