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Ready to Learn Team
When every child in every neighborhood is ready, they are more likely to succeed and thrive throughout their lifetime. We want to build on our strengths and address our vulnerabilities to make a dramatic and sustained improvements in readiness.
We used the Early Developmental Instrument in 2019 to assess readiness to learn - in academics, physical health, social skills, emotional maturity, and communication - across all our neighborhoods. We've gotten community feedback, analyzed it all, and we are READY TO ACT!
The Ready to Learn Team is a joint team of Alignment Rockford and Transform Rockford, with strong leadership from the Rockford Public Schools.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson is the Senior Minister of The Unitarian Universalist Church. In addition to a variety of other roles, he is also the Co-Chair of the Ready to Learn Team, an effort of Alignment Rockford, Transform Rockford, and RPS 205 to improve readiness for our community's youngest children. He has lived in Rockford since 2008.
Anisha Grimmett is an Auburn High School graduate and proud RAMM scholarship recipient. She has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from DeVry Institute. She previously worked for UTC Aerospace Systems for 20 years in various engineering and leadership roles, and most recently in Human Resources launching a new global development program for UTC Aerospace Systems.
Anisha joined Alignment Rockford on October 2, 2017 as the Executive Director. Her prior experience leading teams, solving problems, planning projects, developing and refining processes, and applying the tools of continuous improvement prepared her to lead the structured approach used to create collective impact by Alignment Rockford. Alignment Rockford will continue to focus on the greatest strategic needs of Rockford Public Schools by restructuring through three teams: Healthy Starts, which focuses on early childhood; College and Career Awareness, which focuses on student and parent engagement in college and career decisions; and Pathways, which focuses on relationship building and aligning resources.
Matthew and Anisha will talk about the Ready to Learn Team project. They will discuss how it got started, where it is now, and what the future holds for this project.
This will be an interesting and informative program about how this project is going to improve the lives and some of our most vulnerable young people. This will also be an excellent opportunity to bring a guest or prospective member. Elaine Breck will introduce our presenters and act as Rotary Host.