Suzanne Degges-White, chair of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education, routinely blogs about relationships and mental health. That has not changed during the challenging times caused by the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), although some of her messages have turned to directly
Read moreLaura Hedin named SEED chair
Laura Hedin is the new chair of the Department of Special and Early Education. Hedin, who begins that role July 1, 2020, aspires to make NIU “the first choice for special education and early childhood teacher-candidates throughout Illinois” through teamwork that advances
Read moreA message from Dean Elish-Piper
Dear students, Hello and welcome back from your extended Spring Break – and welcome to a new reality for you, our college and our university. As we begin this period of non-face-to-face instruction, we are taking these first unfamiliar steps together. I
Read moreTeachers from Uruguay visit NIU, observe U.S. counterparts in DeKalb, Elgin schools
Valentina González and Analia Piantanida rarely see cultural diversity in the homogenous society of Uruguay, where both are English teachers in middle schools and high schools. Coming to Illinois as part of the NIU College of Education’s Uruguay Fulbright Teachers Program, however,
Read moreRochelle school leaders partner with NIU to identify, prepare, hire bilingual teachers
Jason Harper, superintendent of schools in nearby Rochelle, knows that the diversity of his community is evolving. Forty percent of the Hub City’s current population is Hispanic, a number that only will continue to rise in coming years. Harper also understands that
Read moreBrittany Wereminski propels recruitment, enrollment with first-generation energy
Growing up near Naperville in the western suburbs, Brittany Wereminski set her sights on becoming an English teacher in secondary schools. But the first-generation college student – her father is a pipefitter, her mother a hairdresser – needed some external assistance in
Read moreNew M.S.Ed. student ready to continue inspiring young daughter, fellow parents
Can I testify real quick? So begins Janet King’s Facebook hosanna in December upon her graduation from NIU, a journey longer than most, complete with a plot twist halfway through its tale of determination. Her story, a preface to her newly begun
Read moreSwole Patrol: KNPE’s Project FLEX adds earned privilege of 1:1 personal training
Swole – think “swollen” – is a hip way to compliment jocks on their muscles. Urban Dictionary defines swole as “a paragon of hypermasculinity, manifesting in the physical and attitudinal embodiment of strength, occupying space with intimidating quantity and developing rippling musculature
Read moreGraduate student whips up a sweet recipe to teach children about visual disabilities
Elizabeth Hipskind stood in front of a room full of TVIs – teachers of the visually impaired – wearing an apron and prepared with a plastic tub of moist baby-wipes. Hipskind had come to the February conference of the Illinois Association for
Read moreFrom Tonga with Love: Alumna completes Peace Corps service, returns for licensure
During the fall semester of 2015, Bernadette Chatman served as a Northern Lights Ambassador for the NIU College of Education. What, she was asked for a web profile, were her ambitions? The sophomore Special Education major in the Department of Special and
Read moreCOE Student Spotlight: Jeron Shelton
Hometown: Rockford, Ill. Program: Ph.D. Educational Psychology Status: Dissertating What inspired you to pursue this degree/career? I am in my 13th year as a seventh-grade English and social studies teacher at Abbott Middle School in Elgin U-46. Originally, I was teaching gifted
Read moreCongratulations!
Paul Wright and Jenn Jacobs, faculty in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, were featured in the Journal of American History for their work “Race, Economics, and the Politics of Educational Change: The Dynamics of School District Consolidation in Shelby County,
Read more