Parents Leading School Safety Reform
Shift Everything recently spoke to Michelle Gay of Safe and Sound Schools and Lori Alhadeff of Make Our Schools Safe. They each lost a child…
Category: My Healthy Schools
Supporting Future Educators
Dr. Lindsey Jensen of Educators Rising Illinois is a former Illinois Teacher of the Year who works with young people who want to become teachers.…
How Academic Decathlons Work
This episode of the Shift Everything podcast introduces listeners to the Academic Decathlon. Hear what it takes to build a team, practice, and ultimately compete…
Early Literacy Success
Shift Everything explores the benefits of early literacy with West40 professional learning specialist Dr. Erika Lukasik. Hear how reading at a younger age can build…
Students Use CPR to Help Save Friend
Imagine being a teenager and seeing your friend collapse while on a jog. What would you do and how would you react? Four Ridgewood High…
Global Perspectives on Learning
Welcome to Shift Everything! In this episode, West40 executive director Dr. Mark Klaisner recaps his Spring 2025 trip to Asia, where he was one of…
Seniors Plus Students Discuss Restarting High School
There could be any number of reasons why graduating from high school in four years does not work out for a young adult. But there…
ICEARY Conference 2025
The Shift Everything team attended the ICEARY (Illinois Coalition for Educating At-Risk Youth) Conference in Bloomington in early March. We chatted with several attendees and…
Supporting Students and Advocates
Yessenia Olivas is West40’s Director of ALOP Operations. Her work often involves visits to advocates and students at schools in West40 partner districts. Yessenia explains…
Workforce Development for Students
The sky is the limit students who are interested in many in-demand careers and not all of the careers require four year degrees. High school…