The Promise Council of McLean County completed the District 87 leg of its Caring Adults program Wednesday.
Students at Oakland Elementary were greeted by cheering parents, educators and other community supporters as they walked into school. Barry Reilly, executive director of the Promise Council, said this helps further the organization’s mission of removing barriers that limit student success.
“When the kids go into this building and all of the buildings here in McLean County, the staff is going to build relationships with those kids and treat them in a way that's going to help build that self-esteem,” said Reilly, who retired as superintendent of District 87 in 2022. “And that, in turn, is just going to make success much more likely.”
Between District 87 and Unit 5 schools, there are 19 stops for the program from the start of the school year to Sept. 15. The Olympia school district also has councils, making it 24 total stops between the elementary, middle and high schools of the three districts. Normal Community High School has a council, but is not scheduled to host a Caring Adults event this year.
“Our kids deal with so much here in this community, and we want them to know that there's people that love them, support them, and we want them to show up every day, because this is a place where we care about them,” said Leslie Blockman, Oakland Elementary principal.
Promise Council members and student parents made up most of the crowd greeting students. Dan Brady, mayor of Bloomington, and Abe, mascot for the Bloomington Bison hockey team, also attended.
While some students may have been told about the plans beforehand, it was a surprise for many as they arrived.
“We share it with our families in the community, but the students may not exactly know what day it is that it's happening,” said Blockman.
Wendy Boch came to support her two kids attending Oakland Elementary as they arrived. It was her second year doing so.
“They enjoy seeing all the people, they love the clapping, they love the bubbles. They need the encouragement in the first week of school to know that they’re welcome,” said Boch.
The events were not quite as well-attended at Bloomington Junior High and Bloomington High School. Reilly attributed that partly to the earlier start those students get. While students do not arrive at Oakland Elementary until 8:30, junior high and high school students start their days at 7:30 and 7:00, respectively.
“And the kids, of course, when they're in middle school and high school, they might come in trying to act really cool, and this isn't a big deal. But then their smiles, you can see their smiles cracking, and they'll do the high fives too,” said Reilly.
