When Jason Dietz started teaching fourth-grade, he immediately thought that he’d found his forever home. The place was Mundelein, the year was 1998 and Dietz had just completed a fresh-out-of-college stint working in a middle school as a program assistant for special
Read moreRachael Mahmood tells new graduates to know their ‘why’ stories for teaching
For December graduates of the college’s educator licensure programs about to embark on their classroom careers, the question was direct. What type of teachers will they become? It was something Rachael Mahmood, the 2024 Illinois Teacher of the Year and a 2016
Read moreAlumni Accomplishments
Congratulations to these alumni of the NIU College of Education! Kinasha J. Brown, Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, ’23, and Ed.S. Educational Administration, ’20, is the new superintendent of Prairie Hills Elementary School District 144. Brown most recently served as assistant
Read moreNo ‘lion’: Double-alumna multiplies impact in visual disabilities, deafness
When Lisa Borgo started taking babysitter jobs at age 11 or 12, she already was looking forward to Dundee Crown High School’s classes in cooking, sewing and, best of all, child care. Bonus: District 300’s deLacey Family Education Center “was right next
Read moreElementary Education alumna receives Fulbright award to teach in Luxembourg
“Hi Dr. Cohen,” the email begins. “I am SO EXCITED to tell you that I have been selected as a Fulbright Luxembourg English Teaching Assistant for the 2024-2025 school year!! I’M TEACHING IN EUROPE!!!” The message came to James Cohen from Kristal
Read moreJenn Jacobs earns new professorship endowed by Dr. M. Nadine Zimmerman
Jenn Jacobs was born for her career. “I played sports from a very, very young age. I have memories of being on a basketball team at age 3 or 4. It was a coed basketball team, and I was one of the
Read moreAlumni Accomplishments
Congratulations to these alumni of the NIU College of Education! Ryan Berry, M.S.Ed. School Business Management, ’12, has been named assistant superintendent for Business Services in River Trails School District 26. He begins July 1. Berry has served Since 2011 as assistant
Read moreDouble-alumna Jessica Lombard named first female superintendent: Huntley 158
Jessica Lombard graduated from Huntley High School in 1990, when the superintendent of District 158 was – as had always been the case since its creation in 1920 – a man. On her return to Huntley in 2002 to become assistant principal
Read moreAlumna Cindie Cortinas-Vogt celebrates state, national teaching awards in 2023
Cindie Cortinas-Vogt arrived late to the college game. She was 22, maybe, and all of her friends from high school already had graduated. While they all had apparently felt certain enough to enroll and select their majors as teenagers, Cortinas-Vogt had not.
Read moreCongratulations!
Gail Cappaert, an instructor of ESL methods in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, was named a WIDA Fellow for 2023-2024. The program, launched in 2019, brings expert educators and WIDA staff together in a collaborative effort to enhance the development of
Read moreSoon-to-graduate P.E. majors participate in mock job interviews with employers
Forty future P.E. teachers are out in the schools this fall gaining the hands-on experience to excel in their careers after they graduate next month. Jim Ressler is making sure they’re also ready to secure those careers. Ressler, professor of Physical Education
Read moreElementary Education alumni selected as Chicago-area Golden Apple finalists
Erin Odle has always loved working with children. Piotr Wojciaczyk drew inspiration from a high school music teacher. Dominique Yackley discovered her ambition from within after she left high school as a sophomore. Connecting the three NIU College of Education alumni, all
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