As the Manager of Coaching & Improvement for the University of Chicago’s To&Through Middle Grades Network, Jennifer Ciok works closely with schools, partners, and the To&Through team to create more equitable and supportive educational environments where middle grades students thrive. In this role, she supports middle schools across multiple cohorts in CPS to help build these systems using both qualitative and quantitative data and research to define problems of practice and implement change ideas to better support students. In April of 2021, Jennifer was also elected to the school board in her town for a four year term. She also serves on the Equity in Middle Grades Education Committee and the Advocacy Committee for American Middle Level Educators (AMLE) organization.
Prior to her work at To&Through, Jennifer was a middle school social studies and English teacher for 15 years. In that role, she focused on interdisciplinary teaching and student leadership to help students find their voice and use their passion to make a difference in the world. During that time, Jennifer was also named to the board of a nonprofit, A Better Life for Kids, that supports educational access in Ghana, on which she still serves today.
In 2015, Jennifer left the classroom to work for Umoja Student Development Corporation where she was the Social Emotional Learning Manager for a CPS high school. In that work, she helped to implement full school social emotional learning and supported culture and climate work. In this position, she was able to hone her abilities in systems level work and coaching of teachers, counselors and administrators. During this time, she was named to the Educator Advisory Committee for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and as a lead for the alumni board for Education Pioneers. In 2019, she was recognized as one of ten Agents of Change in Chicago by Education Pioneers.
Jennifer went to Ohio University where she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Education and her Masters in Reading Education. She also has her credentials in College and Career Advising and Gifted Education.