NLU Alumni Magazine “I will forever credit NLU for graduating me as a prepared teacher because I think a lot of people don’t always get that experience from their universities, and I always feel very lucky for that.” — Beth Maloney ’01, ’05 B.A. Elementary Education & M.Ed. Administration and Supervision
Beth is a teacher that embraces technology in the classroom, and that is something that caught the AEF’s eye during the Teacher of the Year selection process. Beth feels in her classroom that “we are all teachers.” Some teachers can be intimidated by new technology because, in a lot of cases, the kids will know more than them. But Beth sees it as a great opportunity to learn from her students and give them a chance to be the teacher. Beth recalled a day when her students taught her how to create code for web pages. “You never stop learning – even when you’re the teacher.” “I have a lot of enthusiasm for my students and learning in general,” Beth said. “I love to learn, and I think that enthusiasm is naturally conveyed to my students. I hope that I leave them with an understanding that learning doesn’t stop just because you’re not in school; learning is something you do because you have a thirst for it and you have questions that you want answered.” Beth has enjoyed great success in the classroom, and she credits National Louis University for giving her the tools to succeed. Small classes with individual instruction from professors provided a special experience that Beth remembers fondly. Beth’s first teaching opportunity arose after a teacher
Photo Courtesy of Pam Reilly
NLU alumnae Beth Maloney (left) and Pam Reilly attended a ceremony at the White House honoring the Teachers of the Year from across the country.
left in the middle of the school year and created an urgent vacancy. And even though Beth felt like she was being thrown into the fire, she knew she was fully prepared to handle the challenge of her new position after completing her undergraduate experience at NLU. “I truly feel like my NLU education gave me so much more preparation for becoming a classroom teacher than my peers
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got from other institutions,” Beth said. “I will forever credit NLU for graduating me as a prepared teacher because I think a lot of people don’t always get that experience from their universities, and I always feel very lucky for that.” And the students at Sunset Hills Elementary school are very lucky to have Beth for a teacher. The world may have lost a potentially great veterinarian, but it gained a great teacher.