From the press release:
Dr. Laura Taylor, Assistant Superintendent for Achievement and Student Services, is being recognized by the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance as their Ally of the Year.
The Illinois Safe Schools Alliance will recognize Dr. Taylor at its Alliance Launch Event on Sunday, June 9 from 3–6 p.m. at Emerald City Lounge in Champaign. In addition to honoring Dr. Taylor, the Alliance will officially celebrate the opening of its Champaign office in the Champaign Schools Family Information Center (1103 N. Neil St., Champaign). East Central Illinois Safe Schools Alliance (eCISSA), Central Illinois Safe Schools Alliance (CISSA), and Heartland Safe Schools Initiative (HSSI) will also be recognized for their leadership and partnership at the launch event.
“The Illinois Safe School Alliance has long worked with students, schools, and communities throughout the state, but it is great to see the Alliance establish its first office outside of Chicago in Central Illinois,” said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. “The Alliance’s work to ensure all students are learning in safe and nurturing schools, where differences are accepted and honored, can only grow stronger as schools and communities come to know this organization. Students who have the freedom to express their sexual orientation and gender identity are more likely to reach their fullest potential both inside and outside the classroom.”
Dr. Taylor will be recognized for her social justice work in her former role as Principal of Urbana High School and for her leadership in founding the Champaign Unit 4 Schools Social Justice Committee. The District committee — which holds monthly meetings open to all staff, students, and families — aims to systematically improve the District’s ability to support student learning through the lens of social justice.
“The Alliance is thrilled to honor Dr. Laura Taylor — an outstanding leader — for her exemplary work to help advance the Alliance’s vision of a world in which youth can develop to their fullest potential in safe and nurturing schools,” said Alliance Executive Director Shannon Sullivan. “Dr. Taylor has been a visionary in the work to make Central Illinois schools safer for all youth regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.”
For more information about the event and the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, please visit our website.
