This evening, at the Local School Council meeting for Disney Magnet Elementary, I reached a personal achievement: I made the motion to hire a school social worker.

I have advocated for more social workers in Chicago Public Schools for nearly a decade. I firmly believe that full services provided to address the holistic learning health of all of our students not only enables them to better perform during their career at Disney, but during their further career at their high school and beyond.

Teachers are educators. They are mentors. They are role models. They are time keepers, rule makers and mind shapers. They push generations forward.

So when teachers need extra support to assist a student who needs extra support,

We turn to a Social Worker.