Coming back home to TU
Katie Gjoni has come full circle from her days as a TU student to join the faculty of TU’s Professional Development Schools program.
It was Katie Gjoni’s love of reading that led her to TU’s graduate program in reading education and into the classroom as a reading specialist in two Baltimore County middle schools. From the onset of her career, Gjoni believed that good teachers can change lives.
The basic tenets of Gjoni’s philosophy: Make your students feel trust in you. Make your students feel that you see the good in them. Reinforce to your students that they are better than their circumstances.
“If we all show pride in our students and appreciate each student, we can make a huge impact,” asserts Gjoni, who was approached by the College of Education to host TU middle school education students, pairing them with her Baltimore County middle school students for one-on-one support in her classroom reading lab.
“ If we all show pride in our students and appreciate each student, we can make a huge impact. ”
Her exceptional mentorship led Molly Mee, former chair of the Department of Secondary and Middle School Education to offer Gjoni a position to join the Professional Development Schools (PDS) program at TU.
After 15 years in the classroom, Gjoni was ready to broaden her sphere of influence to shape future teachers. As the secondary school supervisor in Harford County for Towson University, she oversees students in the final two terms before they graduate as they practice teaching in part-time and full-time internships in the public school system.
“I am passing a little of my passion along to them, and they can spread the passion to even more children,” says Gjoni. “That is what makes me happiest.”
Returning to the Towson University campus has been a homecoming for Gjoni. “I have come full circle in the place that taught me everything I know about teaching to now mentoring the next generation.”