Jessica Labatte, associate professor and head of the photography department at the NIU School of Art and Design has accepted the position of director of the school effective July 1, 2023.
Labatte will succeed Douglas Boughton, PhD, who is completing his three-year term as director. Boughton is a professor of art education and previously served as director of the school from 2008 to 2014.
Paul Kassel, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts lauded Boughton for his work as director, including his leadership during the school’s accreditation renewal process, the challenges of the pandemic and financial constraints.
“I look forward to working with Jessica to build upon Doug’s good work,” Kassel said. “To continue the successes, create new ones and to further mission, vision and values of the school, college and university.”
Labatte said being selected for NIU’s Emerging Faculty Leadership Program helped to spark her interest in the director position. The professional development program is designed to develop and expand faculty members’ capacity for leadership in higher education.
“Through the program I’ve seen that I can lead and make connections with other areas and faculty across campus,” Labatte said. “With the skills I’ve developed and the experiences I’ve had in the classroom and as an artist, I’ve realized that my ability to creatively solve problems would be an asset in leadership. The arts have a very important role in everything that our campus does and potentially could do. I feel like I can make the connections needed to create even more opportunities for our students.”
She is excited to be working with students from all areas of the school.
“Throughout the interview process I heard from students in other areas like illustration and art education what they would like to see in our school,” Labatte said. “I am excited to share what we’ve been doing in photography in collaborative experiential learning projects that have a connection to the community. I’ve worked to expand outreach in the arts and I’ll be able to do more of that as director. We have a great faculty with great ideas, and we’ll work together to make some wonderful things happen.”
She first came to NIU as a visiting assistant professor in 2012, and started on her tenure track in 2014. In addition to her academic roles at the university she has spearheaded a number of collaborative initiatives on and off campus. Faces of Belonging was a project in collaboration with the NIU Office of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the City of DeKalb to create portraits of marginalized identities in STEAM professions. She worked with the Ellwood House Museum and the DeKalb Regional History Center on the Past and Pleasant exhibition.
In March 2022, she worked with campus and community partners as her ARTD 464 Advanced Photography Post Production class successfully created the world’s largest paper snowflake as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The snowflake is the focus of an exhibition at Founders Memorial Library from March 20 through April 10 with a special event scheduled for Thursday, March 23 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the library.
Labatte earned her Master of Fine Arts and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
SHARE is a campus climate survey that is a “tool NIU uses to engage students who can provide insight into their attitudes, experiences and behaviors,” said Rose M. J. Henton, director of Prevention Education and Outreach for Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI). Campus climate surveys are conducted by many colleges and universities to better equip them to address specific campus concerns rather than relying on national or regional data.
“The SHARE survey has been planned and implemented by several offices working in partnership to make sure we hear the voices of diverse perspectives and stakeholders,” explains Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Vernese Edghill-Walden. “Now we need to hear from students. Their voices are critical as this is an important topic. I want to thank everyone for implementing this survey. The more we know and learn the more we can best support the NIU community.”
Monique Bernoudy, assistant vice president in ADEI, couldn’t agree more. “It is important to allow our students the opportunity to provide pertinent information in a confidential manner,” said Bernoudy. “Sexual misconduct is a very difficult situation, allowing students to provide their perceptions and experiences will help the university gain the student perspective.”
This is the fourth time NIU has conducted the survey. The survey is voluntary and takes about 15 minutes to complete. “We are focusing on specific information that will help us improve our programming, training and ensure student success,” said Henton. “We are hoping streamlining and shortening the survey will improve participation,” she said.
“Student participation in the survey will help NIU to identify the issues it needs to address and determine the resources needed to address them,” said Mindy Schneiderman, assistant director at the Center for Governmental Studies. “The results are confidential, and participants cannot be identified by their responses.”
Once a student completes the anonymous survey, they can sign up to participate in a weekly drawing to win a $20 Starbucks gift card.
Since the survey launched in early March, there have been more than 400 students complete the survey. However, there are many who have started the survey and not completed it. “Our goal is to have at least 2,000 students complete the survey to have a statistically valid sample,” said Henton. “We are encouraging our faculty and staff across campus to inform students about this opportunity to share their voices and provide them with the survey link Sexual Harassment, Assault and Relationship Experiences (SHARE) Survey.”
