The NIU College of Education recognized December graduates of licensure programs Dec. 9 during the New Teacher Send-off event in Cavan Auditorium.
Evadne Bowlin, who earned her B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education in 2020, delivered the keynote address.
“With all the lessons and classes in your lives, I hope you have come across those who you can identify as an educator. Those who have challenged you beyond the lesson, beyond the classroom and beyond your own comfort zones. Those are the educators you should aspire to be,” said Bowlin, who teaches fourth-grade at Founders Elementary School in DeKalb.
“Of course it’s important that students learn how to read, write and do math,” she added, “but don’t neglect other parts of their development into who they are as people.”
Bowlin told her audience to remember “the four pillars of this career: improvise, adapt, overcome and educate.”
and Laurie Elish-Piper, dean of the NIU College of Education.
“As you embark on your new journey, take with you the memories and lessons you learned here at NIU. Teaching is not only a respectable career, but an honorable one,” she said.
“We have the honor to be in front of students and impact their future. We have the honor to directly influence the path of future generations and members of our society,” she added. “We have the honor to enlighten them and open their minds to new perspectives. We have the honor to be the foundation to whatever they accomplish in life.”
Click on any image for a full-size view.
