School days are long for children in Mwala, a small Kenyan village about 90 miles southeast of Nairobi in the district of Machakos.
They arrive as early as 6 a.m. and finally head for home as late as 10 p.m., which seemingly would indicate a devotion to active and meaningful learning and growing.
Yet “with all this work, nothing seemed to be changing,” said Moses Mutuku, an NIU assistant professor of early childhood education who grew up in Kenya . “I wondered why.”
Mutuku soon discovered the answer. The children spent as many as five hours a day fetching water, walking 10 miles round-trip to the only source. Because an ample and easily obtained water supply is not a concern for children in Kenya 's cities, where modern infrastructure creates greater economic opportunities, urban students enjoy an educational advantage over their rural counterparts.
Bridging that gap has driven Mutuku since 2000.
This summer, he and some of his fellow academics return to Mwala to continue his flourishing project. Mutuku and three NIU colleagues – Maylan Dunn, Randi Wolfe and C. Sheldon Woods – will depart June 14 with two volunteers from the Chicago Public Schools who will document the trip.
Dunn will work with pre-school teachers and mothers to stress the importance of early learning foundations. Wolfe will instruct villagers on how family connections can help children communicate and learn. Woods will work with upper-primary schools to tackle prevention of communicable diseases, such as Chlamydia and HIV-AIDS.
Dunn and Woods are returning only six months after their last visit, when they trained teachers in the latest research on early childhood and elementary education and how to apply it in the classroom.
“It's a comprehensive project. We're looking at the whole child,” Mutuku said.
“We've moved the project more toward education. We're all going to some of the urban schools to compare them with what we know from the rural schools – observing, exchanging, asking and answering questions,” he added. “We're looking for things we could do in terms of the strategies of teaching, things we can give the (Mwala) teachers. We want them to share control with the child. We want children to participate in their own learning. It would be nice if we saw that empowerment.”
Empowerment fuels all of Mutuku's activities in Mwala. He is helping the village residents to help themselves, encouraging them to change their attitudes toward life and responsibility, and it's working.
It started with the water.
Mutuku and some friends contributed money toward the construction of water dams that would allow the harvesting of rain as it fell. The villagers helped to build two dams to channel the water to their village, and now have constructed some water tanks the size of Mutuku's Gabel Hall office for storage.
They also tested a drill last summer to dig wells and bring buried water to the surface, but the machine broke when it hit an underground rock. They will try again this summer with “better spots to drill.”
Once children could devote more time to their studies, the project turned toward the parents and their attitudes.
“They despair. They see no hope because of all the things that go on. They accept that their situation is hopeless and helpless,” he said. “For most of these children, if you wake up and see your mom or dad sitting around, and you don't know if you're going to eat that day, there's nothing better than saying, ‘Hey, you don't have to live this way.' We are giving them hope. In 10 years, I want these children to be able to live above these circumstances.”
Mutuku launched the “chicken project,” helping the villagers to construct a coop with wire mesh he provided. To foster a sense of responsibility, he gave chicks to 20 families, entrusting them with the care of the animals. The families later upgraded to goats and cows.
The villagers also gathered to put a roof on a town library, the walls of which were built through the project's guidance and funding. NIU College of Education professors are donating books to stock the shelves.
Literacy is a top goal. “Knowledge has to feed back to economic independence,” Mutuku said. “If you know how to read, you can go find books on gardening. You can come back and support your families with a better standard of living.”
Residents of Mwala now are dreaming up their own ideas to improve their situation, making their own decisions and then, Mutuku said, carrying out the plans.
“I'm very proud of how much they have taken the lead,” he said. “It is kind of a relief to me to see people taking this kind of ownership. You know they are starting to accept that it is on themselves to make a difference in their lives, and that we are just partners. We are equals in trying to find the best direction.”
Mutuku's long-term goal is to hold up Mwala as a model of the possibilities when the educational gap is narrowed and convince Kenyan government officials to create a nationwide plan based on his work.