The survey closes on April 7, 2023.
Faculty and staff who have questions about the SHARE survey can be directed to Rose M. J. Henton at rhenton@niu.edu. Students who have questions or concerns about the SHARE survey can reach out to Mindy Schneiderman, Ph.D., at schneiderman@niu.edu.
Date posted: March 23, 2023 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Students have an opportunity to SHARE their voices
The record has been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records and you can come see the largest paper snowflake ever created when it is displayed in NIU’s Founders Memorial Library until April 10.
A special event will be held Thursday, March 23 that will feature a reception, opportunities to have your picture taken with the world’s largest paper snowflake as your backdrop, a create your own paper snowflake workshop, two talks featuring NIU experts, a time lapse video of the world record paper snowflake creation, real-time snowfall counts from Science on a Sphere, NIU student snowflake designs and much more.
The reception will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., March 23 in Founders Memorial Library.
At 4:30 p.m. there will be an expert talk by Joseph O’Brien, atmospheric science software specialist at Argonne National Laboratory’s Environmental Science Division and Victor Gensini, associate professor in the NIU department of earth, atmosphere and the environment where he specializes in extreme weather, climate variability/change and prediction
Committed to rapid decarbonization of campus, NIU earned one of nine pro bono consulting awards given to higher education institutions throughout the country.
Second Nature, a non-governmental organization focused on accelerating climate action in and through higher education, announced the pro bono consulting awards this month. NIU will work with Second Nature partner Coho, a global advisory firm, as it transitions to renewable energy.
“We are excited about the opportunity to work with Coho Energy. Their experience and expertise will be invaluable to inform our decision-making process as we transition to solar energy and achieve our campus decarbonization goals,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said.
“Specifically, Coho will help us to identify the renewable energy projects on campus that provide NIU the best opportunities to fulfill our commitment to carbon neutrality, while also using our campus as a living laboratory to engage with students around real-world sustainability solutions.”
As part of the Second Nature initiative, technical and advisory support worth up to $20,000 was given to nine campuses at no cost to them in the areas of climate action planning, shifting to renewable power and water resiliency strategy.
The pro bono consulting opportunity was first announced in fall of 2020, as a new Solutions Center initiative. Provided and sponsored by Coho and Brailsford & Dunlavey, another Second Nature partner, 10 colleges and universities were awarded in that inaugural round. Due to the success of the 2020 effort, Second Nature offered another round of pro bono consulting this year.
“As a peri-urban campus with ample land, NIU has the potential to become energy self-sufficient and significantly reduce our overall greenhouse gas emissions,” Gallaher said. “Partnering with Coho will provide us with the much-needed industry expertise to optimize our land utilization and infrastructure resources.”
NIU signed Second Nature’s climate leadership statement last summer, vowing with other college and university leaders to help shape a sustainable society. The university is committed to become carbon neutral by 2050.
“We really needed a consultant to help us sift through not just the technical options, but the current economic and policy landscape to figure out what’s best for NIU,” she said.
The award not only reflects the commitment of the university’s senior leadership to sustainability, as outlined in the university’s goals, it also positions NIU as a leader in the community around sustainability.
It will help advance projects that can be used in numerous academic areas, such as environmental studies and engineering, Gallaher said. Solar farms can also be combined with other activities, including agricultural production or prairie restoration.
“As living laboratories for students, these solar projects can become classroom spaces for students to learn about and do research related to sustainable energy,” Gallaher said.
Date posted: March 21, 2023 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on NIU wins pro bono consulting services to advance shift to renewable power
The network is continuing this important work from its new home in the NIU Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development.
In 2022 the Illinois MTSS Network(IL MTSS-N) became part of the NIU Division of Outreach Engagement and Regional Development, joining the Illinois P-20 Network, Illinois Interactive Report Cards Office, NIU STEAM and other programs dedicated to disseminating educational data and best practices essential in achieving equitable outcomes for learners across Illinois.
IL MTSS-N was originally founded in 2015 as a professional learning initiative of the Illinois State Board of Education. The network’s coaches – all experienced educators – currently provide coaching and professional development for districts across northern, central and southern Illinois, as well as presenting at conferences and leading virtual teacher professional development around the Midwest, reaching hundreds of educators each year.
