For the first time since January 2020, the NIU College of Education’s Educate U.S. program will this May transport select licensure candidates to the Houston Independent School District for a week of immersion in the life of a teacher.
Aimee Zepeda knows what awaits them.
Zepeda, who earned her B.S.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from NIU in 2017, took that same trip as a senior. And, like others before her and since, she found the place where she wanted to begin and nurture a career in the classroom.
“I really enjoyed my experience in Houston,” Zepeda says. “The week that I spent there with Educate U.S. really sold me – not only being able to teach students who look like me, or in communities that really are in need of great teachers, but also living in Houston itself and being able to venture off and explore the city.”
Her decision has paid amazing dividends.
Twice named the Bilingual Educator of the Year in HISD, she now is a teacher-specialist who coaches other teachers in literacy education methods while also nearing completion of her master’s degree in Educational Leadership in Texas.
She returned to her alma mater Feb. 28 and March 1 to help Adam Harrer, teacher recruiter-talent acquisition for the Houston Independent School District, in marketing Educate U.S. – and the district as a potential future employer – to current Huskies.
Launched in March of 2014 with Houston’s Aldine Independent School District, Educate U.S. is open to licensure candidates in the departments of Curriculum and Instruction, Kinesiology and Physical Education and Special and Early Education.
Participation promotes critical developmental areas such as teaching strategies, lesson planning, classroom management, parent-teacher experiences and working in diverse educational settings.
“Educate U.S. provides students at NIU a chance to broaden their cultural perspectives and to work in an environment that maybe they haven’t had the opportunity to engage with before. The experience during that week allows them to see what kind of an impact they really can have,” Harrer says.
With that comes “working with students who maybe don’t look like them, working in communities that are not here in DeKalb and working with high-quality, effective teachers so that they can continue to grow in their practice as educators,” he adds, “and so that they themselves can become high-quality, effective teachers and maybe – hopefully for us in Houston ISD – they come down and make a different in our students’ lives.”
Bringing Zepeda back to NIU makes that visible.
“I want them to know that the move to Houston is possible and that the transition is smooth. I want them to know about the support they will get as a first-year teacher,” Zepeda says. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of as much support as our district provides for those teachers who are new and curious to start their lives in a city like Houston.”
Opportunities for professional development afforded by a large district with 280 campuses “help teachers redefine their skills or to look for new skills that they can acquire,” she adds, “and you can grow at your own pace.”
Her personal agenda is infinite.
“I’m an ambitious person, and I really want to see what it is that I can accomplish in my life,” she says. “I don’t ever want to settle. I like to look for opportunities and explore different avenues.”
Zepeda’s perpetual evolution builds on the dream she had growing up in Aurora and Rochelle, where she graduated from Rochelle Township High School in 2013: “I wanted to close the gaps within those marginalized communities,” she says.
“My passion is to teach students who are bilingual, and I know that from being in bilingual settings, it truly depends on the school itself whether it’s a quality’ program or whether it’s not a quality program. I wanted to be part of the quality teacher label,” she says.
“That way, I can make sure that those students are being equipped with the opportunities, and with the great teaching strategies that I learned, to grow and to be better and to reach new heights than the generation before them.”
Houston’s rich diversity cultivates that soil “to work with those minority students and to make sure we are providing them with a quality education.”
So does her preparation in Graham and Gabel halls.
“What makes me a great teacher is making connections with my students,” Zepeda says. “Some students go to school to learn. Other students go to school to be loved. I think that’s important to mention because those students who go to school to be loved will learn through being loved.”
An attitude like that confirms Harrer’s confidence in the NIU College of Education and its ability to supply excellent teachers.
“Houston ISD is lucky to have Aimee and all the NIU students who come down to teach, support our HISD community and make a difference in students’ lives. In this age of COVID, the work they are doing is paramount as we look to reengage students and close student achievement gaps,” Harrer says.
The Educate U.S. partnership, he says, not “only allows NIU to broaden its impact on the students they’re developing into teachers but also provides us in Houston ISD an opportunity to recruit and retain high-quality teaching talent.”
NIU’s “focus on providing its teachers culturally relevant learning experiences throughout their practicum, along with equipping them with the tools to become an educator who positively impacts students’ lives, aligns with what we’re looking for in highly effective teachers in Houston ISD,” Harrer says.
“In a way, the Educate experience is a cultural exchange of sorts: Just as NIU teacher candidates can broaden their cultural prospective during their experience, our HISD teachers and students get that same experience working with them. It’s a win-win.”
The result? More than a dozen NIU College of Education alumni employed – and thriving – in Houston.
“We’re excited about the future and continuing to grow this partnership as we go back to working in more of a face-to-face setting,” Harrer says, “and when they come to Houston and they see the impact they can make in students’ lives in an urban setting, its life changing. I think that’s when they say to themselves, ‘You know what? I can do this and I’m excited to make a difference.’ ”
