At the close of it’s 64th annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, February 19th 2011, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) awarded NEIU’s College of Education a top honor for Best Practice in Support of Global Diversity. According to conference marketing materials, over 800 higher education institutions hold AACTE Membership and this year they were brought together under the banner of this year’s theme, “Imagine the Impact: Providing a Learning Journey for All.” The Grow Your Own Teachers program, a course of study designed to prepare students from under-represented communities for careers as educators, was sited by dean Maureen Gillette as being key in the department’s ability to attain such status among its peer institutions. In her acceptance speech Dean Maureen Gillette introduced Senior student Michael Vargas and department chair Dr. Brian Shultz and stated, “It is especially nice to be receiving it in our home town… I would first like to thank the faculty and staff in the College of Education at NEIU. Their commitment to diversity is deep and they live out our conceptual framework every day.” Gillette was equally grateful for the support that the College of Education receives from its community partners and Chicago Public Schools. “I would like to thank our CPS partner schools. Without them, we could not develop the type of teachers who are committed to each and every child. Finally, I would like to thank our community-based organizations. We do teacher education better when we do it together”, Gillette said.