The IL MTSS-N team: Matt Schultz – Kari Harris – Cindy Knight – Lori Hensold – Amy Jo Clemens – Ruth Poage-Gaines – Madi Phillips
MTSS stands for “Multi-Tiered System of Supports.” It’s a framework for providing equitable educational services because we know that if educators intervene early, students achieve more. Using this framework supports educators to use data on student learning to diagnose when and how learners are struggling. Additionally, an MTSS process requires educators to use evidence-based instruction with proven interventions. MTSS focuses on the whole child and supports academic, social emotional and behavioral growth.
Hensold says that MTSS helps schools work smarter, not harder, by building consistent systems that ensure that efforts are not duplicated. Central to this is the “systems coaching” model – where IL MTSS-N coaches come in to assist teams of administrators and educators at the district, building and classroom levels, to make sure everyone is working together toward shared goals.
“We don’t have a problem with effort in schools; we have a problem with focus,” says Hensold. “Systems coaching helps us avoid ‘random acts of school improvement’ by focusing school improvement efforts on systems that result in the desired outcomes aligned with the mission, vision, values and ultimate purpose of the district or school: student learning.”
IL MTSS-N has found its new home at NIU thanks in part to Amy Jo Clemens, Ed.D., NIU assistant vice president for Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development and director of the NIU Center for P-20 Engagement. As a former high school science teacher, principal and superintendent, Clemens has seen MTSS in action and is a passionate advocate for using it to build a system that will improve learning outcomes and equity. She jumped at the chance to integrate IL MTSS-N into the division’s lifelong learning initiatives.
“MTSS is the most powerful way for schools to take all their resources and align them to support students equitably, efficiently and effectively. It’s proactive and preventative so we aren’t waiting until students fall way behind – we are regularly looking at data to anticipate students’ needs and support them to success,” says Clemens.
According to Hensold, the network’s systems focus developed in response to the needs of districts and in alignment with growing research showing best practices for sustainability.
“Education leaders and decision makers often assume that teachers can attend workshops, learn new strategies, and then return to their school and implement their new learning smoothly and appropriately,” Hensold says. “However, we found that was simply untrue. Individual teachers exist within a larger culture made up of school and district initiatives, grade-level teams, etc. Coaching the entire system enables new practices at every level and creates the supportive culture that facilitates success.”
And what would success look like in Illinois’ schools? In a word: equity.
“Equity is a very high priority in post-pandemic education,” Hensold says. “The Illinois State Board of Education sees equity as the foundation and goal for school and student success.”
Clemens adds, “In MTSS, we identify a student falling behind and go through a problem-solving process to address the issue. Is it poor attendance, missing instruction due to frequent moves, additional time needed to master new skills, or that they haven’t mastered foundational skills they need to move forward? MTSS helps schools build a system that finds students just starting to fall behind so staff can intervene early with supports tailored to the students’ needs. This is key in an equity-based system.”
“IL MTSS Network has been integral in the development and continuation of a solid MTSS implementation in our district,” says John F. Thomas, Superintendent of Harvey School District 152. “We started working with IL MTSS-N in 2017 as a way to increase our capacity to provide support via interventions to our students. Since that time they have assisted us in developing a more comprehensive program that includes academic intervention, social-emotional intervention, and attendance intervention.”
Licensure candidates with NIU OneCards can borrow the library’s books free of charge from the Circulation Desk for up to two hours; although the books are considered reference materials and cannot leave the library, photocopying of the practice tests is allowed.
Guides are available in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Middle Grades English Language Arts, Health Education, Physical Education, Reading Teacher, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Political Science, Learning Behavior Specialist I and Spanish.
“Dr. Blake reached out to me mid-fall term last year to say, ‘We’ve got a lot of students taking various licensure tests. Is there any possibility that we could get some study guides to support them?’ I said, ‘Let me look because the library doesn’t typically collect things like that,’ ” Droog says.
“So, we ended up working with about a dozen people – not just in the College of Education, but with everybody who supports the various pieces of teacher licensure – to figure out which tests were needed,” she adds. “And then we ordered them all.”
