College of Education and Human Services

College of Education and Human ServicesFrom fourth grade to 'No Excuses University'

Alumna encourages grade school students to aim for higher education
By Alison McGaughey
 
Jennifer Pittman Moore ‘01 and her students at Gray M. Sanborn Elementary School in Palatine, Ill. might be giving new meaning to the phrase “the old college try.”

When they hand in an important project, Moore asks her students if they’ve done their “best college work.” On a daily basis, she reminds them that college is right around the corner—even though her students haven’t even reached junior high.

“Last year, we had a ‘Best College Work’ bulletin board, where they could post something they were proud of and knew they had done their ‘best college work’,” she said. “Everything’s geared more toward college now. It’s not about getting through high school; it’s college as the last step required for success.”

Through incorporating elements of college and WIU-specific life into vocabulary words, math projects, and constant visual reminders—including a life-size cut out of Rocky, Western’s mascot—in her classroom, Moore is sending the message to students that they will—and must—one day go to college.

Class of...2021? Jennifer Pittman Moore ‘01 and her fourth-grade students at Gray M. Sanborn Elementary School in Palatine, Ill., display their Western pride.Moore’s school is one of only 32 in the nation participating in the No Excuses University program, a network of K-8 schools working with an organization called TurnAround Schools, founded in 2006. After completing a thorough application process that examines schools’ commitment to encouraging student success, teachers from the accepted schools meet periodically to discuss best practice in education and in preparing students for college.

The Western Connection
Moore is in her eighth year with District 15 in Palatine, where she has taught since receiving her student teaching assignment during her senior year at Western. Originally from Astoria, Ill., not far from Macomb, Moore said she chose Western because it was close to home and because she grew up knowing she wanted to be a teacher.

“Growing up in a small community, it was an easy fit for me because I wasn’t ready for something too big or too far away,” she said. “Plus, Western has a great education department; that’s what I’d heard and researched. It absolutely lived up to its reputation. It put us out in the field as freshmen and sophomores, and I spent a lot of time at many different grade levels, so I got a bigger picture of what teaching would be like. Then when student teaching came around, I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew I was well prepared.”

As part of the “No Excuses University” program, with each classroom being required to “adopt” a college or university to focus on—to familiarize the students with tenets of higher education—Moore readily chose her alma mater.

A Purple and Gold Classroom  
To incorporate the “No Excuses” theme into everyday learning, Moore may choose anything from having her students look at WIU campus maps to learn about using directions, to using numbers about Western’s student population or other data in a math lesson.

“A lot of students really don’t have the structure at home to push them to better themselves and get to college, so we’re trying to give them at least those words and terms, the understanding about college—but hopefully the passion and drive, too, to make something of themselves.”        

She has incorporated as much about Western as she can into her classroom by bringing in her own memorabilia, including—perhaps most importantly—her diploma. On Fridays, students and teacher alike wear purple and gold. Rather than a traditional “Student of the Week” program, Moore established the “Leatherneck Wheel of Fame” up on the wall, and each week a student is highlighted as a “Future Leatherneck.”

“Last year, to get kids’ attention, I’d call out ‘Hey Leathernecks’ and they’d [call out in response] ‘woof woof woof!’ I’m sure my neighbors loved it,” she joked.

And yet Moore’s choice to have her students focus on WIU is designed for a greater purpose than simply school spirit.

“We talk a lot about setting goals and doing what we can to see that we’re on track,” she said. “We’re asking the kids, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up? What major would you need to be in if you wanted to do that?’”

According to Moore, the school has seen an increase in motivation since partnering with the TurnAround and the “No Excuses” program.

“We were looking for something that would inspire kids and get them to care more for what they are doing, something to motivate them to do their best work, get them more excited about school,” she said. “This program has really done a lot for that.

“The most important thing to the teachers here is that we are really trying to create an environment where kids want to go to college,” she said. “We really want to promote achievement.”

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