C2C Connects | Vol. 3 | Sept. 2023
READY. SET. LAUNCH!
Fall is here and as always, it brings the start of a new school season! While teachers and students were at home enjoying the summer, C2C has been hard at work finishing up some big projects.
Direct from the Exec.
We did it! Summer has passed, the leaves are falling, football is on TV and kids are back in school. It is a beautiful time of year for so many reasons. Back to school season reminds me of the beauty in new things; new school supplies, new classmates, new schedules, new opportunities. It's a time to launch forward, take risks and make new connections. And, that is what we are doing at Cradle 2 Career.
We are launching into this school year with new staff, a defined vision, a cohesive plan and a passion for convening and connecting partners for student success! Over the summer, we welcomed Beth Martinez and Winnie Godi to our C2C team. Beth is our Parent Advocate and is responsible for embedding parent and student voice into our networks and initiative overall. Winnie is our Network Facilitator and is responsible for facilitating the work of our Prenatal to 3, Kindergarten Readiness and High School Graduation networks. We are excited to see how their knowledge and experience will enrich our work!
In addition to adding new staff, we have also been working on a number of important new projects. We've completed our Ends Policy Interpretations (aka. our strategic plan), researched and drafted our local understanding of childcare barriers and solutions in our community, and have been preparing for our second Annual Education Summit (Oct.4, 2023). At the summit, youth-serving community partners and interested community volunteers will come together for a day of professional development. This event would not be possible without our partners. We look forward to learning about the collaborative, data-driven working happening in our community and sharing our work, as well. The summit will give us an opportunity to think about the policies, practices, resources and power structures that could be shifted to transform systems in Rochester.
Thank you for joining us in our mission to see that all children, youth and young adults succeed from cradle to career! We are ready and set to launch into this school year! Here's to the opportunities ahead!
Kindly,
Julie Ruzek, Executive Director
Meet our New Parent Advocate
By Beth Martinez, Parent Advocate
Hello, I'm Beth Martinez. I'm a mother to three wonderful kids, a wife, and a proud owner of a cute rescued dog. I was born and raised in Texas, and when I was 8 years old my family relocated to Minnesota. This change brought its own set of challenges, but I approached each one with optimism and used the new opportunities to my advantage. Spending quality time outdoors with my family is something I cherish.I enjoy taking trips to Mexico with my family to visit loved ones as well as staying home reading, baking, and cooking new recipes. I value the connections I have with my friends and family and love to spread joy in any way possible.
My journey so far has been marked by learning, personal growth, and a commitment to service, and I hope to continue doing so for a very long time. I'm excited about my new role as a Parent Advocate. I firmly believe that involving parents in decision-making and planning is crucial to creating an equitable and supportive environment for our families and youth. Together, as a united community, we have the capacity to drive meaningful change, amplify voices, and cultivate a future characterized by empowerment and success.
Meet our New Network Facilitator
By Winnie Godi, Network Facilitator
Oraire ota! (Phonetic: Oh-ree roh-tah!) English Translation: "Good morning/Hello!" in Runyankole! Runyankole and Kinyarwanda are the two ancestral languages I am least connected to. This year I made a commitment to learning and practicing both languages. In July, I completed a nine-month Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Kigali, Rwanda. Living and teaching in Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills, was an incredible experience. I was born in Kampala, Uganda and immigrated to the U.S. with my immediate family in 1998. My parents made sure I maintained a strong connection to our home which motivated me to teach in Kenya, Botswana, and Rwanda for a few years before returning to Rochester.I learned more about my ethnic cultures and spent quality time with my family who live in Uganda and Rwanda. I am now joining Cradle to Career as their new Network Facilitator. I am excited to use what I learned abroad to further C2C's initiatives. I am committed to promoting educational equity and cultural connectedness through relationship-building. We are diverse, we are dynamic, and we are determined. With unity and beef sambusas, we can achieve our mission of better outcomes for youth!
The Second Annual Education Summit is Around the Corner!
By Angalee Schmidt, Communications Manager
On October 4th, we are excited for our second Annual Education Summit! We will bring together youth-serving community partners and interested community volunteers. The summit is a full-day event that provides an opportunity to learn, connect, and explore how we can align efforts to drive student success and offers free professional development.
Last year, we had tremendous success with 130+ participants and 16 amazing presentations. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we have learned a lot from the experience, so we have decided to make this year bigger than the last!
With over 40 talented presenters from 21+ vital organizations, the summit features a diverse range of perspectives. Educators, researchers, policy experts, community leaders, students, and parents are ready to engage in solution-focused conversations.
