NIU Today

Six principals from NIU’s service region have been named as the inaugural Marguerite Key Fellows, a new initiative of the NIU College of Education. Rachel Bednar, principal, Edison Middle School, Wheaton Jay Brickman, principal, Hinckley-Big Rock High School, Hinckley Patrick Hardy, principal, Proviso East High School, Maywood Debra Klein, principal, Emerson Elementary School, Wheaton Katie...

Toni Tollerud’s service to education, from teaching to counseling, spans nearly 50 years. Yet her legacy will last far longer through the new Toni R. Tollerud School Counselor Grant, created and funded by the Schultz Foundation for Advancing Counseling. Recipients will use grants of up to $1,000 to finance school counseling projects in Illinois that...

First-year graduate students in sport management magnified their credentials this month with a behind-the-scenes look at operations of the NCAA, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Purdue University’s athletic and recreational sport facilities. Part of the NIU College of Education’s Engage U.S. program, the overnight trip to the Hoosier State came together through professional associates of...

North Dakota’s Mandaree School District is a three-hour drive from the nearest airport in Bismarck. The closest hotel is at least 20 miles away if not 30. Shopping for groceries – beyond those for sale at the tiny convenience store in town, that is – requires a two-hour round trip. Life outside the Fort Berthold...

Among the many decorations adorning Leslie A. Sassone’s office in Graham Hall is a small photograph she snapped years ago at a Grateful Dead Furthur Festival concert. The picture shows a woman reading a book, paying little or no attention to the music being performed in front of her by living legends of rock ’n’...

During the first 21 years of their lives, individuals with autism are offered critical support services through their local public schools. By law, those services must include “transition” planning that begins when the students turn 14½, providing nearly seven years of preparation for the next stage of their lives. Yet when that assistance ends, many...

Thirty-nine early childhood education students from NIU recently enjoyed inside looks at a Montessori school. Donations to the NIU College of Education from alumni Anthony L. Kambich (B.S. ’59, Physical Education) and Carolyn A. Kambich (B.S. ’60, Elementary Education), founders of North Shore Montessori Schools in 1966, financed the Tuesday, Feb. 13, and Tuesday, Feb....

  Barbara Abromitis wanted to become a teacher. That goal brought her to the NIU College of Education, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1983. Life had other plans, though. “When my kids were young, I started doing grant-writing because I could do that from home,” Abromitis says. She had found...

NIU College of Education professor James Cohen will spend the summer of 2019 in Uruguay as a Fulbright Scholar. The associate professor of ESL/Bilingual Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction will work alongside Aldo Rodriguez, a Ph.D. degree candidate in the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations. Rodriguez is also the national...

  Christine Rienstra Kiracofe, a professor in the NIU College of Education’s Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations, has been named co-editor of Education Law Into Practice (ELIP). ELIP is a special section of West’s Education Law Reporter and sponsored by the Education Law Association. It publishes short, practical pieces on topics in education...

Caitlin Paxton’s journey to the foot of a snowy Lake Geneva mountain drew her into the heart of the Abominable Snow Race. But amid the frigid cold and friendly competition, the NIU College of Education senior from Plano, IL, found affirmation of her dream to teach physical education to elementary school children. “I helped with...

All of the world’s eyes – Brandon Male’s included – are on South Korea. But the instructor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KNPE) is looking at the Winter Olympics through a different lens, one that understands that the games are far more than athletes, medals, national anthems and must-watch TV. Male is...