Mrs. Shlinda Greer is invested in the future of Chicago’s young people.
For the past eight years, she has worked in Chicago Public Schools – this year on the South Side teaching a college and career readiness seminar. She coaches high school volleyball and basketball. She just completed her principalship certification from Clark Atlanta University. And she’s currently working on her PhD.
When Mrs. Greer was looking for more ways to build her college and career curriculum this year and give students opportunities to connect with resources in their city, she reached out to the team at Communities In Schools (CIS) of Chicago.
Not only did Mrs. Greer have a personal connection to CIS – her daughter, Shontierra, serves as CIS’ Academic Enrichment Partnership Specialist – she also had a CIS Student Supports Manager embedded in her school community.
Mrs. Greer shared with CIS her priorities for enrichment programs and resources. She wanted to provide students with opportunities that helped them envision a future past high school, she wanted to bring different voices to the conversation, she wanted to expose students to new experiences, and she wanted to support them socially and emotionally.
Just this year, Mrs. Greer has leaned on her relationships with the CIS of Chicago team to build brighter futures for students.
She connected students with field trips to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. She facilitated visits from Compudopt, a partner that teaches students technical and digital literacy skills, and Future Founders, an organization that builds their skills as entrepreneurs and leaders.
She brought in the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation to host four different workshops, and she hosted NAMI to support students with strategies that improve their mental health.
These CIS connections have given her students “open doors” to enriching experiences. They’ve also helped students develop both hard and soft skills that will serve them in the classroom or on the job.
This spring when Mrs. Greer met with the nonprofit creative writing center 826chi to plan a field trip, she asked 826chi staff if they could focus their writing exercise on the students’ personal statements – something they could use for college applications. She encouraged students to reflect on what has made a difference in their lives, not just the traumatizing events but the experiences that have shaped who they are as individuals with bright futures ahead of them.
Throughout her career, Mrs. Greer has been focused on community impact.
Mrs. Greer started her professional life as a paralegal, having earned a master’s degree in criminal justice. After her time as a paralegal, she decided to open her own early childcare facility, which she owned and operated for more than a decade. Now as a school administrator, Mrs. Greer continues to focus on how she can create the most impact for young people.
“She has a love for knowing the students and having a direct impact on youth,” her daughter, Shontierra, said. “I have no idea when she sleeps.”
Our team at CIS of Chicago loves collaborating with partners across the city who are dedicated to student success, including ones that are bona fide family like Mrs. Greer, and we look forward to seeing continued connections happening throughout the rest of the school year.
