For the NIU College of Education’s spring group of educator licensure graduates, part of their professional mission was made clear May 9 during the New Teacher Send-off.
Rachael Mahmood, the 2024 Illinois Teacher of the Year and a 2016 alumna of the Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction program, said it first.
“When I was a student, my teachers probably would have awarded me with the title of ‘My Most Challenging Student.’ My teachers were so incredibly frustrated with me, and I know that because I was also frustrated with me. No matter how hard I tried, I never seemed to fit in at my school,” Mahmood told the audience during her keynote speech.
“I came into the teaching profession searching for that belonging I never felt as a student,” she added. “I had longed for a teacher who understood me – a teacher who could see past my behaviors and recognize my potential.”
Mahmood discovered her power to make life-changing differences through the practice of multicultural education, realizing as she learned about the model during her undergraduate coursework that, “This is my story. This is me.”
She subsequently became “the type of teacher who validated and affirmed students’ identities and culture – the type of teacher who helps students see that, when they lean into who they are, everything that they need to be successful already lies inside of them.”
Zac Craft later drove the point home.
Craft, principal of Highland Elementary School in Downers Grove Grade School District 58, earned his NIU B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education in 2012 and serves as president of the college’s Alumni Council and as a member of the 2025-26 NIU Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“NIU’s commitment to experiential learning means you haven’t just studied theory – you’ve practiced it,” Craft said. “You’ve reflected deeply, grown from feedback and learned what it means to teach with empathy and excellence. The university has instilled in you a belief that every student can learn – and that it’s our job, as educators, to figure out how.”
They won’t do so alone, he added.
“From Day One at NIU, you’ve learned and grown alongside peers, mentors, professors and students. That same spirit of togetherness will sustain you in the years ahead,” Craft said. “The best teachers I know don’t work in isolation. They share ideas and encouragement. They check in on each other. They build each other up. And they get better together.”
Educators are “part of a vast, vibrant community of teachers who believe in each other, believe in students and believe in the power of education to make the world better,” he added.
“In the months and years ahead, you’ll meet students who need someone just like you – someone who listens, believes and never gives up. And you’ll meet colleagues who will challenge you, support you and remind you why this work matters so much.”
He left the future teachers with three pieces of advice:
- When a lesson doesn’t go as planned, you’re not failing – you’re learning.
- When the work feels heavy, look around. Your fellow educators will lift you up.
- When the world feels divided, your classroom can be a place of unity and healing.
“My fellow educators, the future of education is in your hands, and I have never felt more hopeful,” Craft said. “You are stepping into a profession that changes lives, not just through content or curriculum, but through connection. You are stepping into a role that requires courage and dedication but gives back tenfold in joy, discovery and impact. And you are stepping into a community that will walk beside you every step of the way.”
Graduates were given NIU lapel pins, lanyards and copies of the Teacher’s Creed, which they recited as a group.
And, after posing for group photos with Mahmood, they received from the Illinois Teacher of the Year lapel pins engraved with the theme of the day: “You Make a Difference.”
