People who celebrate the power of education – and those who practice it – came together Nov. 12 to watch the debut of a new documentary that takes a walk in “A Teacher’s Shoes.”
The locally produced film, created by the NIU College of Education’s Morgridge Endowed Chair Office and the NIU Foundation, spends a day with Huskie alumnae Grace DeSmedt, Ashley Manor and Dominique Yackley.
Kristen Aragon and Kimberly Teal, currently serving as graduate assistants in the Morgridge Office, collaborated on the project with Associate Dean Todd Gilson, the foundation’s Angela Johansson (director of Marketing and Communications) and Matthew McCanna-Molina (multimedia production specialist) as well as freelance videographer Jenna Stewart.
Laurie Elish-Piper, NIU’s executive vice president and provost, delivered opening remarks, telling the audience that it’s imperative “to support our teachers” and “to encourage others to look at our teachers for the important role and contributions that they made in our students’ lives and in our communities.”
“What we do is not just support our students in the classroom that year,” Elish-Piper said, “but that the impact, the lessons, the care we provide, carries on with them throughout the rest of their lives.”
Rave reviews for “A Teacher’s Shoes” are already in, at least from those at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center premiere – and, after energetic applause following the on-screen credits, College of Education Dean Mary Earick introduced the three teachers as they literally strolled a red carpet to the front of the ballroom to participate in a panel discussion.
“When I watched the video, it made me cry – not sad tears; tears of incredible joy – because it brought me back to when I was an early childhood teacher, an elementary school teacher, a middle school teacher,” Earick told the audience, “and I know the privilege of that work.”
Earick spoke directly to each teacher.
- To Manor: “In the film, you talk about how your students show up, and how that motivates you, but what I see is that you are motivating and inspiring them because you are present and see them every day.”
- To Yackley: “When you talk about being ‘safe to learn, what I was so inspired by personally was that you knew that part of that was agency. When you saw people at the district level – the adults – meeting and talking about what equity is, you knew that had to be in the hearts and souls and students and they needed that opportunity.”
- To DeSmedt: “I watched you over and over again using language around thriving, healthy lives, and we know that, in the last decade, that has a been a challenge for children, youth and adults, so I applaud you for building that in each of your students.”
“These individuals are the future of our state, our country and our democracy,” Earick said to the audience, “because they are spending every day helping to support our future learners, leaders and activists.”
“A Teacher’s Shoes” will receive broader attention in February when the team members present their work during the 2026 conference of the National Association for School-University Partnerships in Crystal City, Virginia.
