Teach Grant, NIU Financial Aid, Dr. Jill Boersma

So Today on my way to teacher credentialing in the State of Illinois.... I called NIU Financial Aid and talked to Charles. He said all kinds of silly stuff about the Teach Grant and tried to talk circles around me to no avail. He said that I need to speak with an advising Dean before the Financial Aid Office will act on the Teach Grant. So now, I have to set up an appointment with Dr. Jill Boersma, Director of Advising for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at NIU. Of course, I can't meet with her on a Monday until July 6th, my son's 7th birthday. Drag it out. Drag it out. Drag it out.

Dr. Earl Seaver, Vice Provost at NIU and Minette in Financial Aid

Today on my way to Illinois Teacher Credentialing: I called Dr. Earl J. Seaver, Vice Provost in the School of Education at Northern Illinois University (NIU). He called me back at about 4:00pm. He said they don't really have an alternative certification program because they don't have a cohort. He said he would snoop around for me. He said he would call me back next week with a plan. I called Financial Aid about the Teach Grant Program. I spoke to Minette. Minette didn't know anything about the program and put me on hold. I was originally on hold for 20 minutes and subsequently stayed on hold for another 10. In the end, Minette has taken my phone number and said that she would call me back when she knows more. I need the Agreement to Serve form filled out and recognized by NIU. This is a government program. It would give me a $4000 grant if I agree to teach in a low-performing and/or a low income school district for 4 years.

My Journey to Illinois Teacher Certification from Northern Illinois University (NIU), The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), to CA and beyond!

I want to be a French and/or Spanish Teacher in Middle or High School. Is it getting to the dog days of summer yet? This journey and effort to get an Illinois Teacher's Certificate has me running up against walls, egos, meeting the sheep of the world and negotiating with the industries that are trying to make a buck off of my having to go back to school to get a teacher's credential. Regardless of the fact that I have a Master's in Teaching Foreign Languages, have two years teaching experience working with children who have violent emotional and behavioral disorders, have worked in a bilingual school as an elementary and AP French Teacher and have taught at the University level French, Spanish and Finnish languages - apparently I am STILL not qualified to be a high school teacher. The absurdity of which I will chronicle here. I will name names, places and dates. It is a log for me and a log for the world to know and recognize the ridiculousness of the many requests placed upon me and the would-be public school teachers in our present day America. Today I am: Sending a form to Alisal High School in Salinas, CA and Janet Lal to confirm that I taught at the school so that I can hopefully be exempted from the Observation requirements at NIU (Northern Illinois University), the head of which is Dr. Michael Morris. Yesterday, I sent a form to Kevin Fuss who worked with me as head teacher at Hillcrest Satellite School in Maquoketa, Iowa. Thanks Kevin for helping me out. I will listen to a message from Wisconsin (presumably) regarding my need to have a criminal background check and fingerprinting done. I will call the Vice Provost at NIU, a Dr. Earl J. Seaver and discuss my potentiality for the Alternative Certification Program. My opinion is that schools do not actively broadcast the Alternative Certification Program to prospective students because it requires less course work and therefore the school will make less money. I just got an email from Phyllis Jones at the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) alerting me to the potential alternative certification programs in Illinois. It only took the better part of a week and at least 5 phone calls to get the information from the leading authority on the subject.

The Bandwagon

I fell off it. I've been on the gain march. I've taken on new priorities. I'm going back to school to get my Teacher's Credential. I'll have over $100,000.00 in educational loan debt when all is said and done. I hope it's worth it. I hope that I'll be happy and gainfully employed at the end of this last stint into the throes of the educational community. Academia Nuts,my dad loving calls it. Thanks, Dad!I love you. Even if you think I'm an academia nut. :) I really do need to get back to running. I've really lost the spirit at the moment, though. Seems like the ebb and flow of life and everything. I hang onto a passion for about 2 years, tops and then - something new... This time? Bible Studies and Teacher's Credentialing at NIU.

Rockford Half-Marathon Finisher!

