Reagen Bradbury was born and raised in Champaign Urbana, attending school in the Unit 4 school district. She left the community to attend Bennington College in Vermont. At Bennington College, she earned a BA in Early Childhood Education with a focus in Children’s Literature.
Reagen Bradbury and her children, Henry, 4, and Maryjane, 15 months. Credit: Reagen Bradbury
After college, Bradbury returned to Chambana, and began a career at the Mental Health Center. She has been employed at Champaign Urbana Public Health District for 8 ½ years as a Teen Parent Services Case Manager. She manages a case load of clients, and submits billing for this grant-funded program, the main goal of which is to assist teen parents in completing their high school education.
In addition, she is the Coordinator of Safe Kids Champaign County. As the coordinator, she sits on the Safe Kids Board of Directors and runs our local Child Safety Seat Inspection Station. Bradbury is also on the board of the Montessori School Champaign Urbana.
Bradbury and her husband, Adam, have been friends since they met at Jefferson Middle School. The two have been married for seven years, and are raising our two children, Henry, 4, and Maryjane, 15 months.
See why we think Reagen Bradbury is a Chambanamom to Know!
Chambanamoms: What is challenging about being the coordinator of the Safe Kids program and why is it rewarding?
Bradbury: Hands down the most challenging aspect of being the safe Kids Coordinator is time management. I do a lot of juggling of my schedule to get the job done. The reward comes from the education that the certified child passenger safety technicians and volunteers are able to distribute to families in community.
Safe Kids is helping to improve the safety and wellbeing of children. I am a part of that, doing the hands on work with families daily and that is a great reward!
Q: As part of your job, you see a lot of families in Champaign County who are struggling in a variety of ways. How do you stay even-keeled emotionally?
Bradbury: I try my best to keep work and home separate. I like being “present” with my children and husband when I am with them, and getting as much accomplished as I can when I am at work.
I also am an avid runner. My husband and I run while pushing our children in running strollers five or six times per week. Running is my stress reducer.
Q: How do we teach kids to be safe without making them paranoid or fearful?
Bradbury: Unintentional childhood injury is the leading cause of death and disability to children ages 1 to 14. I believe it is our duty as parents to be good role models for our children, and educate ourselves on issues that affect our children’s lives everyday.
If we are actively supervising and role modeling safe behaviors like wearing our safety belts every time we travel and biking with helmets children get the message without feeling paranoid or fearful about engaging in activities and play. If you make modeling safe behaviors part of your everyday life it just becomes natural and expected for your children.
Q: What do you love most about being a mom?
Bradbury: So many things make being a mom great, from the hugs and kisses to reading books before bed! Being a mom has defiantly boosted my self confidence. I can see in my children’s eyes that they believe I can do anything.
Sometimes when I need her, I call that “Super Mom” up in my professional life.
Q: Your family is well-known for its commitment to public service. Why did you decide to go into the “family business” as well?
Bradbury: I was fortunate enough to be able to live in many different places during college and my early twenties. I chose to come back to our community because I really love it. We have a great community with lots of opportunities and it is a great place to raise kids!
My mom (Linda Frank, Champaign County Circuit Clerk) has always been active in our community and I am glad that my sister (Deborah Frank Feinen, Champaign City Councilwoman) and I can follow her example. I really like volunteering, and helping to educate families in our community. I hope that my children want to get involved when they are older.
Q: What is your ideal date night in Champaign? When was the last time you had a date night and what did you do?
Bradbury: A beer at the Esquire with my husband, followed by a movie at the Virginia (maybe an old Hitchcock film like “North by Northwest”) with Twizzlers and popcorn, and then a late dinner at Manzella’s after the movie.
The last time Adam and I went out on a date was on our wedding anniversary in July. We went to dinner at Great Impasta and then took a drive, taking advantage of time to have a kid-free conversation. We stopped at Custard Cup to bring desert home to the kids, and we shared the rest of our anniversary evening with them.
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