He will start to meet with some “high-ranking” educational and political officials this summer, he said, but is waiting for more changes to take shape in Mwala before rolling out the entire plan. He also will visit some other villages in search of a second site.
Also, Wolfe will take a sabbatical leave this fall to further her work in connecting families and training mothers.
“We're now taking stock,” Mutuku said. “What are the differences? What have we learned? What is the impact?”
Meanwhile, the humble Mutuku, who cried as a child because he did not have books to read, remains surprised that so many of his colleagues and friends have taken interest in the project, either through their dollars or their work.
“I didn't even think about telling people. This is something real that I was doing because it needed to be done,” he said. “I'm amazed at the way people have responded.”
Nursing partners with Kishwaukee College
to help nurses complete bachelor's degrees
NIU and Kishwaukee Community College have good news for newly minted two-year nursing graduates and other registered nurses across the region who want to earn bachelor's degrees.
They can start immediately through a new partnership between the two schools.
Nearly 40 Kishwaukee students have expressed interest in an 18-month curriculum that will provide all necessary courses, including some additional general education credits, for an NIU bachelor's of science degree with a major in nursing.
A total of 50 students can enroll in the classes scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and 17 have enrolled so far. NIU School of Nursing professors will teach the nursing curriculum while Kishwaukee faculty will teach the gen-ed courses.
NIU will waive the pre-requisite of registered nurse status to allow registration in the program that begins in June, although students must pass the licensure exam by the end of the summer before the fall semester.
Students will complete the courses held on the Kishwaukee campus by the end of the fall semester in 2006, and will take the remainder of classes during the final two semesters at Kishwaukee Community Hospital .
The second cohort begins next summer.
“Everyone is welcome, even if your degree is 30 years old or if it's from someplace other than Kishwaukee,” said Brigid Lusk, acting chair of the NIU School of Nursing. “A bachelor's degree offers opportunities to go much further in the profession.”
“It's funneling more students into higher levels of education, which we need to teach and to become nurse practitioners,” added Heather Peters, director of the Department of Nursing at Kishwaukee Community College . “Public health careers like a bachelor's or master's. Education requires a master's. My hopes are that we'll have a number of students with bachelor's who will ultimately be interested in pursing a master's.”
Meanwhile, most hospitals reimburse their nurses for tuition expenses and then reward them with salary adjustments as they earn higher degrees.
Kishwaukee Community Hospital has a tuition reimbursement policy for nurses who return to school for formal education, said Cheryl Fisher, the hospital's director of professional practice.
Nurses there also enjoy ongoing in-services, clinical skills laboratories, computer-based “Net Learning” at their convenience and the hospital's support to attend conferences.
“This (cohort) is something our nursing staff has been very interested in. The School of Nursing is not that far away, but this is more convenient for our staff,” Fisher said. “They feel more comfortable and confident in studying here. It's a nice benefit to them and has stimulated a lot of them to think about going back for their degrees.”
A bachelor's degree might be preferred or required for a promotion at the hospital, she said. However, she added, “for many nurses, it's just that measure of professional education they truly feel they want to have.”
Peters said her recent graduates, who will make up most of the first cohort, are enthusiastic about the new partnership.
“I tell them NIU is going to be on our campus, and there is excitement in the room,” she said. “They can finish up without leaving home.”
Northern's nursing program is designed to meet the needs of the registered nurse who wishes to complete a bachelor of science degree with a major in nursing. The amount of time required for a registered nurse to fulfill the requirements of the baccalaureate degree completion program varies depending upon the amount of transfer credit.
The B.S. degree with a major in nursing prepares the professional nurse for leadership roles in patient care in the total spectrum of health care agencies and settings.
Graduates are prepared to function with baccalaureate competencies in the delivery of nursing care, and assisting in the improvement of health care delivery systems. They also are skilled in using the knowledge of the physical and social sciences as integral aspects of nursing, and in entering graduate programs to further increase their nursing competencies and skills.
