Programs

MyTime City-Wide After School Program
MyTime is a city-wide after school program developed collaboratively with the City of Aurora and numerous public and private organizations. MyTime engages middle-school students beyond the school day in positive activities in academics, the fine arts, and recreation, in order to help these students achieve academically, while reducing juvenile crime across the community. The program is currently being offered in ten middle schools in Aurora at no cost to parents. These middle schools are located in four school districts — East Aurora, West Aurora, Indian Prairie and Oswego. It is supported by the City of Aurora, Communities in Schools, Federal 21st Century grants, Federal Work/Study grants and the Aurora University operating budget, with community private and public organizations providing the curricula and Aurora University students leading the daily activities. In addition to MyTime, after school programs are offered in six elementary schools. Currently, 600 middle school students and 300 elementary students (all in high need schools) are served by more than 120 Aurora University tutors.

Supplemental Educational Services
In conjunction with MyTime, a Supplemental Educational Services (SES) program is being delivered to identified students at three middle schools in East Aurora School District 131. The Institute obtained approval from the Illinois State Board of Education to become a SES provider in 2007, and Aurora East School District chose the Institute to be their provider of services in 2007 and 2008 utilizing curriculum purchased from HOSTS Learning. Over 150 middle school students from Simmons, Cowherd and Waldo have participated in the program. Aurora University students who have completed at least 60 credit hours of college provide the tutoring in the program, as part of community service. Monthly training sessions have been provided for SES tutors on management and academic training for administering the HOSTS program. The ACI TQE-P and 3M Corporation grants support this training and the supervision of the university student tutors for its current and prospective education majors.

Student Leadership
ACI TQE-P resources and 3M Corporation resources support the Student Leadership Program at Aurora University. Student leaders in both the city-wide after school program and the Supplemental Educational Services Program attend semi-monthly leadership training workshops on topics such as dealing with core values, building relationships and student behavior. Kris Johnson, Director of Student Leadership, coordinates the training and has developed a comprehensive leadership curriculum (Leadership Education and Development (LEAD)) which is offered to any student working in the After School Program, SES or other community initiatives. Students in the LEAD program will have the opportunity to learn about leadership skills and practice them in a supportive environment, while earning leadership certificates for completion of the program. Research supported by the 3M grant will determine what effects the Aurora University student leaders are having on the middle school students and themselves as future community leaders.

Robert Crown Center for Health Education Collaboration
The Robert Crown Center for Health Education is collaborating with the Institute for Collaboration, the City of Aurora, the Rush Copley Foundation and the Berstad Foundation work to expand its interdisciplinary model of health education to the Fox River Valley. The center's mission is to help students become good decision-makers about their health, and to motivate them to lead healthy, happy and safe lives. The center opened a satellite office on the east side of Aurora in the fall of 2008. A Big Idea Summit, held on the Aurora University campus in September 2007 and sponsored by the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, brought together the experiences and knowledge of some of the top educators and leaders in the nation to explore a new model of health education. The goal of the center is to develop a highly successful, research proven, community driven, model of health education as a fully developed community resource. The Director for the Aurora Crown Center for Health Education is Dr. Catalina Ramos Hernandez.

College Ready Pre-College Program
In collaboration with the Quad County Urban League, Associated Colleges of Illinois, and Communities in Schools, and the United Way, the Aurora University Crouse Center for Student Success hosted a summer session of a College-Ready experience to high school sophomores from Aurora on the Aurora University campus in the summer of 2007 and 2008. The students lived in residence halls, experienced cafeteria food and student life activities led by Aurora University students who are part of the College Success Network. Students experienced college level classes in subjects such as poetry, law, biology and leadership.

Illinois Math & Science Partnership Grants
Through the Institute for Collaboration, Aurora University applied for and was awarded three Illinois Math & Science Partnership grants in Elementary Education Math and Science; Middle School/High School Mathematics and Middle School/High School Biological Science. The Master's degree programs have been developed and have passed the Aurora University's Council on Certification, the University Senate and the Board of Trustees. Teachers in East Aurora, West Aurora, Oswego, Downers Grove High School, Carpentersville and Plano School Districts will benefit from the grants by receiving Master's Degrees in Teacher Leadership in Elementary Education, Mathematics or Biological Science. With the Illinois Math & Science Academy, Packer Engineering, Sci Tech Hands On Museum and the Robert Crown Center for Health Education as partners, the goal of the grants is to build highly qualified math and science teacher leaders in our partner school districts. Eighty-four teachers will participate in the programs which began in fall 2008.

Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants
The Associated Colleges of Illinois (ACI) has partnered with Aurora University to recruit, prepare and retain teachers through the programs of ACI's Center for Success in High Need Schools. The - Teacher Quality Enhancement - Partnership (TQE-P) grant was awarded to the University and is in its fifth year.Through the TQE-P grant, Aurora University has sponsored Teacher Induction and Retention Academy classes for in-service teachers in East Aurora and West Aurora school districts and our AU student teachers. The grant has sponsored local and national speakers on the topic of teaching in high need schools. Spring 2008, Erin Gruwell, author of Freedom Writers, presented a motivational speech to pre-service teachers, local in-service teachers, and AU faculty, sponsored by the grant in collaboration with the Kane and DuPage Regional Offices of Education, North Central College, and Phi Delta Kappa.

In addition, a research project directed by Dr. Dan Hipp, Associate Professor, Chair of Humanities and Director of the Honors Program at Aurora University; and Dr. Jay Thomas, Assistant Professor and Faculty Assessment Coordinator at AU, is being conducted to evaluate the Supplemental Education Services Program with East Aurora to determine its viability of being a component of the secondary education program beginning fall 2009. The research is a two year project funded by the TQE-P funds.

Healthy Living Council
The Institute's latest collaboration is between the Kane County Health Department, East and West Aurora School Districts, the Robert Crown Center for Health Education, City of Aurora, Aurora University's School of Nursing and School of Social Work, and others.  The Healthy Living Council's focus is on health awareness in the areas of childhood and adult obesity. The vision of this initiative is that Kane County residents will be the healthiest in the state by 2030.