I DID it! Training, planning, running and running some more! I ran the FARTHEST I have ever run in my life. I am proud of myself. I have come a long way, baby. Thinking back to no more than one year ago, I: 1. weighed 185 pounds. 2. started losing weight. 3. started running. 4. Did a 1-miler, a 2-miler, a 5K, a 10-miler and now: 5. A Half-Marathon! (13.1 miles) I am a sprinter, no question. I went, what I considered to be, fast. Here are my stats as a "middle-of-the-packer": ================================================================================ FEMALE AGE GROUP 30 - 34 (500) ================================================================================ 1 1396 Leslie Schaeffer 33 F 1:40:24 7:40 2 926 Jennie Bailey 34 F 1:41:56 7:47 3 1600 Colleen Carson 34 F 1:42:39 7:51 4 1529 Kelly Lucente 32 F 1:46:01 8:06 5 968 Sara Brackenrich 31 F 1:51:43 8:32 6 1264 Sheri McWilliams 34 F 1:52:04 8:34 7 1055 Melissa Dunbar 33 F 1:53:56 8:42 8 1555 Maggie Schnoor 31 F 1:55:11 8:48 9 1454 Jessica Svoboda 34 F 1:56:15 8:53 10 1319 Tania Paterick-Sterud 32 F 1:56:38 8:55 11 1524 Jeannette Zilli 34 F 1:56:43 8:55 12 1246 Mary Kate Martinelli 30 F 1:57:20 8:58 13 1206 Reetta Kylakoski 33 F 1:57:55 9:01 14 1472 Tricia Ulferts 34 F 1:58:56 9:05 15 1213 Pernille Lausten 34 F 1:59:08 9:06 16 1536 Kelly Speltz 34 F 1:59:52 9:09 17 1500 Megan Welbourne 31 F 2:01:04 9:15 18 1283 Gina Montano 31 F 2:01:09 9:15 19 1075 Jessica Ferguson 33 F 2:02:17 9:21 20 978 Jessica Buch 31 F 2:04:27 9:30 21 1249 Lorena Martinez 34 F 2:05:24 9:35 22 1043 Betty Dilley 34 F 2:08:13 9:48 23 1430 Juliana Silvestri 31 F 2:09:14 9:52 24 1370 Kelli Rolston 34 F 2:12:57 10:09 25 1260 Heather McLauchlan 33 F 2:14:20 10:16 26 1303 Marty Offutt 30 F 2:16:54 10:27 27 1437 Jennifer Slabaugh 34 F 2:20:02 10:42 28 1181 Cassie Kaltenbrun 31 F 2:22:49 10:55 29 1145 Beth Hild 33 F 2:23:13 10:56 30 1049 Heather Dowd 32 F 2:23:54 11:00 31 1507 Buffy Wicks 30 F 2:24:42 11:03 32 1228 Michele Long 33 F 2:24:48 11:04 33 1556 Becky Krueger 32 F 2:25:08 11:05 34 1135 Amy Hart 33 F 2:26:36 11:12 35 1173 Loren Johnson 30 F 2:27:57 11:18 36 1020 Kimberly Cook 34 F 2:29:08 11:24 37 1433 Mary Simpson 33 F 2:31:16 11:33 38 1048 Mary Lynn Doherty 34 F 2:31:20 11:34 39 1332 Aurelia Pocklington 30 F 2:32:20 11:38 40 1519 Ericka Yancey 34 F 2:32:47 11:40 41 1471 Christy Udell 32 F 2:32:48 11:40 42 939 Rebecca Barton 30 F 2:33:58 11:46 43 971 Anna Brahmstedt Akerlu 31 F 2:34:09 11:47 44 1134 Natasha Harroff 34 F 2:34:10 11:47 45 1359 Dalma Rigaud 30 F 2:34:37 11:49 46 388 Maia Youngbrandt 30 F 2:35:47 11:54 47 1322 Jacqueline Perez 30 F 2:38:31 12:06 48 1210 Imelda Lagunas 30 F 2:38:31 12:06 49 1302 Erin Obrien 32 F 2:44:12 12:33 50 1400 Andrea Schiller 30 F 2:47:42 12:49 51 1244 Tonya Markert 33 F 2:53:21 13:14 8:55 per mile pace! That's pretty good for never having