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Erica Hernandez wants to teach.

The paraprofessional at Rockford’s Thurgood Marshall School began that journey years ago by earning a bachelor’s degree in English.

But feeling overwhelmed during her student-teaching hours, she never completed her educator licensure and instead found work in retail. Hernandez’s longtime ambition eventually nudged her to become an administrative assistant at a school; however, that return soon led to classroom duty.

“Now that I’m in my 30s, I feel like, ‘OK, this is what I was supposed to do,’” Hernandez said. “I just love seeing that spark of knowledge in kids when they finally get it – that ‘Oh! Aha!’ moment. It’s my favorite thing in the whole world.”

Hernandez is among more than two dozen Rockford Public Schools support personnel now in pursuit of employer-paid bachelor’s degrees in Elementary Education from NIU.

Championing future teachers is the nonprofit Grow Your Own Illinois, a grant-funding agency investing in the RISE (Rockford Inspiring School and Community Excellence) development of teacher pathways.

RISE’s no-cost, no-commute course delivery in Rockford is “the only way I could do this,” Hernandez said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Part of the College of Education’s PLEDGE (Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators) initiative, RISE is just one innovative way to prepare new teachers and principals through meeting the candidates where they are.

Other initiatives include LEAP (Licensed Educator Accelerated Program), which upskills paraprofessionals and other school employees with associate degrees to become licensed special education teachers.

Students in the master’s-level Principal Residency Program gain two years of experience in full-time leadership positions in their own districts with mentoring in their local buildings, coaching from the Illinois Principals Association and internship supervision from NIU faculty.

In the end, as Acting Dean Bill Pitney told new graduates at a recent ceremony for PLEDGE students who earned NIU bachelor’s in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education at Elgin Community College after finishing associate degrees there, the true beneficiaries are coming generations.

“This is how we improve Elgin, Illinois and our nation,” Pitney said. “When teachers are from the community, they’re more likely to stay in the community. Being from the community, they understand the needs of the students and the families we serve. And they’re rooted here. They want to be here.”

To learn more about PLEDGE, please visit myniu.com/PLEDGE