News, alumni notes and updates from the Northern Illinois University College of Education
Locating, choosing and picking fresh produce from NIU’s Edible Campus garden near Neptune Hall has become accessible for people with visual impairments. That happy harvest is possible through newly installed, weather-resistant physical signage in durable braille and large print next to digital
Read moreWhite Cane Awareness Day is Thursday, Oct. 15 – and students in the NIU Vision Studies program are marking the occasion in a strikingly visual way this week. Large replicas of white canes are staked in the lawn outside Graham Hall near
Read moreNIU’s Penguin Players returns to the Cavan Auditorium stage this fall with “The Pinocchio Show.” A campus-wide, cross-college effort is underway to resurrect the theater troupe for “artists” – adults with special needs – and “mentors” from the Huskie student body. The
Read moreWhen Molly Pasley traveled in Thailand in July 2024, it was at the invitation of NIU School of Music Professor Jui-Ching Wang. The “Songs the Blind Can See” community service project worked to adapt music education for students with visual impairments at
Read moreCongratulations to these members of the NIU College of Education family! Todd Gilson, the NIU College of Education’s associate dean of Research, Resources and Innovation, has been chosen as president-elect of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). AASP is the premier
Read moreLast fall’s Morgridge Endowed Chair Office-produced documentary, “A Teacher’s Shoes,” showed a day-in-the-life of three seasoned NIU College of Education alumnae at various stages of their school careers. Now a new podcast will keep tabs on May 2026 graduates as they enter
Read moreTwenty employees of Westside Children’s Therapy have added NIU’s M.S.Ed. in Special Education: Behavior Analysis to their résumés. Students completed their master’s degrees in May, along with classmates from Turning Pointe Autism Foundation, and now are prepared (and eligible after completion of
Read moreHal Hinderliter, an instructor in the Department of Learning Innovation, Leadership and Technology, received a 2026 Blackboard Exemplary Course Award for ETRA 502: Technology and Assessment for Elementary and Middle Level Education. Blackboard’s Exemplary Course Program honors faculty and instructional designers for
Read moreA fire erupts in your kitchen. Do you know how to react? Can you extinguish the blaze safely and smartly? What if the flames spread before you can snuff them? Most people likely feel capable of managing this situation. Now imagine you
Read moreCelebrating success is routine procedure for Ginger Murphy. Part of one wall in her Eisenhower Middle School language arts classroom resembles a beaded door curtain gleaming with magenta, yellow, orange and blue dots that form vertical ribbons sprouting from the top of
Read morePlease think, Graham Davis instructed his audience of future teachers, of a time when they struggled yet persevered. Next, think of a time when they impacted someone in a way that was personal, not educational. Finally, think about a time when they
Read moreIn Alya Khan’s daily work as a registered behavior technician at a children’s therapy clinic, she experiences an aspect of autism that she wants to understand better. Many of her young clients present with a large deficit in communication skills, whether that
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