run 13.1 miles EVER. And, did I mention that I've lost almost 60 pounds? This has been a banner year, full of emotion, discipline and training. Of course, it's no Boston Qualifying pace, but I am happy, because I wasn't trying to make the Boston Marathon. I was trying to finish my first half-marathon and go to bed in the evening without having a full-blown panic attack. Success achieved! I am SO proud of the group that I ran with as well. Each of us (Laura, Reetta and Pernille) ALL managed sub-2:00 hour half-marathons! Success achieved! Laura even placed third in her age group (40-44)! SAY WHAT??? I am so totally proud that I was able to run with these gals. I am inspired by so many of my fellow ladies. Roscoe Roadies, way to go! Want some pictures? Sure. I really like this picture that Erik took. Here I am in my orange shorts, running into the frame. You can see the park (Davis Landing) where all the festivities were held and the bridge and River which we ran over to get to the finish. VERY cool. Here I am waving to my adoring fans! I was WAY excited to see Indigo, River and Daddy cheering me on at the Finish Line! I really was. It makes my day and life to have their support; it really does. There I go! HEY! See my time there? Yup. Under 2 hours! YAYAYAYAYAY! Training was involved. Do not attempt without appropriate training! LOL! This is Laura and me. I am so proud of this Laura gal! She placed 3rd in her age group! WAY TO GO!!! Here is the beautiful and stunning Maegan and myself. So the back story on us? We started in this crazy idea of joining the "Beginning Running Club" at the Y last year with Mary E. We began together running 30 seconds. That was it. 30 seconds. Now? After less than one year? 13.1 miles without stopping. a Half-Marathon finisher. Both of us. And to think we laughed less than a year ago that we couldn't manage to run 4 minutes without stopping. Amazing. Look at this stunning group of wild women! Every single one of us managed to do 13.1 miles and received a medal on this glorious day. Sure, we're tired. Yes, we've trained. And DAMN. We look good! Did I mention we all got medals for finishing? So cool. Unexpected bonus! I had no idea we would be getting finishing medals. I think we look like the best alumni cross country team out there! The final picture, we capture Pernille and Andrea who eluded us for earlier pictures. We are in Davis Park getting massages, goody bags, meeting our husbands and families and connecting to go out to the Stockholm Inn after the run. It was quite a day. Did I mention we ran 13.1 miles? The rest of my day was spent trying to eat, drink, rest and not panic since my body had been through quite an ordeal. It's the next day and the results are in. I'm alive AND I ran 3 miles this morning with the Beginning Run Club at the Y. Full circle, baby. Full circle.

