Bridget Belcastro can’t forget the conversation. She was majoring in English at NIU, eager to become a teacher, and heard something thoroughly laughable as she and some classmates carpooled to Jefferson High School in Rockford. “I was a junior or a senior
Read moreTriple-alumna Jodi Megerle thriving in River Trails 26
Jodi Megerle is passionate about River Trails Elementary School District 26. “I love the size. I love that it’s so very close-knit,” says Megerle, a three-time NIU College of Education alumna. “Even when I was hired, and when we hire new teachers
Read moreAspiring superintendents gather online ‘after hours’ to enhance learning, circles
Colleen Cook and her fellow Ed.S. in Educational Administration students always enjoyed the presence of guest speakers from Clinical Assistant Professor Lynn Gibson’s professional network. Gibson, who led Hononegah Community High School District 207 from 2012 to 2018, and who recently served
Read moreAlumni Accomplishments
Congratulations to these alumni who are making a positive impact on the leadership and administration of education at all levels! Josh Barron, Ed.D. Educational Administration, ’12, and Ed.S. Educational Administration, ’06, has been named the next superintendent of Oak Lawn-based Community High
Read moreIASBO partnership continues to prepare Illinois chief school business officials
Language on the Illinois Association of School Business Officials website (IASBO) leaves no doubt. “For those seeking a master’s degree, Northern Illinois University has become the quintessential training ground in the state for school business leaders!” it proclaims. “Students in the School
Read moreCleaning up: Ed.S. student recalls path from custodian to curriculum director
Like many teens, Michael Courington was dying to get a job. “My family didn’t have a lot of money growing up. I was chomping at the bit to turn 16 to start working because I wanted a car,” Courington says. “My mother
Read moreAs superintendents face twin challenges, NIU works to prepare ‘visionary’ leaders
Ask Danny Oest to name the Top 5 challenges confronting school superintendents, and he succinctly boils his list down to just two. But they’re big ones. First, says Oest, the former shared superintendent of Richmond-Burton Community High School 157 and Nippersink School
Read moreNIU Ed Admin alum Brian Harris serves Barrington 220 with ‘what’s best for kids’
Brian Harris sports an impressive résumé. Superintendent of Schools in Barrington 220. Former superintendent of Wheaton-Warrenville 200, and assistant superintendent for Human Resources and Secondary Education in St. Charles 303. President of the Large Unit District Association in Illinois, an organization representing
Read moreEd.S. student accepts new challenge while closing in on NIU superintendency degree
During Matt Birdsley’s high school days in Fulton, Ill., he took advantage of – and thoroughly enjoyed – service-learning opportunities that allowed him to work with elementary school students. Those positive interactions led Birdsley to the NIU College of Education, where he
Read moreSuperintendency alums look back fondly on NIU preparation, forward to new roles
Charlie Kyle and Matt Barbini, alums of NIU’s various Educational Administration programs, are celebrating new professional milestones. Kyle, who completed his Ed.D. in 2017, his Ed.S in 2004 and his M.S.Ed. in 2001, was named in 2018 as the assistant superintendent of
Read moreA homecoming 40 years in the making: Lynn Gibson starts second career at NIU
During Lynn Gibson’s undergraduate years in the NIU College of Business, then housed inside Wirtz Hall, she lived directly across the street in the Timbercrest Apartments on the corner of Lucinda Avenue and Garden Road. Hers was Apartment 5, she knows for
Read moreEd.D. in Ed Administration receives new name, focus
Following the Illinois General Assembly’s update of the Illinois School Code standards for new school superintendents, the NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations accordingly redesigned its programs. That work has resulted in untangling the Ed.S. – an educational specialist degree
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