Congratulations to these Department of Curriculum and Instruction alumni!
“God Came to My Garage Sale,” a book by Marni Hill Foderaro, Ed.D Curriculum and Supervision, ’97, has been named a finalist in the spiritual-inspirational category of American Book Fest’s 2020 Best Book Awards. Drawing on her own experiences and collecting the accounts of others, Foderaro wrote her book as much for her own healing as for inspirational purposes. A high school special education teacher in the Chicago suburbs for 35 years, Foderaro also worked during this time as an adjunct professor at NIU for 12 years.
Beth Goeppinger, M.S.Ed. Outdoor Teacher Education, ’89, retired Jan. 29 after nearly three decades working for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a naturalist for the Richard Bong State Recreation Area. Hired in 1993, Goeppinger leaves a legacy of creating educational programs and exhibits that Goeppinger helped create to teach visitors about the state park’s flora and fauna.
Jason H. Gold, B.S.Ed. Elementary Education, ’05, is the new principal of Fox Meadow Elementary School in South Elgin. Gold, who has worked in education for 14 years as a teacher and administrator, had served since 2016 as principal of Komarek Elementary School in District 94. He previously was coordinator of ELA and Math Initiatives & Teacher/Principal Retention and Development in Lyons School District 103 and as an assistant principal and Gifted and Talented coordinator in Oak Park School District 97. Gold began his education career as a math teacher Cary School District 26.
Denise Herrmann, Ed.D. Curriculum and Instruction, ’88, will begin service July 1 as superintendent of Community High School District 128 in Vernon Hills. Currently the associate superintendent for Learning and Teaching in St. Charles District 303, Herrmann previously worked as superintendent of the Roseville Joint Union High School District and as an associate superintendent for the Fremont Unified School District, both in California. She also has taught chemistry, chaired a Science Department and served as a principal and assistant principal.
James Wandile Makhubu, M.S.Ed. Curriculum and Supervision, ’96 retired Jan. 31 as principal of South Africa’s Unity Secondary School in Daveyton, Benoni. Makhubu founded the school in 1992 to serve at-risk learners, and had led as principal since then. He began his career in education as a mathematics teacher and, when he founded Unity, was the school’s only teacher.
Nicole Poynton, B.S.Ed. Elementary Education, ’05, was hired as assistant principal of Old Post Elementary School in Oswego School District 308. Poynton previously worked for Plainfield School District 202 as a Transitional Bilingual Education/Transitional Program of Instruction teacher, as well as an administrator for the English Learners remote learning summer school program. Before joining District 202, she worked as a bilingual second-grade teacher in Cicero School District 99.
Susan Redell, Ed.S. Educational Administration, ’19, and Ed.D. Curriculum and Instruction-Curriculum Leadership, ’13, has been appointed superintendent of Medinah School District 11, effective March 1, 2021. Redell has served as director of Learning in Medinah since 2005. She first joined the district in 997 as a fourth-grade teacher at Intermediate School and, in 1999, was promoted to principal at Primary School.
Aaron Sitze, M.S.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction, ’01, was named Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education and was a finalist for the state’s highest honor for exemplary educators: the 2021 Illinois Teacher of the Year. Sitze, who teaches social entrepreneurship at Oregon High School in Oregon Community Unit School District 220 in Oregon, was also a nominee during the 2012-2013 school year and earned a teacher leadership award in the Illinois Principals Association’s Northwest Region in 2017.
Suzanne Ziemnik, B.S.Ed. Elementary Education, ’83, was one of three people elected as the 2021 officers of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Ziemnik, chief officer for Learning and Educational Research at the American Society for Clinical Pathology in Chicago, is responsible for the oversight of more than 500 continuing professional development activities as well as books and journals delivered annually in surgical pathology, clinical pathology and all areas of laboratory medicine for pathologists, residents and laboratory professionals. She also co-leads the ASCP Center for Health Services Research.
If you’re a CI grad with news to share, please let us know – and send a photo! Our email address is NIUCOEalum@niu.edu.