Alissa Droog
Faculty teaching licensure courses do cover what students need to know and understand for the state exams, Blake says, but those details are woven throughout a semester of classes. The study guides consolidate them.
“Our students are getting the information, but they’re not always focusing on the constructs of how it fits,” Blake says. “What this is doing is putting those constructs of what the big ideas should be and then helping them tie that back to their classes.”
“You might get a little bit in one class and a little bit in another – it’s spread out across five or 10 or 15 different classes – but having it all in one place can really help guide students in the right direction as they prepare,” Lowe says. “What is this test? What should I be expecting? How do I prepare for it? How is the test formatted? What should my approach be?”
The purchase (using NIU Foundation dollars from the Bernadine C. Hanby Endowment Fund) serves another need, Lowe adds.
Sally Blake and Chris Lowe
“The big picture from a student success standpoint is that we’re very cognizant of the fact that many of our students are struggling financially right now, and that these kinds of resources help them prepare beyond the classes they’re taking,” Lowe says.
“We wanted to find the best pathway to help support students to be able to access these materials and using them to prepare – and putting them on equal footing with students who might have access to them in other ways,” he adds. “I think it’s going to be hugely beneficial for students in the College of Education and across campus.”
Droog now will keep the collection current.
“Most of these tests are updated every three to five years, and my job is to stay up to date and checking annually on which of the tests are being updated and then ordering the new guides,” Droog says. “Every time we get a new test, we get a new study guide. That’s just going to be an annual to-do-list item for me.”
She received curation advice from chairs, program coordinators, teacher licensure coordinators and academic advisors in departments such as Curriculum and Instruction, Kinesiology and Physical Education, Special and Early Education, English, History and Mathematics as well as the Secondary Science programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Founders Memorial Library colleagues including Dee Anna Phares (assistant professor and librarian for the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations) and staff in the Course Reserves office and Technical Services helped to make the collection shelf-ready.
Jie Chen, associate professor, NIU School of Nursing, was recently awarded an Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) grant for $66,515 to improve support for underserved and academically at-risk students.
“Our faculty and student tutors are eager to work with at-risk students to promote active learning and effective study strategies,” said Chen, who co-wrote the grant with Anne-Marie Kuchinski, National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and Health Education Systems, Inc. (HESI) coordinator. “One of the goals of the project is to reduce the academic equity gaps that our marginalized student groups have experienced and may have contributed to the attrition rates during the first year of our prelicensure undergraduate program.”
The COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges for students who experienced modified clinical opportunities, which makes additional support for licensing exams like this even more important.
“This grant came at the right time,” Chen said. “We were seeking funding to support our underserved and academically at-risk students.”
Chen said thanks to the university, college and school administrations’ support, the School of Nursing grant team, including seven faculty and 10 student tutors, started the project at the beginning of the spring semester which is key to ensuring Huskie students’ academic success.
“Our students’ success is at the forefront of all we do and we are thrilled to offer our students even more support with Dr. Chen’s IBHE grant,” said Kari Hickey, acting chair, NIU School of Nursing. “Not only will this support our students’ success, but it will support successful graduation of baccalaureate nurses to support the nation’s healthcare workforce.”
Kelly Fiala will become the Dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences pending approval by the NIU Board of Trustees. She’ll begin the role on June 16, 2023.
Dr. Kelly Fiala, founding dean of the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland, will assume leadership of the college on June 16.
Fiala brings extensive experience as a proven leader to CHHS. She has served in a variety of administrative roles including department chair and associate and interim dean of the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies at Salisbury.
Fiala also guided the launch of the university’s Center for Healthy Communities, which works to positively impact their community’s health status through workforce development, grant activities, continuing education, and service learning. Prior to working in administration, Fiala was significantly involved in providing research opportunities to undergraduate students.
“Dr. Fiala is a stellar candidate who has the skills and vision to provide leadership to the college,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Beth Ingram. “I’m excited that she’ll be joining the Huskie family this summer.”
Fiala earned her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Western Michigan University, master’s degree in Sports Studies from Bemidji State University and doctorate degree in Educational Psychology from University of Connecticut. In addition, she maintains professional credentials as an athletic trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist.
She will replace Dr. Beverly W. Henry who has served as interim dean since June 2022.
