Advocate for youth: Longtime Peoria educator embraces new role in health care system
PEORIA — After a long career with Peoria Public Schools, Derrick Booth began work at UnityPoint Health — now Carle Health — at the end of January.
“As I mentioned at the (January 23) school board meeting, it feels like I’ve been there since I was 10 years old,” said Booth. “I started there when I was a ball boy. Professionally, I was there about 18 years.”
Booth also grew up in the district — he graduated from Manual High School in 1991.
Though he explored other job opportunities over the years, Booth always seemed to be drawn back into working for the district. Early in his career with PPS he worked as a substitute teacher and a school suspension supervisor. Though he left the district to work as a software engineer for Advanced Information Services in 1999, he ended up back at PPS after being laid off after 9/11.
When the recession eased and he was called back to work at AIS, Booth declined and instead went back to school to get a master's degree that qualified him to work as a school counselor.
An advocate for youth
Though Booth has worn many hats at PPS, he is probably best known for being the coach of the Manual High School basketball team, which he did for 16 seasons, 11 as head coach. Under his leadership, the Rams made three state tournament appearances, finishing second in 2008 and 2010 and third in 2016.
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Booth gave up coaching in 2017, a year after being named the director of Social Emotional Learning for PPS. Building the brand-new program did not allow much time for extracurricular activities. Though his duties as director of SEL were quite different from coaching, the overarching goal was the same.
“My purpose in life is to be an advocate for youth, and that has not changed; especially for those who are underprivileged and underestimated,” Booth told the Journal Star in 2017. “However, my platform to carry out this purpose has expanded. I am excited about the immense opportunities to provide supports and services for the 13,000-plus students of Peoria Public Schools through the office of Social and Emotional Learning.”
SEL is an ambitious program which aims to support not only the students, but entire families living in one of the most impoverished school districts in Illinois. Booth was responsible for implementing numerous programs under the SEL umbrella, including the Wraparound Center at Trewyn Middle School, where families can go to obtain anything from food to health care to free legal services. He also developed the Justice Advocate Program for juveniles in the criminal justice system. Booth’s years as a counselor made him aware of an issue depressing the graduation rate at Manual High School.
“Our graduation rate was not good — like 70% back then," said Booth. “I started doing some research to learn where we were losing our students. ... I started to understand that the individuals that didn’t complete school ended up in two places, unfortunately, and that’s the criminal justice system and the unemployment line. One of the things I wanted to do was create a program to support students going through the criminal justice system.”
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The first priority of the Justice Advocates program is to help kids graduate.
“We provide the supports to get them caught up with their credits, and counseling to make sure they’re completing their court orders and building that relationship with probation officers and juvenile court judges,” said Booth. “That’s been a successful program, getting those students that fell through the cracks, pulling them out of the cracks and getting them re-enrolled in school, and then following them not only through graduation in either connecting them to college or a career.”
Well prepared for his new role
In his new job as Executive Director of Community Services for Carle Health - Trillium Place, Booth is once again broadening his reach in the community. Formerly called UnityPlace, Trillium Place provides comprehensive addiction and mental health services for all ages. Booth’s office will eventually be in the former Headington Oaks building in West Peoria, which is being renovated to house the Young Minds Project, a behavioral health center for children.
Booth said the things he learned at PPS have prepared him well for his new job.
“The school system is a melting pot of society, so that has really prepared me for some of the challenges that are in the community we’re trying to provide supports and services for, specifically around behavioral health, mental health, and substance use disorders.”
Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Longtime Peoria educator embraces new role with Carle Health
