Our podcast Teachers’ Lounge is on the radio! We’ve got all the interviews with Illinois teachers and education stories you love -- along with exclusive segments -- in a monthly, hour-long show on WNIJ.
Erik Czerwin is an English teacher at Guilford High School in Rockford and is our “Classroom Correspondent.” He meets with us every single month as we follow a year in the life of a teacher.
We also have student correspondents here on Teachers’ Lounge. This school year, we’re following DeKalb High School’s Forensics team. You might be wondering: forensics? There’s competitive high school crime scene investigation? NO! Tune in to learn more, and hear our students reflect on their high school forensics careers.
On this episode, Rockford’s Lathrop Elementary School Principal Daniela Boer!
Daniela has had a fascinating career. She’s from Brazil, came to northern Illinois as an exchange student in high school, went back home, taught in Brazil, lived in Mexico, and, eventually, returned to the U.S. to teach in Rockford.
Daniela has a passion and enthusiasm for teaching, engaging with cultures, & learning languages! She already speaks 3 of them and is learning more.
She was also part of a principal residency program. It’s a partnership between Northern Illinois University and Rockford Public Schools.
You may have heard of schools “growing-their-own” teachers as a solution to staff shortages. With this initiative, Rockford is “growing-their-own” principals too -- and Daniela was part of the first cohort.
And, our chat with Julie Carballo!
She is the Assistant Dean of Students for First Generation and Military Affiliated Initiatives at North Central College. She’s also the founding director of Cardinal First -- the college’s award-winning program for first-generation college Students.
She talked about helping students maneuver their college experience from their first day on campus to the graduation stage.
If you’ve never listened before, our show is based on an idea -- we’ve all had teachers in our lives who shaped who we are. And we want to hear about the teachers who inspired you. Every educator we have on Teachers’ Lounge, whether teacher, coach, counselor, or professor, is nominated by our listeners.
So, tell us about the person who comes to your mind. Shoot us an email and nominate an educator at teacherslounge@niu.edu and they could be on the show!
Don’t worry – the podcast isn’t going anywhere. You can still catch episodes every other Friday on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.