Top Vietnamese scholars will study at NIU
A new agreement between Northern Illinois University and the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) will bring top scholars to DeKalb to pursue their doctoral degrees.
Congress created and funds the VEF, based in Washington, D.C., to promote closer bilateral relations with Vietnam through scholarships and educational exchange programs.
Under a memorandum of understanding with the foundation, NIU will give tuition waivers to the Vietnamese scholars, while the U.S. State Department will provide funding support for other costs related to the fellowships. All fellows are required to return to Vietnam after completing their academic programs in the United States.
Rathindra Bose, NIU vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School, was instrumental in forging the agreement. He said the first Vietnamese fellows are expected to arrive on campus in the fall of 2006. They will concentrate their doctoral studies in areas of strength at the university, including Southeast Asian studies, physics, biology, education and psychology.
“This is a good match for NIU,” Bose said. “Our Center for Southeast Asian Studies is internationally renowned, and we already have some students from Vietnam studying at NIU.
“The new agreement will expand our efforts to bring in very talented students from abroad,” Bose added. “These international educational exchanges help erase misperceptions that foreign students might have about the United States and promote good will between countries.”
The Vietnam Education Foundation is in its second year of operation and receives the full support of the U.S. National Academies in its fellowship selection process. The foundation has more than 100 fellows at 37 top U.S. graduate institutions. Those institutions include Brown, Columbia, John Hopkins, Princeton, Purdue, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The VEF is governed by a board of directors whose members include Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Treasury John Snow, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and several congressmen.
“These VEF fellows will become leaders in science and education in Vietnam and will help improve the country in profound ways,” said Lynne McNamara, senior program officer of VEF. “We are very pleased that Northern Illinois University has joined the VEF alliance.”
More information on the Vietnam Education Foundation is available online at www.vef.gov.
NIU to host high school sophomores interested in rural health careers
Fifty high school sophomores who live in rural parts of northern Illinois will come to campus the weekend of June 10 to learn more about careers in health care.
By the time they return home, they'll have performed physical assessments, screened blood samples for lipids, learned sign language, conducted hearing exams, measured body composition and tasted modified foods.
The Health Careers Camp is part of a critical effort to encourage students from small towns to realize their potential and return to their hometowns after college to work as health care professionals.
Students from places such as Amboy, Belvidere, Dixon, Genoa, Huntley, Kingston, LaSalle, Morrison and Peru will get free hands-on experiences in clinical laboratory sciences, nursing, nutrition, physical therapy and speech-language-hearing in labs furnished by the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences.
They also will hear about dentistry, pharmacy and medicine, use a computer-based “career cruiser” program for feedback on their career ideas and learn about the college admissions and financial aid process.
A final event scheduled for Sunday, June 12, will simulate an accident: An elderly person has fallen. A medical doctor will diagnose the patient, order labs and interpret the results. A clinical laboratory specialist, a nurse, a nutritionist, a physical therapist and a speech and hearing rehabilitation specialist will discuss their roles in the trauma.
Parents of the campers will join them for the closing luncheon.
“These are youngsters who are taking the first few important steps in getting positioned for health professions careers,” said Al Ottens, a professor in the NIU College of Education's Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education. “We want them to know we think they're an important group – that they're special – and that we want to do what we can to enhance their interests and talents.”
The concept grew from a summit held last year in Rockford at the University of Illinois National Center for Rural Health Professions, a co-sponsor of the camp.
Other sponsors include the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford 's Rural Medical Education Program, the NIU Colleges of Education and Health and Human Sciences, the Northern Illinois Area Health Education Center and the Illinois Rural Health Association.
The University of Illinois at Chicago 's School of Public Health and the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network funded the camp.
“We want to make sure that rural Illinois is well-served when it comes to health care. When you look at the numbers, we just don't have enough, from doctors to pharmacists,” said Carolyn Brown Hodge, director of rural affairs for Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, whose office has funded previous camps and continues to support the initiative. “Rural students are more apt to go back home, and we want the young people to think big: ‘Hey, I can be a doctor.' That's real important.”
