Our Stories

As a recent Illinois high school graduate, I know better than most in our community how American history is taught in schools. The history I learned was good but often focused on just the highlights – think the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. It wasn’t perfect or entirely complete, but it was a […]

I wanted to drop a quick line and update you on our work related to the new Learn from History coalition. That coalition, and the vital work it sets out to do, was highlighted in a recent news article by the Illinois Times for some Illinois connections and national reach. Mimi Rodman, Stand for Children Illinois’ Executive Director, […]

As students return to the classroom, educators continue to navigate the new realities of teaching during a deadly global pandemic. But some educators are now having to face a whole new set of restrictions that have nothing to do with keeping students safe. Several state legislatures around the country have recently passed legislation crafted to […]

Four news flashes about members of the Stand Illinois Team. Tommorrow Snyder, Stand’s Regional Organizing Director, has been appointed to the statewide Work Group for implementation of the Jett Hawkins Act. This Act bans hair discrimination in schools. Tommorrow brings a rich perspective to this issue – in addition to leading Stand’s community and family […]

Download this column as a PDF. You could figuratively say we “won the lottery” when we got the COVID shot, an unprecedented marvel of science that took just a year to go from discovering a deadly new disease to testing and securing emergency authorization for a vaccine to guard against it. And here we are, […]

For the better part of my time at Stand, a huge focus of mine has been improving the course offerings and opportunities for Illinois high school students in the most equitable way possible. From career and technical education to dual credit classes, I’ve been eating, sleeping, and breathing this stuff for years. And today I’m […]