Long Time Gone

Here's a recent layout, since I haven't recently updated my blog.

TaniaJPS Designs 30% Off Easter Sale!

It's here and it's ON! My first sale in 7 months! Stop by and check out my newest releases including the terrific: Sk8Urban Kit, Elements and Paper Pack! Note: Advertisement Image is clickable! :) Click HERE to enter the SALE at TaniaJPS Designs Store! Here is a Preview of my latest and greatest designs:

Only 4 Days Until ADSR3!

Check out my new blog for the 1970's Folk Babes! Only 4 days until the start of ADSR3! (The Amazing Digiscrap Race: Season 3). My partner Susan and I will be posting all of our inspirational layouts there. Prepare to be stunned and amazed. AND, if you have never tried digiscrapping before, prepare to START! I'll help you! As to my running and rehabilitation... I threw out my back and now my knee hurts since I've started running and training again for my 1/2 marathon. Also, 2 night ago I slept on my neck funny and now I have a "pain in the neck", literally that has my arms and hands going numb sometimes. I think I'm falling apart. Not to mention that I've gained 4 pounds in one week.UGH. From 128 to 132 pounds. Too many cookies, chocolates, candy bars and sugar. Too many calories, really. Just need to vent.

I "Threw Out My Back" and a New Blog!

Tale of Woe: I threw out my back this past Wednesday. It's bad. It's really bad. Hopefully I'll be able to run and train again for the marathons. I did go to a doctor and am taking prednezone (anti-spasm), flexeral (pain killer) and sodium naproxen ("Aleve"). I don't know if I spelled all those words right, but I don't care. The point is, I can't walk. I can't sit and I can't stand without some degree of pain, discomfort or buckling of my knees. It really sucks. The doctor said, "No running for one week." "No lifting more than 5 pounds for one week". My prayer is that after one week I *will* be able to run. Cuz right now it seems impossible and I am fit to tears about it. HUGE THANKS TO ALL OF MY RUNNING LADIES! They who have been calling me and emailing me and driving me and offering their help...I am honored and blessed to know and run with each and every one of you. You know who you are and you mean a LOT to me. Keep training, though! 5 miles on Monday. 4 miles on Wednesday. Another 9 miler on Friday. You can do it. I know you can, because I've SEEN you do it. OK. Maybe not the 9-miler. But, I HEARD that you did it. How's that? On the bright side, I am getting stuff done on the computer. I have finished a new digital scrapbooking kit for sale at NDISB called "Cherry Chocolate Valentine". I have even found time to scrapbook Indigo's Dance class using this new kit. AND I have had the time to create a blinkie and a new blog for the Amazing Digiscrapping Race, in which I am partaking with SusanS3js, my digital scrapbooking partner! "Cherry Chocolate Valentine" - Page Kit $4.95 Chocolate and cherries, pinks and browns, Valentine's Day and the people we love...what more could you want or ask for? Perhaps a kit that invokes all of this and more? I love chocolate, pinks, creams and brown - I also love my family and friends and designed this kit with all of the sparkle and fun that reminds me of all these things I love. This has turned out to be my favorite kit to date and I hope you will love it as much as I do! Be inspired and thanks for your patronage to TaniaJPS Designs! Included in this kit are: * Five patterned papers * Two coordinating solids * Accents * Glitter * Borders * Gems * Unique and Beautiful Embellishments Click HERE TO SEE CHERRY CHOCOLATE VALENTINE in the NDISB Store. Here is that layout of Indigo dancing that I mentioned earlier. Isn't she cute? I mean, honestly. :) I had a lot of fun using this new kit I made and hopefully you'll pick it up at the store and find enjoyment using it as I do! Did I mention you should purchase this kit at the NDISB store? You should. Go now. :::::*****:::::*****::::: Finally! The Amazing Digiscrapping Race and my partner, SusanS3Js. So exciting. What on earth am I talking about? Do you want to do this too? Maybe you do. First stop? My new blog. Links and directions and further inspiration are there. Go see! 1970's Folk Babes: Amazing Digiscrapping Race Season 3: The Blog

Neva & Tom Paterick Wedding Photos

Could anyone of my relatives please tell me the date of this wedding? Preface to the photos: These photos were sent to me by my maternal grandfather, Thomas Edgar Shelton. Clearly, they had been stored away for quite some time. I have subsequently used various methods to try and correct some of the "coloring" and "aging" problems many of these photos have now some 30+ years later. Thanks to Kim Hill of CGEssentials for her lovely 1970's action. Only some of the photos are shown here on this blog. I am still working on the many other photos I received but thought that I ought to put these photos out there for my family and friends to see. Tom Paterick and Neva (Shelton) Paterick My favorite photo of my mom and dad. My paternal grandmother, Dorothy (Dieck) Paterick, who raised me. Thank you Grandma! I love you! By the way, what a groovy outfit! I spy Jim (James) Paterick in this photo. Example of a "BEFORE" photo that I received. Use this to gauge my success in color correcting these photos! This is a solo photo of my mother, Neva. What a difference, don't you agree?