Ben Mueller, director of the Northern Illinois Area Health Education Center and the University of Illinois National Center for Rural Health Professions, said the camp will provide that revelation.
The 16 camp counselors “all are young people from a whole variety of disciplines who are in school now,” he said. Most are from rural areas, he added, and once had “misgivings about whether they could become doctors.”
“A lot of people in rural areas just don't have the exposure to understand how they might be able to ratchet up their operations – or have the kind of support systems you have in suburban and, often, metropolitan areas – to dream the dream of becoming a health professional,” Mueller said.
Ottens, who trains school counselors, said the camp organizers are depending on counselors to keep the movement going. They're also counting on the campers to form “health” clubs in their schools and to nudge their peers toward health care careers.
Also, the College of Health and Human Sciences will invite the campers back to campus during the academic year to attend classes in the areas represented in the weekend's five hands-on experiences.
“High school students are often intimidated by the thought of college-level classes,” said Alan Robinson, the college's director of outreach. “There's nothing like attending a class and finding out that you can handle college work.”
Counselors from DeKalb and Dixon will attend the camp to provide information on what courses students entering their sophomore year should pursue to build the foundation for health care professions. They also will discuss scholarships and other financial aid options.
“We see school counselors playing an important role in identifying youngsters for health professions, and we want to help counselors become aware of this need. They're on the front lines in identifying and encouraging students, and in getting them to return to their home community once they're finished with their education,” Ottens said.
“We're planning on getting more information in the hands of counselors in these high schools and developing relationships with them so they know we exist,” he added. “We know they're out there.”
College of Education honors philanthropy, friends
The NIU College of Education's Donor Recognition Dinner was held Friday, May 20, at NIU-Naperville.
The Donor Recognition Dinner is sponsored by the college's Alumni Council and Development Board. The dinner provides the college an opportunity to honor its donors and to share with them how their gifts have made a difference to the college.
Each year at this event, the Philanthropic Award and Friend of the College Awards are presented during the dinner. The College of Education Development Board nominates and selects recipients who exemplify the spirit of giving and who have made a significant difference to the college through their generosity.
This year, the College of Education recognized Dr. Lou Jean Moyer and Dr. Tom and Mrs. Shirley Scott.
The College of Education Alumni Council also recognizes exceptional friends of the college. Recipients of the Friend of the College of Education are selected based on a number of criteria that include long-term service and/or support, influence over state and federal educational policy, and volunteerism in support of the college.
This year the College of Education recognized Penny Fike Cameron, Frederick Kitterle, and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.
Lou Jean Moyer
The College of Education is pleased to recognize Dr. Lou Jean Moyer for her generous support of the College of Education and the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education.
Moyer came to NIU in 1962 after earning her doctoral degree at the University of Iowa . She served on the faculty in Physical Education until 1988 and was widely recognized by students and faculty as an excellent teacher. During that same time, Moyer served as the women's volleyball coach, and her teams enjoyed great success. From 1988 until her retirement in 1992, she served as NIU's associate provost.
Moyer believes that students come first, and worked long hours to ensure that all students received quality programs and instruction. She worked tirelessly to improve the retention rates of minority students. As a faculty member, she was very active in the curricular process at all levels, serving on a variety of committees, several of which she chaired.
Upon her retirement, Moyer's parents established and endowed the Lou Jean Moyer Scholarship in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. This scholarship supports undergraduate physical education majors in achieving their dreams. She is devoted in her support of the ideal of helping others reach their fullest potential.
Thomas and Shirley Scott
The College of Education is pleased to recognize Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Shirley Scott for their generous support of the College.
Together, the Scotts have been strong advocates and financial supporters for many years.