“Growing up, I was extremely shy and introverted, and in the classroom, I really didn’t talk much,” she says.
“As the years went on,” she adds, “I remember a couple specific teachers who really made it a more comfortable environment, made it a safe space and provided an opportunity that just kind of sparked something in me to make me think, ‘OK this is something that I could do as well for other people.’ ”
Consequently, “my priority is making a safe, welcoming environment for students. Their basic needs need to be met first. I try to greet every single student as they come into the classroom in the morning, whether it’s a high-five or just asking them what they did at last night at home or about something personal.”
She also makes sure that her students feel respected and that they can “talk to me about things outside of the classroom.”
That philosophy of open communication includes parents, she adds, so that “when behaviors might arise, my students know that their parents and I are in partnership and a team.”
Kindergartners in Thompson’s classroom see a teacher who strives to “be enthusiastic. I’m not afraid to be silly in front of them, and I think that really wins them over and gets them excited about school.”
WTVO anchor Eric Wilson interviews Miranda Thompson.
“I’ve taught a variety of grade levels, but the thing I love most about teaching kindergarten is that they all come from such different experiences. Some of them have had no school, and some of them have had a lot of school, so one thing I love is that they make so much growth in kindergarten,” she says.
“We assess them and see how much they know coming in, and when you compare that even a month or two later, it is unbelievable how much growth they make,” she adds. “They’re very excited about school, so my goal is basically to make sure that keeps going when they move to first-grade.”
She also wants children to know “it’s OK to make mistakes because that means I’m learning,” something that boosts their confidence.
Her own self-assurance grew during her time at NIU.
“The professors I had were extremely passionate and very supportive,” Thompson says. “They showed me that they loved what they were teaching, and that kind of rubbed off on me.”
Miranda Thompson
Golden Apple acknowledgement is having a similar effect; she was also a finalist in 2020, at the beginning of COVID-19, which not only wrestled her from her comfort zone as she welcomed visitors to observe her teaching but inspired her to earn a master’s degree.
“I’ve become more and more comfortable with people coming in the classroom. I’ve looked for ways that I can mentor other people in the building,” she says. “It’s given me the confidence to help other people and to make them feel successful coming into the field, because it’s been hard these last few years, and I want us to continue to get great teachers.”
BLANK, ALSO A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER at Harlem’s Donald C. Parker Center, encountered some turns in her path to the classroom.
“It started in sixth grade; I had a teacher who was just phenomenal and who really helped me, and that kind of set the precedent of where I wanted to go. It was my goal all through school,” says Blank, who earned her M.S.Ed. in Literacy Education (2011) and B.S. in Early Childhood Studies (2004) in DeKalb.
Kelli Blank
At Rock Valley College, however, she decided to pursue a career in accounting.
Three semesters later, she says, “I said, ‘No, this isn’t for me.’ My heart really was with kids, so I switched my field and I switched my major. I stayed at Rock Valley, got some general courses under me and then transferred to NIU.”
Jobs as a babysitter and at a day care center confirmed her renewed direction.
“Knowing that I’m making a difference with kids I really where I wanted to focus, and that’s where I ended up,” says Blank, a Rockford native.
“My degree is for birth through 8 years old, and just watching the kids grow – there’s so much growth and so much potential in the early childhood years – is where my heart is,” she adds.
“I’ve taught early childhood. I’ve taught first grade. Now I’m in kindergarten. Every day is a new adventure, and every day we learn something new. It’s just amazing to see the spark and the joy of 5-year-olds and 6-year-olds. They’re good little children who just love to learn, and they soak it all up.”
Blank similarly soaked up her NIU coursework, which she says “provided me some guidance, provided me some classroom management skills and provided me so different techniques to use for behaviors. It gives you a little bit of everything you need, and then you just kind of grow as you teach and keep growing
“Going through a pandemic, and trying to keep our sanity through a pandemic, has been tough, and this just kind of sealed the deal of why I’m doing what I’m doing,” says Blank, a self-described lifelong learner currently in pursuit of her NIU M.S.Ed. in Educational Administration. “It’s nice that people are able to recognize what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”
Meanwhile, Blank is grateful for the Golden Apple requirement to examine her “why.”
