Viking Connections: Emily Jacobs
Emily Jacobs is the AVID (advancement via individual determination) Program Coordinator and Freshmen elective teacher at Dundee-Crown High School. Before this role, she taught Bilingual/ESL Social Studies (government, economics, U.S. history, world history) to students in Spanish and English at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, Ill.
"As an alumni, I want to stay connected with current Augustana students and recent graduates to support them in joining the workforce. I am so thankful for how Augie shaped me as a new teacher, that I want to give back.
As a teacher, the education program did an excellent job preparing me for pedagogy and philosophy, but there are a lot of hands-on lessons that you learn on the job. I can support students in navigating the job search, life as a new teacher, curriculum development, finding opportunities for professional development and how to expand your career into other parts of the educational field.
I have a wide range of experience that I can offer. After Augustana, I worked as a paraprofessional to get my foot in the door and also worked for a yearlong maternity leave position. Both of these gave me varied experiences and I can help students who are working to get into the right position.
Because of my Augustana degree and minor in Spanish, I was hired as a Bilingual/ESL teacher for all core Social Studies classes at Dundee-Crown and have been there for 11 years now. When I first started, I went through the process of getting a transitional bilingual certification and then ultimately my master's degree to have permanent endorsements. I can support students in navigating those processes and making choices about what qualifications are needed and where your career can grow. Being in that role, I have a lot of experience with culturally relevant teaching, counseling and educational resources for diverse learners.
For the last 5 years, I have been in my current role as AVID coordinator. In addition to this role, I continue to teach the Freshmen AVID elective course, which is a college and career readiness system focusing on writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading skills. AVID methods and training are considered best practices and highly effective resources that I can share with Augie students. My day is partially spent as a teacher and partially as coordinator for this program that serves 10% of our student population. Since AVID serves first-generation college students, I have a lot of experience with community and parental involvement, field trips, and future planning. In my role, I am the direct supervisor for college students who are tutors in our program and I lead our PLC team in the development of scaffolded curriculum and engaging AVID students and families.
Though Augustana gave me the mindset and foundation I still bring to my teaching, much of what I do now is beyond the scope of undergraduate study and I can offer these experiences to Augustana students as a mentor in the field."
Graduation year: 2009
Post-grad: Curriculum and Instruction focus on Bilingual/ESL Education
Majors: Secondary education, history, Spanish
Campus activities: CA, Concert Band and private lessons, Chi Alpha Pi, Relay For Life, Honor Council
• Best way to contact her: Email or phone, 630-209-3126