Tom received the first doctoral degree in Adult and Continuing Education awarded by NIU and served as the assistant dean in the College of Continuing Education at NIU for more than 10 years. His passion for lifelong learning led him to become the director of extended learning and dean of the evening and weekend program at George Williams College , his alma mater. Tom is currently a real estate associate in Glen Ellyn.
Shirley, a lifelong educator, taught first and second grades in Franklin Park, Lombard and Elmhurst . Since retiring, she volunteers her time to tutor young children and works on a variety of community service projects at NIU and in Elmhurst.
The Scotts established an endowed scholarship in the College of Education for students from the Chicago metro area who want to become teachers, are involved in the School-University Partnership program and plan to return to the Chicago area to teach. Higher education has been an important part of the lives of Tom and Shirley Scott, and they are committed to assisting others in realizing and expanding their potential in the academic world.
Friend of the College Awards
Dennis Hastert
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has been a strong supporter of the College of Education and Northern Illinois University for many years. He earned his master's degree in educational foundations, focusing on educational philosophy.
As a congressman and Speaker of the House, he has worked to improve the educational atmosphere for all students, from kindergarten through graduate school. Among Representative Hastert's many efforts on behalf of education and the university is the funding and subsequent acquisition of the Monsanto, Inc. property in DeKalb. This new facility will house clinics that focus on serving children and families and will soon be the new home to the College of Education 's Reading Clinic.
Representative Hastert and his wife, Jean, return to Illinois frequently and to NIU when his schedule permits.
Penny Cameron
Penny Cameron has been a strong and consistent supporter of the College of Education for many years. She is a graduate of the elementary education program and a former third grade teacher.
Service to others has been a guiding force in Cameron's life as evidenced by her involvement in a number of organizations focused on helping women and children. She recently retired from more than 24 years of service to the Kane County Board. During her more than 10 years of service to the College's Alumni Council, Cameron served as the College of Education Alumni Council chair and as the alumni liaison to the Development Board.
Cameron's exemplary commitment to serving others is further evidenced by the establishment of the Penny Fike Cameron Scholarship in the College of Education . Cameron and her husband, Ken, are frequent visitors to the College of Education and to a variety of NIU events on and off campus.
Fred Kitterle
Dr. Fred Kitterle came to NIU in 1995 as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
A passionate advocate for teacher education at Northern Illinois University , he created a strong partnership between the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to enhance the quality of teacher preparation programs at NIU and the quality of support provided to local schools.
As a critical member of the NIU P-20 group, Kitterle's drive and ideas pushed forward collaborative projects that brought faculty members from various colleges together in efforts to improve education. He was co-principal investigator on two multi-million dollar grants with the College of Education : a Teacher Quality Enhancement grant in Rockford (Project REAL) and a Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology grant (the ITAAR project). He played an active role in both grants, using his wit and humor to bring disparate groups together around a common purpose.
Kitterle was proud of his collaboration with the College of Education , and was active in disseminating information about the partnerships between the two colleges through presentations and publications. He encouraged other liberal arts and sciences deans to get involved in supporting teacher education.
In May 2005, NIU lost Kitterle to cancer.
The College of Education recognizes Kitterle for his commitment to teacher education and for his consistent support and advocacy for the College of Education , and will miss his indomitable spirit.
DeKalb County Community Foundation
boosts NIU community-outreach projects
The DeKalb County Community Foundation is providing more than $15,500 in grants this spring to Northern Illinois University for projects addressing a wide range of community needs, from testing newborns for hearing impairments to assisting seniors who want to keep their memories sharp.
“All of these projects in a very special way demonstrate the university's outreach efforts in the local community,” said Jerry Smith, executive director of the DeKalb County Community Foundation.
In all, the DeKalb County Community Foundation announced grants this spring of $186,000 to 66 area nonprofit organizations. Grants to NIU included the following:
- $2,000 to the Center for Access-Ability Resources and Founders Library to create a more accessible general-reference computer station and update the accessibility features for the Specialized Study Room. The improvements will aid library patrons with limited vision or complete vision loss.
