More than two dozen future teachers who already work for the Rockford Public Schools in support roles are now on their way to employer-paid bachelor’s degrees in Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University.
Among their champions is Grow Your Own Illinois, the grant-funding agency investing in the RISE (Rockford Inspiring School and Community Excellence) initiative.
GYO-IL is a long-time nonprofit organization that supports the development of teacher pathways in communities across Illinois.
“We’re so excited that Rockford, NIU and Rock Valley came together,” Roey Ahram, staff member at GYO-IL, told the new students gathered at a May 13 kick-off ceremony, “but I’m even more excited to welcome you all onto the pathway that hundreds of other teacher-candidates have taken to become teachers in their local communities.”
NIU applied for, and successfully won, a planning grant from GYO-IL in May of 2023, naming Rockford Public Schools (RPS 205), Rock Valley College, YMCA of Rock River Valley and Wabongo Leadership Council as its core partners.
Subsequently, NIU convened focus groups with RPS students, parents and teachers; Rock Valley College faculty and students; and community leaders to collect information about what Rockford needs to support its schools, families and educators, which produced a collaborative planning process.
GYO-IL dollars are paying for any “gap” courses students needed to fulfill this spring at Rock Valley. GYO-IL’s budget also provides for a GYO program coordinator at NIU; course materials; textbooks and Chromebooks; and partner stipends over the next two years.
All students now have started their summer NIU coursework and will remain employed in their district positions while taking classes moving forward.
RISE is housed under the umbrella of the NIU College of Education’s PLEDGE (Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators) program. This current partnership with RPS 205 and Grow Your Own Illinois includes the full cost of tuition (with grades of C or better), credit for past work experience, academic advising and completion coaches.
Custom elective courses focused on Rockford society are incorporated into the curriculum. Among those are “Socioeconomic and Historical Context of Your Community,” “Methods for Collaboration and Inclusion, “Community Leadership,” “Community Families” and “Culture of Caring.”
In return, participants commit to teach in District 205 for five years after their May 2026 graduation.
Shawaun Gordon, a paraprofessional at Flinn Middle School, is excited for the opportunity.
“Ever since I started at West back in 1998, working with the special education class, I’ve always had the passion for it. I loved it,” Gordon said.
“Obviously, this is my thing. I’ve done all types of different sorts of work, but nothing has made me more passionate or has come as easy as teaching,” she added. “I also feel it’s important. We need good, good teachers.”
Gordon hopes to count herself among those ranks, saying her goal is “making a difference – even if it’s just one student or one kid who I can make happy, make them feel special and give them any type of support.”
And, she says, RISE is exactly the type of support she needs.
“I almost gave up on my dream – my dream that I’ve worked so hard for. To finally be able to complete is just … you don’t even understand,” she said. “I was stuck in a bind. I couldn’t afford it. It was crushing to me to see how much work that I had completed, but that I was unable to complete the entire program. This is like a lottery ticket for me.”
Jennifer Johnson, the coordinating liaison between the NIU College of Education and the PLEDGE-RISE students, confirms the program’s jackpot status.
“Our courses will be delivered in multiple modalities, with input from the Rockford community, and we were able to design in an accelerated model while maintaining the rigor of our established B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education program,” Johnson said.
“The students are already a part of the climate and culture of the district and are excited to have even more of an impact on the students of Rockford by becoming teachers,” she added, “and I am most excited that, in two short years, these candidates will be entering the field of education as licensed teachers.”
DURING A MAY 13 KICK-OFF CEREMONY in Rockford for the new students and their families, the message from NIU College of Education Acting Dean Bill Pitney was one of “gratitude.”
“Thank you so much to our students who are stepping up and extending themselves and making a stretch to become an educator – a licensed teacher. I can’t think of a higher calling,” Pitney said.
“As we think about our roles in society today, we need the best teachers in the classrooms now more than ever,” he added, “so thank you for following your calling and for your willingness to serve the students and the families of the Rockford region. It just means a lot to me and to our faculty and staff.”
Representatives from NIU, RPS 205 and Grow Your Own Illinois who joined Pitney on stage at NIU-Rockford also received his thanks “for making this a reality.”
“Without your support, a program like this doesn’t exist,” he told his counterparts, “and we’re not filling the teacher vacancies like we need to – or serving the community in the way we envision.”
Jason Pope, the school district’s director of recruitment, said he is proud that RPS 205 “is investing in our staff to help them enter classrooms and become the teachers that our students need.”
“As many of you know, because you all work in our classrooms – you work with our students – we’re in a national teacher shortage. There are just not enough teachers out there. There haven’t been for several years,” Pope said.
“Universities are doing some great things to attract high school students to become teachers, to prepare them and to get them in the classroom. But the one thing high school students going to college lack is experience working with students,” he added. “All of you are currently working in our classrooms. You bring a perspective, and experience, that a traditional student-teacher isn’t going to have, and that is going to make a world of difference for our students.”
Vicci Gartner, recruitment coordinator in the RPS 205 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department, called RISE “exciting work.”
“What a pleasure, a privilege and an honor to help find, and to equip, such amazing school support staff members in becoming teachers,” Gartner said.
“It has been so powerful for me to be out and talking to some of you, and to hear your stories of, ‘I always wondered if I was going to be able to finish my degree, become a teacher and get into the classroom. I’m already in my 30s. I’m already in my 40s.’ And beyond,” she added.
“I’m so glad that we can all join together now and be a part of helping the Rockford community, and helping each and every one of you and the students you are going to serve. How amazingly blessed they will be.”
ROBERTO DAVILA WANTS his RISE journey to position him like a teacher he had long ago.
Davila, who graduated from East High School in 2020 and has worked there since coaching soccer, is now in his first year as a paraprofessional at Jefferson High School.
“I see a lot of students who don’t have the motivation to do their work,” Davila said. “When I first started school – preschool – I came out reading and writing in Spanish, and my teacher helped me out a lot. I look up to her, and I feel I can do the same by making school fun for students. If school is fun for them, they’ll always be willing to learn something new every single day. I feel I can bring that.”
Erica Hernandez, a paraprofessional at Thurgood Marshall School, is fulfilling her lifelong destiny.
“My biggest inspiration is my mom, who’s been a teacher for almost 30 years,” she said. “I actually come from a long line of teachers.”
Hernandez earned a bachelor’s degree in English but never completed her educator licensure, dropping that minor during her last semester of college. “I got into a classroom, and I felt overwhelmed and not mature enough,” she said.
She instead found work in retail before taking a job as an administrative assistant at a school, which provided a realization.
“I want to be back in the classroom,” she said. “Now that I’m in my 30s, I feel like, ‘OK, this is what I was supposed to do.’ Everything’s going great, and I love it. I just love seeing that spark of knowledge in kids when they finally get it – that ‘Oh! Aha!’ moment. I just love that. It’s my favorite thing in the whole world.”
RISE’s no-cost course delivery in Rockford, meanwhile, is “the only way I could do this. For me, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I cannot turn down. My mom’s very excited that I’m following her footsteps.”
So is Pitney.
“You’re going to have an amazing experience,” he told the auditorium of future educators. “It won’t be without its challenges, but I see so many of you tonight with your support systems with you, and I know – to my core – that our faculty and staff will be there to support you and have your back. I look forward to seeing your success and walking across the stage in a couple years.”
