Olivia Warren had never really considered becoming a teacher.
A part-time job as an elementary school cafeteria/recess aide changed that.
“I was interested in going into social work because I really like the mental health aspect,” Warren says. “Then, I started working with children, and I fell in love with the profession. I liked that I was able to tie in those two things together.”
Warren is among the fifth cohort of B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education majors to earn those degrees without ever leaving Elgin Community College through NIU’s PLEDGE (Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educations) initiative.
She joined her Elementary Education classmates, as well as the second group of Early Childhood Education graduates, at a May 8 celebration of their accomplishment.
The Spartans-turned-Huskies gathered with their proud families along with faculty, clinical supervisors, academic advisors and even School District U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson in ECC’s University and Business Center’s Dining Room.
Completing her coursework in her hometown from NIU faculty who traveled to ECC made it possible: “I live only 10 minutes away,” she says.
“All of the classes have been in the same classroom, so we’ve really gotten to know the campus as well as each other. I really bonded with everyone in the cohort,” says Warren, who student-taught at Coleman Elementary School in School District U-46. “It’s been a great last two years, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody looking to go into education.”
ECC President Peggy Heinrich agreed with that endorsement.
“This is one of my favorite programs at our college because I feel like this is an example of what community colleges and universities ought to be doing in partnership together – removing the transportation barrier, doing this right in your backyard, getting through in an affordable fashion,” Heinrich told the crowd, “and with the majority of the completers teaching right here in our districts instead of leaving the state of Illinois, it’s a beautiful, beautiful model.”
Heinrich noted that the Class of 2025 pushes the number of PLEDGE alumni past 100, something that works to ease the teacher shortage.
“In our local region, this is addressing that issue, and all of you are going to be part of that journey,” she said. “Students and children need good role models to step up to the plate and help them prepare for this ever-changing and challenging world that we live in today, so thank you for your bravery, your commitment and for bringing your gifts to bear to help the future of our nation.”
Bill Pitney, acting dean of the NIU College of Education, echoed that.
One hundred percent of students who began the PLEDGE-ECC program have completed their degrees, Pitney said, and the vast majority are teaching in the Elgin area.
“There has been a national teacher shortage for quite some time, and we’ve made a lot of progress in the state of Illinois. We still have quite a bit of work to do,” Pitney said.
Consequently, he said, “we are thrilled to have this partnership in place because district-grown educators in programs such as this really are the answer – the solution – to the teacher shortage. We know that when teachers are from the community, and stay in the community, we end up with graduates who stay the course. Making higher education accessible to all is monumental.”
Pitney reminded the graduates that their determination this far will bolster them in years ahead.
“Remember who you are as a teacher, with the heart and spirit of a teacher,” he said, “because remembering who you are will lead you through tough times.”
For Cole Thornton, who earned his B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education with an ESL/Bilingual endorsement, the passion for teaching that he witnessed in his classmates and his faculty is also fueling that strong dose of encouragement.
“It was so convenient to have all of the professors come over here and still have that same drive and desire to teach us,” said Thornton, who grew up in South Elgin. “For all of us to know that they were taking time of their day to come all the way out here and teach us made us want to learn more, knowing that they had to make that sacrifice. It was a privilege for us to have it so near.”
Thornton’s own excitement, however, was never in doubt.
He will teach this fall in a fourth-grade, dual-language classroom at Urbana School District 116’s Yankee Ridge Multilingual School, building on his student-teaching experience at U-46’s Lords Park Elementary School.
“I have not wanted to be anything else in my life besides a teacher. I could not picture myself doing any other job than teaching, and I’ve done so many different things now that have made me want to pursue the career even more,” he said. “Every time I’m in the classroom, I just feel like that’s my element. That’s where I’m supposed to be. It just makes me happy. It feels like my calling.”
Among those “different things” was his experience this spring in Liberia, Costa Rica.
Seven students from the PLEDGE-ECC cohort traveled to Central America through a partnership between NIU, Universidad de Costa Rica-Guanacaste and Ministerio de Educación Pública.
James Cohen and David Nieto, faculty in the NIU Department of Curriculum and Instruction, supervised the preservice teachers from March until May during their placements in public schools around the city and in their collaborations with the Universidad de Costa Rica’s English teaching program.
“It was truly a blessing to have been able to go,” Thornton said.
“We get a lot of opportunities here, but we got even more opportunities there, not only to teach at the elementary level but also at the college level,” he added. “I was able to identify cultural differences, which was super-awesome to see, and to see how I have developed and how I could reflect on my own teaching.”
Warren also was there, teaching five sections of sixth-grade and at the university.
“That really stretched my ESL endorsement a long way because I had learned these strategies from my classes and was able to implement them there,” said Warren, who also student-taught at U-46’s Coleman Elementary School. “I just think it was a really great experience, and I feel more prepared now to teach English language learners.”
Alondra Ayala, a graduate of U-46, ECC and now NIU, also completed her preservice teaching at Coleman.
Grateful for her opportunity to “walk out of this debt-free” by living at home throughout her college studies, and for the “amazing teachers” she’s had in her life, the B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education recipient is committed to “providing an equitable education for all students.”
“I am just excited to see what God’s going to do, and I’m excited to see how he’s going to use me. I’m here! Use me!” Ayala said.
Meanwhile, she added, “I can’t wait to make an impact on kiddos, and I want them to know that they are capable of anything they set their minds to – despite their background, despite what’s going on at home, they can do anything that they set their minds to. That’s what I want them to know.”
Elementary Education graduates this spring also included Andrea Almagro, Connie Angle, Heather Chmiola, Esmeralda Cruz, Grace Curran, Jacqueline Davila, Jaquelynn DeLavergne, Mia Eggers, Jessica Facio, Natalie Goduto, Lauren Koffenberger, Jordan Koth, Patti McDonough, Ayesha Mozum, Scarlet Ortiz, Molly Peebles, Francesa Scalise, Samantha Sommers and Sarai Valdez.
Those who earned their degrees in Early Childhood Education were Sonia Alonso, Nadia Blanc Daley, Linzey Courtin, Jessica Glanzman, Roseline Martinez, Alexa Nava, Diana Sandoval, Haley Spane and Jocelyn Villalobos.
Sheila Vazquez, a third-grade, dual-language teacher at U-46’s Nature Ridge Elementary School and a 2023 alumna of the PLEDGE-ECC program, delivered the May 8 celebration’s keynote address.
