“To say we were caught off guard — would be an understatement.”
That’s how Northwest Suburban High School District 214 Superintendent Scott Rowe described his reaction to learning that the White House had invited district officials to attend what they called the Classroom to Career Summit. He described the event at the November board meeting.
First row: Megan Kelly, Kate Foley, Alva Kreutzer; back row: Elizabeth Stavros, Lazaro Lopez, Scott Rowe and Patrick Mogge (photos courtesy of District 214)
The invitation came from President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, less than a week before the summit started, but Rowe and others dropped everything to attend. Rowe acknowledged that their invitation reflected District 214’s successful Career Pathways Program, which drew Dr. Biden to visit Rolling Meadows High School in 2022.
The 214 delegation at the summit included: Elizabeth Stavros, Rolling Meadows teacher, Dr. Lazaro Lopez, Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Patrick Mogge, Director of Community Engagement and Outreach, Megan Kelly, Rolling Meadows Principal, Alva Kreutzer, Board of Education President and Rolling Meadows senior Kate Foley, who was on the panel with Dr. Biden in 2022 when she visited the school.
They were among 200 guests, who also included community college representatives, business leaders, start-ups connected to the U.S. Department of Labor and many leaders in education. However, Rowe said save for one other high school representative from Ohio, they were the only delegation from a public high school in attendance.
Dr. Jill Biden addresses the summit.
“It was awe-inspiring and unbelievable to be in a group of 200 people in the White House,” Rowe said, adding that heard not only from President and Dr. Biden, but from Cabinet members that included the Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
The summit was called to highlight and expand career pathway programs as well as those in workforce development, something which District 214 has offered to students for a number of years. Its Career Pathways program features more than 1,000 partnerships, which enable students to explore a variety of fields with hands-on learning experiences that are tied directly to post-secondary opportunities.
After the summit’s opening remarks, guests then attended an event hosted by the Department of Education, where they heard — and contributed to — panels aimed at expanding career-related learning opportunities.
“I was struck by the power of unchartered learning and the incubator start-up showcase that they were talking about,” Rowe said. “A lot of the programs that they were talking about that needs to be done across the country, are already in place in District 214.”
Cabinet members discuss ways to create more pathways to jobs in infrastructure, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.
Nonetheless, Rowe and Board President Kreutzer described the chance to represent District 214 among business and education officials at the White House, as powerful.
“We spend so much time looking at ways we can improve, but this was a reminder of some of the great work going on here in the district for a long, long time,” Rowe said. “I could not be more humbled and proud to be a part of it.”
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