At CICS Bucktown, holistic education is driven by understanding the essential link between a child's physical, emotional, and community well-being. That’s what makes our Community School Coordinator (CSC) Sophia Camacho so special—between her experience as a P.E. teacher and coach to being the heart of our Community Hub, Ms. Camacho has kept her focus on educating the whole child.
For five years, Sophia has been a steady force at CICS Bucktown, starting as a P.E. teacher focused on building foundational skills and team orientation. Today, as a CSC, she applies that same team-oriented mindset to the entire school community, proving that a healthy student is a successful learner. "In P.E., I always thought holistically: okay, they’re fed, so now we can work on exercise and teamwork," Ms. Camacho explains. "The Community Hub is the heart of the school because it helps students feel safe, secure, fed, and mentally stable. When those basic needs are met, that’s when we can work on everything else."
This understanding of the whole child—that a hungry, cold, or isolated student cannot focus on academics—is what drives her work. Her success is rooted in two core principles: communication and teamwork. "With community events, there’s a lot of communication and teamwork needed with parents. I correlate that back to playing games in the gym—everyone has to talk, look up, and work together. That kind of communication happens at events in a very team-work oriented environment," Ms. Camacho says.
Her proactive, team-building spirit has led to immediate and measurable success. This year, when a new student's mom asked about boys' volleyball, Ms. Camacho quickly found a coach, coordinated practice space with Holstein Park, and helped launch a new team. Just three weeks in, the boys' team secured their first win! This success in trying something new and working together is one of her proudest moments. Applying her passion for community, Ms. Camacho revamped this year’s Fall Fest to include a Hispanic Heritage Month potluck. This shared community meal allowed 8th graders to speak about their heritage, giving younger students the chance to watch the older students say their piece and aspire to get to do that someday, as well.
Ms. Camacho’s work as a CSC frequently places her as the first point of contact for families needing basic needs support. She views her role as balancing that immediate physical support with long-term security. "If students don't have coats, their experience in the classroom would be worse because they’re not as focused. We wouldn’t know unless we had resources and someone reaching out to the families," she shares, highlighting how the Community Hub model is critical for both wellness and academic performance. Her work, which now includes overseeing attendance, confirms the connection, linking transportation issues and lack of resources to having a direct impact on grades.
For Ms. Camacho, the goal is simple but profound: to make sure all CICS Bucktown families feel happy and that their students feel like they belong and have a strong sense of pride. This motivates her future plans, which include expanding the school’s food pantry offerings to ensure that vulnerable families feel safe and secure, even when school is out.
The Community Hub, championed by Ms. Camacho, is a safety net that allows every CICS Bucktown student to enter the classroom ready to learn, thrive, and experience the fullness of their personalized educational journey.