Abigail Newman loved playing school. Then she loved babysitting. Really, she always loved interacting with children. When she was a senior at Oregon High School, she jumped at the opportunity to spend one period each day as a teacher’s assistant in a
Read moreAlumna Maddi Bodine reaps confidence, motivation from Golden Apple surprise
Maddi Bodine knew in advance that she needed to gather with her Kingston Elementary School community at half-past nine that Thursday morning. Yet the teacher of Pre-K students with special needs only had part of the story. Children and their teachers at
Read moreTrailblazers: NIU, ECC salute first cohort of Elementary Ed graduates via PLEDGE
Fifteen newly minted teachers are ready to return to the school districts where they grew up and, thanks to a partnership between Elgin Community College and Northern Illinois University, never really left. The students completed their first two years at ECC and
Read moreElementary Ed major Julie Chavez earns NIU Intern of the Year award, job for fall
School occupies a special place in Julie Chavez’s heart. “I had quite the unstable childhood, and school was really my safe place. I had a meal; I had teachers who cared about me; it was structured – I just really thrived in
Read moreCollege of Ed counts four alumni, one student among Golden Apple finalists
Five of the finalists for the prestigious 2021 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching and for Excellence in Leadership claim the NIU College of Education in their pedigrees. NIU alumni Maddi Bodine, Anne McNamara and Virginia Valdez are among the 32
Read moreMayra Daniel ready to continue looking for serendipitous avenues in retirement
Mayra Daniel considers herself among the fortunate ones. Born in Cuba, she spent her first 11 years in the Caribbean nation with an extended family that included great-grandparents who’d emigrated from Europe. “We left to escape the Castro regime. My father left
Read moreEnseño en Español: DeKalb, Elgin enrolls teachers in new NIU course on biliteracy
During her years as a Cuban living in rural Galesburg, Ill., Mayra Daniel impressed on her family the need for fluency in her native tongue of Spanish. But that language was rare in this community of 35,000 in Knox County. “Few spoke
Read moreEducate Global reaches Spain via Zoom, participants will join in online seminars
As the initial dust of COVID-19 settled in the spring, Laurie Elish-Piper and David Walker began mulling what the virus meant for the near future of the college’s signature hands-on learning programs. “It became pretty apparent that our entire Educate and Engage
Read moreCI, College of DuPage ink 2+2 agreement for seamless Elementary Education path
Future B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education majors who want to start their studies at the College of DuPage can transfer seamlessly into the NIU College of Education. Thanks to a newly signed, non-cohort-based 2+2 agreement between COD and the Department of Curriculum and
Read moreKildeer partners with NIU to provide teachers tools for ELL success stories
As the demographics of Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96 began shifting within the last decade, administrators responded. The solution they implemented in 2017 continues to benefit not only the K-8 students of Buffalo Grove and Long Grove but also the
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 moreEnrollment climbing in College of Ed
NIU’s official 10-day enrollment numbers showed encouraging gains for the College of Education. The college welcomed 1,186 undergraduates and 1,196 graduate students this fall; both totals are higher than the same time last year, lifting the college’s headcount to 2,382. It comes
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