“As part of the process, you write a self-reflective essay about why you’re doing what you’re doing,” she says. “That was pretty eye-opening, because I have never written about myself in that manner, so writing five pages all about what I do and why I do it made me rethink why I am doing this and why I’m happy that I’m in my field.”
Amanda Hahn
HAHN ALSO HAS KNOWN her destination forever.
“As long back as I can remember, I never wanted to be anything but a teacher,” says Hahn, who teaches fifth grade at North Boone Upper Elementary School in Poplar Grove. “I really think that it’s just who I am. I’m a teacher.”
The alumna of NIU’s B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education program appreciated her student teaching experiences in the Harlem School District, where she was placed in a fourth grade “pod” with 75 children representing three classes.
“Sometimes, the teachers taught them separately. Sometimes, they taught them as a whole group. Sometimes, they rotated. That experience really taught me how to manage a mass quantity of kids at the same time, and by watching those teachers, and learning what worked and what didn’t work, really taught me how to manage all the different behaviors,” she says.
“Obviously, I’ve never had to teach that many kids at one time since then, but it really prepared me for the years when I had maybe 32 kids on my own.”
Hahn didn’t find a teaching job immediately after her 2002 graduation, working in day care centers and eventually becoming the director of one – which, she says, “was fine, but I’m not super good at being in charge of adults. Being in charge of kids is great.”
After teaching 14 years in the Rockford, she’s now working in the school district where she grew up and where her children are now students: “It’s everything that I always wanted, and I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she says.
“I love when the kids remember you from 15 years ago; even when I struggle to think, ‘Who are you?’ they know exactly who I am. They remember,” says Hahn, who also loves “watching them ‘get it’ – even later, like when they say, ‘Hey, do you remember when we did this? Now I’m in eighth grade, and I still remember it.’ But it’s just about being there and making relationships with them. It doesn’t always have to be about what they learn.”
Finding herself among the Golden Apple finalists motivates her “to keep going. I’m making a difference. I feel seen. I feel like I’m doing something right.”
“With what goes into making learning exciting and interesting and completing with all the video games and all the online stuff they have access to now, we’ve really had to change what we do,” she says. “It feels like people are noticing. People are paying attention.”
ORIGINALLY FROM BARTLETT, Plaster found her inspiration from family.
“My ‘why’ is that my grandmother was a teacher. For years, she taught Home Ec and P.E. in a small town in Indiana, so I think it was just kind of in my blood,” says Plaster, who teaches third grade at Galapagos Charter School in Rockford.
Kimberly Plaster
“The reason I keep being a teacher is obviously because of the kids,” she adds.
“I currently teach a demographic that is underserved, mostly African American and of low economic status. They really thrive on the structure I provide. Yesterday, I had to leave early, and it was like the end of the world, you know, which is sad – but it’s the reason I’m here. They need strong individuals who can give them the structure they need but in a loving way.”
Plaster, who earned her B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education in 2016, says that the rewards go both ways.
“Those light bulb moments. The hugs. The notes. The not understanding something for months and then, all of a sudden, ‘I get it!’ ” she says. “That is how they keep me, for sure.”
Her NIU preparation demonstrated a valuable lesson she transmits to her third-graders.
“The professors have a huge focus on not getting it right the first time but getting it right,” says Plaster, who’s currently back at NIU in pursuit of her M.S.Ed. in Special Education with an Advanced Special Education Practices specialty. “That’s something that you carry into this career: You know that you’re going to make mistakes. It’s very trial and error.”
She credits her faculty for constant communication and feedback, and appreciates the exposure provided by her clinicals.
“NIU did a really good job of putting me in all different demographics throughout all my clinicals, which helped a ton,” she says. “Before I even got into the career officially – I don’t want to say I saw it all because every day surprises you – but I got to see a lot of different techniques with a lot of different students from a lot of different demographics.”
Plaster also appreciates the validation from Golden Apple and “knowing that what I’m doing is on the right path.”
“Teachers are their own harshest critics, and I think that sometimes we get, day to day, ‘Am I doing enough?’ I think this was just that pat on the back that I needed to say, ‘Yes, you are doing enough.’ ”
FOR ROBINSON, TEACHING is about fostering relationships.
