A Note from Midwestern Region VP Ileana Rodriguez

Dec. 2011

Midwestern News

RVP Ileana Rodriguez

Greetings from the Midwestern Regional Office!

We hope you have enjoyed a productive fall. Like you, we at the College Board have been actively advancing our commitment to help more students reach for the challenges of college and career readiness. We had more than 100 school districts in the Midwest recognized through the 2011 AP Honor Roll for their effectiveness in growing access to the rigor of Advanced Placement® and for reaching students from more diverse backgrounds and experiences and helping them be successful. We were excited to be part of this process of recognition and enjoyed personally meeting with many of the educators who have made this happen across the Midwest. Our team of K–12 educators and experts, under the leadership of Ted Gardella, senior director of K–12 services for the Midwestern Regional Office, personally presented recognition certificates at more than 30 school board meetings this fall. Thanks to the districts that welcomed us in this effort and congratulations again to the recognized districts for their outstanding efforts on behalf of all students and their success.

I hope many of you had the opportunity to take advantage of the more than 25 Fall Counselor Workshops we offered during the months of September and October across the Midwest. These workshops are a great opportunity to connect with colleagues and get access to resources and information to help you drive college readiness in your schools and districts. This year, we introduced the resources available through the YouCanGo!™ website. If you are interested in helping tear down the barriers to attending college, this website is the resource to help you get that message out directly to students in a most effective way — by learning from other students how they did it. It’s a wonderful and inspirational resource.

The theme of the 2012 Midwestern Regional Forum is  “Investing in Education,” as we know that all of you are keenly aware of and concerned about the challenges related to funding and resources in education. We look forward to insightful presentations and stimulating conversations among colleagues from across the K–12 and higher education communities. Have a great holiday break and we hope to see you at our annual Midwestern Regional Forum on Feb. 12–14 in Chicago.