In June 2024, 萝莉社 appointed its new School of Education dean, Dr. Jerri A. Haynes, an accomplished education professional with corporate experience.
Haynes, who holds a Doctor of Education in Child and Youth Studies, began her career in K鈥�12 education. Although she enjoyed her time in the classroom, working directly with students, her desire to impact the greatest number of students possible led her to an administrative path.
As a Title I program specialist for one of the largest school districts in the United States, Haynes worked with administrators, teachers, and parents to increase students鈥� test scores through various strategies. After her first year in this role, all nine schools she worked in were no longer on the persistently low-performing list.
Haynes said, 鈥淚鈥檝e always worked with students who were not successful in school, which drew me to higher education. I felt universities were supposed to be sharing research to support K鈥�12, but the research wasn鈥檛 addressing the concerns I had: looking at what you can do to support at-risk kids and close the gap for them to be successful.鈥�
As a dean at Tennessee State University and Jackson State University, Haynes used her data-informed approach to implement teacher residencies through the Grow Your Own initiative, a teacher preparation program designed to develop teachers from a school鈥檚 surrounding community. For this work, Haynes received recognition from the U.S. Department of Education.
Now, Illinois is one of the states implementing Grow Your Own statewide, about which Haynes said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 fulfilling being on the forefront of making a difference.鈥�
At North Park, Haynes believes the combination of her curriculum development and accreditation experience and the institution鈥檚 student-centered values will pave the way for relevant programming and actionable partnerships. She envisions School of Education students experiencing real-life situations in innovative, rigorous programs that challenge the status quo.
鈥淗igher education is the nucleus of every individual seeking knowledge. We provide the foundation for the teachers we train, who implement those strategies with their students,鈥� Haynes said. 鈥淣orth Park has the opportunity to impact so many through its programming.鈥