“Relationships with kids, of course. Staff. Families. I’ve been in education long enough now where I have had siblings and cousins of former students,” says Robinson, who earned B.S.Ed. in Special Education: Deaf and Hard of Hearing in 2004. “Those relationships continue and are stronger and more reliable as time goes on and connections are made.”
And that belief has been reinforced more than ever this year.
One of Robinson’s kindergartners lost her mother in September, only a week or so after school began.
“I’m a big advocate of classroom community, so we have morning meetings and we talk about feelings,” she says. “I feel strongly about it because I don’t feel like I was ever taught in school what emotions are, how to respond to them, what they feel like in our bodies and what they look like on human faces. We really dive into that.”
But Robinson felt great anxiety about when “Caroline” would return to school at the end of September.
“Thoughts ruminated about how I would react, how the rest of the children would react and what feelings it would bring up in our kindergarten classroom. We had built a pretty strong community while she was gone, and when she came back, her fists were balled, she was quiet and she didn’t want to participate in anything.”
Outside school hours, however, Caroline and her family participate in counseling to privately explore, understand, confront and strive to accept their emotions. The process carries over the classroom, connecting smoothly to the behavioral skills students practice there with the help of their teacher.
Eventually, Robinson says, “Caroline opened up. She finally just said it, and I’m so thankful she did. She clearly articulated, ‘My mommy died, and I feel really sad about it.’ That statement opened the door to so much growth in her grieving process that is still apparent in March, many months later.”
Robinson’s students then “cried with her. We loved on her. Kids asked to get her Kleenexes and wanted to hug her. And we talked about it. She’s had rough days since. She’s had good days since.”
Caroline also has special support: One of her classmates was only an infant when her mother died, and although Robinson knew she could not share that information with Caroline, it eventually took place organically between the two girls.
“She said the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard from a kindergartner. She said, ‘I lost my mommy, too, and I want to be your friend.’ And they have been inseparable ever since.”
Being a Golden Apple finalist is “encouraging,” Robinson says.
“Teachers always want to do better,” she says, “but when I see myself among these 19 other educators who I have looked up to, and who I consider to be amazing, it makes me want to be even more of what I already am.”
Date posted: March 14, 2023 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on COE alumna Miranda Thompson wins Rockford-area 2023 Golden Apple award
Representation Matters! Creating Pipelines and Pathways in Promoting Faculty Diversity and Social Justice in Higher Education was the conference theme for the eighth annual statewide conference that brought over 100 graduate students of color representing 18 different universities to NIU in late February. NIU and other college and university faculty presented information about the professoriate as a career path and how to prepare for it. Some of the specific sessions included how to develop into a scholar, preparing for the job talk, managing teaching, research, and service, working at different types of colleges and universities, as well as negotiating the politics of race, ethnicity and gender in the academy.
“There is a great need to diversify faculty at Illinois’ universities and across the nation,” explains Janice Hamlet, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Mentoring and Diversity at NIU and conference founder and coordinator. “Students deserve a quality education that is centered on achieving and maintaining inclusive excellence. Exclusive excellence refers to how well a university values and engages the rich diversity of its students, faculty, staff, administrators, curriculum and all that encompasses a university community.”
“In order to create and maintain inclusive excellence, we need to create an environment that presents the varied backgrounds of the world we live in. A diverse faculty positively affects student retention and success by exposing students to the richness of human experiences and perspectives, teaching styles, research topics and diverse learning environments,” said Hamlet.
Preparing Future Faculty Programs exist at many institutions throughout the country, however, the NIU conference is believed to be the only one focused on graduate students of color.
Date posted: March 14, 2023 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Statewide conference attracts future faculty of color
The scholarships Katryna Weingart, ’21, received while at NIU helped her to cross the finish line at graduation.
The show must go on—even when finances are scarce!
Growing up in McHenry, Illinois, Katryna Weingart, ’21, was a determined student and always interested in writing, theater and music—basically, anything related to performance arts and humanities.
During high school, a caring teacher made all the difference to Weingart and helped her set sights on becoming one as well. She also had the hope of becoming a student theater director, as drama and literature were always so important to her.