- $7,000 to the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic for the purchase of new equipment to be used in newborn hearing screenings at Kishwaukee Community Hospital . The new technology will allow for a two-stage screening process to be completed before discharge from the hospital, reducing the number of babies who need outpatient testing and the age at which a hearing loss is identified. The clinic has been providing universal newborn hearing screenings at the hospital since 1996. As many as 900 babies are screened annually.
- $2,863 to the College of Health and Human Sciences to help deliver an Internet game geared for senior citizens to four local facilities. The Web-based trivia game, dubbed Acuity, is a cross between “Jeopardy,” “Trivial Pursuit” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and is specially designed to keep aging minds sharp.
- $2,000 to the Office of External Programs of the College of Visual and Performing Arts to assist in production of a “Song Speak” CD for children with speech delays or speech challenges. There are no known commercially available CDs that target the needs of children with speech delays. Their conditions require that the songs be slower than traditional instructional music CDs for children, with more repetition of words and activities. The most effective songs have a solo voice with clear articulation, followed by children's voices in response.
- $1,700 to Campus Child Care Center for area rugs. The rugs are used to establish areas for blocks, books and dramatic play in each of the classrooms.
The deadline for the next DeKalb County Community Foundation grant period is Sept. 1. Those interested in learning more about grant guidelines are encouraged to call Smith at (815) 748-5383 or visit www.dekalbcountyfoundation.org.
Kudos
NIU physicist Zhili Xiao led a team of researchers at Argonne National Laboratory that has discovered a way to dramatically improve the capability of hydrogen sensors. The team reported its findings in the May 16 issue of Applied Physics Letters.
Xiao holds a joint appointment in the physics department at NIU and the Materials Science Division at Argonne. A press release on the new research is available online.
College of Education welcomes Chinese visitors
A delegation of Chinese visitors from the Beijing Academy of Education Science will spend Wednesday, June 8, on campus to learn about curriculum reform, technology and assessment in the NIU College of Education.
The group begins its day at 9 a.m. in the Milan Township One-Room Schoolhouse, where members will learn about NIU and the history of partnerships between the university and educational institutions in China .
Later, in Gabel Hall, the visitors will hear about technology as an instructional tool, university-school network and partnerships and trends in curriculum reform. An afternoon session covers perspectives on assessing teaching and learning.
NIU's College of Education previously hosted a Chinese delgation March 15, 2004.
Founders lobby exhibition focuses on prog rock music
“Epic Tracks and Marshall Stacks: The Pomp and Circumstance of Progressive Rock” is the title of this month's exhibit in the lobby of Founders Memorial Library.
The exhibition will remain open through June 30. For more information, call (815) 753-0616.
Volunteers needed for Move-In Day
Plans are under way to welcome NIU's new and returning students for fall 2005 during the Thursday, Aug. 18, Move-In Day.
Your support is critical to making this year's incoming students and their families feel welcome as the newest members of the Huskie family. As a Move-In Day volunteer, you will assist students and their families by driving golf carts loaded with students' belongings from the family car to the front door of the residence hall. NI Guides and other student volunteers will help move students' possessions inside to their residence hall rooms.
As a thank you for your valuable contribution to this important retention effort, you will receive a free T-shirt and a $5 discount for the annual Great Huskie Bash, scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 18.
To sign up to be a volunteer, click here: http://www.niu.edu/Housing/openday/volfacstaff.shtml
For more information about Move-In Day activities, please call Mary Tosch at (815) 753-7482.
FIT Program holds summer registration
The FIT Program will hold summer registration on the following days and times in the FIT office (Anderson Hall 127):
Today, June 6: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., returning members only.
Tuesday, June 7: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., returning members only.
Wednesday, June 8: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., new members only.
Thursday, June 9: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., open registration.
Cost is $35. For more information, please contact the FIT staff via phone at (815) 753-0335 or via e-mail at fit@niu.edu.
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