Attendees can dive deep into key topics in 24 breakout sessions covering areas like literacy, social-emotional learning, childcare barriers and solutions, cultural competence, transitions, and family engagement. Local, state and national presenters will provide actionable takeaways tailored to roles across the education continuum - from early childhood to K-12 to higher education.
The Annual Education Summit underscores C2C's role as a convener, uniting partners through shared measures, continuous improvement, and an unwavering commitment to every child. By spotlighting promising initiatives, emerging best practices, and collective impact approaches, participants will leave energized with new connections and ideas to drive systemic change.
When it comes to realizing systemic change, it takes an entire community working together. Join C2C and be part of the movement focusing on the whole child from cradle to career. Let's come together to ensure all students can achieve their fullest potential. Scan the QR code on the back cover to register. We are all C2C!
STOP Grant: Listening to Student Voices
By Noah Shore, Data Analyst
What does school safety mean to students? And what does student voice have to say about a national public health issue? These are the questions that C2C is examining to prepare a new exciting project for launch. As a part of the STOP Grant, C2C is working in collaboration with Lourdes High School, the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Institute of the Developing Brain (MIDB), and the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) to bring attention to student, parent, and community perspectives and solutions in connection to school safety.
The lead investigators on this project, Dr. Angie Mejia-Medina (MIDB) and Dr. Apostolis “Paul” Sambanis (UIC), have taken on a collaborative effort to understand the socio-academic impacts as well as creative solutions to school safety. Lourdes High School, here in Rochester, and Woodland Park Middle School, in Woodland Park, Illinois are joining as knowledge co-creators and central stakeholders of the research team. In addition, this project will see C2C working with university students to go into Lourdes High School to learn about research design while in the field by conducting the data collection needs of the project. Some of the community-engaged methods these university undergraduates and the high school students will have the opportunity to learn include surveys, focus groups, photoelicitation, and participatory action theater. The Lourdes activities led by Dr. Mejia-Medina and C2C’s Noah Shore are set to begin this September and will continue throughout the school year.
StriveTogether National Conference
by Julie Ruzek, Executive Director
“Across the country, the Cradle to Career Network brings together thousands of partners and countless community leaders, all pursuing one North Star: a future where every child has every opportunity to succeed. Together, we transform systems to get better, more equitable outcomes for Black, Indigenous, Latine and Asian children and children experiencing poverty. We are guided by community expertise, data and shared learning. We celebrate our progress and chart the course to stronger futures.
Every year, StriveTogether brings the power of our national movement to one city for three days of connecting, learning and creating change. The Cradle to Career Network Convening is the only event of its kind for local and national leaders breaking down barriers and changing systems for 14 million youth — including nearly 8 million children of color.” - StriveTogether
Four Cradle 2 Career staff and one partner attended the convening this year. C2C was chosen to present our work on childcare barriers and potential solutions as a breakout session at the convening. Thanks to technology, seven other individuals representing staff, networks, leadership table and parent council attended the online. We are grateful for the learnings and connections that StriveTogether offers our community!
We are C2C
Cradle 2 Career uses the collective impact model to do our work. This means that communities identify root causes, develop strategies, learn, and commit to action for children and youth in our community. Though you may not know it, dear reader, you too, are C2C! Here are some of the members of our community that you may know who actively champion collective impact on a daily basis.
Khadija Ali
Role within C2C: Parent Advisory Council
Professional or organizational affiliation outside of C2C: Co-founder of Pamoja Women
What are your hopes and dreams for the work of C2C? My hopes and dreams for the work I do with Cradle 2 Career is to spread the amazing work this organization does, especially with underserved communities. For youth, I hope that they know they are in a community with many resources, that cares about them and their education, and organizations like C2C are here for them and their families. My dream is to raise my children in a world that is kind to one another. I was born in a refugee camp, where we had nothing to eat at times. I remind my children to never say ‘life is not fair’, and that there are others who would want to be in your place. I hope to grow Pamoja Women organization and make it an organization that is known all over Africa, even though its home is here in the USA.
Taylor Adams
Role within C2C: Community and Engagement High School Intern
Professional or organizational affiliation outside of C2C: I just graduated from JM and will continue my education at South Dakota State University.
What are your hopes and dreams for the work of C2C? I have learned so much about the impact of small organizations. The work behind the scenes can make very valuable changes or reflections on something so important like education.
Noah Shore
Role within C2C: Community and Engagement High School Intern
What are your hopes and dreams for the work of C2C? Working through C2C I hope to discover and utilize all the data available to help to improve our community so that everyone can succeed cradle to career. I hope that the youth in our community can reach the education needs without barriers to any families in our community.