“I had a teacher my junior year who didn’t just teach me how to write better, but also treated me like a person,” she said. “In my early stages of life, I was a rather quirky person. However, my teachers often didn’t know what to do about my ‘quirks’ and oftentimes suppressed me for being different. I had one teacher in 7th grade bluntly tell me to ‘stop talking about science fiction’ because she was sick of hearing how I connected science fiction to the material we were reading in class. However, my junior year AP language and composition teacher, Mrs. Dunn, accepted me for my quirks and encouraged them. In many ways, she helped build up parts of my personality that were once demolished by previous teachers.”
This teacher also helped Weingart to reconnect with her joy of writing, although she was behind the majority of the class academically.
“It took a while but, eventually, my hard work with her paid off,” she said. “Eventually, my low Cs at the beginning of the year became As at the end of the year. She even acknowledged her students’ hard work at the end of the semester with an awards ceremony where I received the Most Improved Writer certificate for her class, something that still sticks with me. I want to be able to make other students who were once struggling feel that special because they put in the hard work.”
After graduating from McHenry High School, she was not certain how she would be able to afford pursuing her dreams of becoming a teacher, writing and drama.
Luckily, caring Huskie donors stepped in to make sure her hard work and big dreams were rewarded.
“I went to NIU because they offered me the Northern Academic Scholarship, which helped to majorly cut down on my costs at college,” Weingart said. “I also received the Dr. David Wagner Scholarship in Medieval Studies. I truly loved my experience there and got hands-on experience from professors who were expert researchers in their field and really valued connections with their students.”
“The Northern Academic Scholarship changed my education because it gave me a reason to strive for success. It also made college significantly more affordable, which allowed me to save for my life after University,” she added.
She also was chosen as a Golden Apple Scholar—a program that prepares aspiring teachers for immediate and lasting success to be highly effective teachers in Illinois schools-of-need. It is a teacher preparation and tuition assistance program for first- and second-year Illinois college students.
Weingart earned her bachelor’s degree in English in 2021 and, thanks to donors’ generosity, she has spent the last couple years working at a high school in central Illinois, where she was an English teacher and play director.
Looking back, Weingart credits NIU with more than just helping her learn her craft.
“NIU provided me with a diverse variety of opportunities with different types of people who had multitudes of backgrounds, and I feel like it gave me insight into my students,” she said.
Even as she is just beginning her career, Weingart knows that she makes a positive impact for students who need understanding in their formative years—all thanks to opportunities she received.
“This work is important to me because I’m providing guidance to the youth of America and reassuring them that they are able to make it in this world,” she said. “I find helping people to be a great satisfaction for me. I want to continue to have a positive impact on the community I am in.”
Manning was specifically honored for her “outstanding, visionary, and sustained leadership in geoscience education and bringing the work of scientists and educators together to inspire the next generation of scientists.”
“AAAS is proud to elevate these standout individuals and recognize the many ways in which they’ve advanced scientific excellence, tackled complex societal challenges and pushed boundaries that will reap benefits for years to come,” said Sudip S. Parikh, Ph.D., AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals.
Manning, who grew up near the Rocky Mountains in Montana, is passionate about geology. As a first-generation college student, she attended Montana State University where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology.
Her early graduate work focused on the sedimentology of extensional basins in the Basin and Range province of the western U.S. She discovered a new passion – teaching – at the University of Utah where she earned secondary science education licensure and endorsements in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. She taught secondary science and math in Utah and Colorado from 1996 to 2021, during which time she was honored as a 2018-19 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow by the National Science Foundation Directorate of Geosciences.
She came to Northern Illinois University to pursue a Ph.D. in Geoscience Education Research, mentored by Dr. Nicole LaDue.
“Being recognized by my colleagues and the AAAS is both humbling and a great honor,” Manning said. “It demonstrates the organization’s value of STEM teachers and discipline-based education research. I am grateful for the mentors and collaborators who make my work possible.”
Manning joins a class of 505 scientists, engineers and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines being recognized for their scientific and socially notable achievements spanning their careers. Election as a Fellow of AAAS is a lifetime honor, but it comes with an expectation that recipients maintain commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.
An induction ceremony will be held in Washington, DC, in the spring of 2023.
Date posted: March 9, 2023 | Author: Andrew Pemberton | Comments Off on Ph.D. student named 2022 fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences
