Jaylyn DeLeon will be wearing a very special accessory when she walks across the stage to receive her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Rhode Island’s Feinstein College of Education on May 19.

In addition to the traditional commencement regalia, she will be wearing a white sash bearing the handprints of her third grade students at Warren A. Sherman Elementary School in Warwick, where she student taught this spring semester.

“You will all be walking with me at graduation,” she told her students on her last day as their teacher.

DeLeon, from New Milford, New Jersey, came to URI undecided on a career path. It was the Introduction to American Education (EDC 102) course that convinced her to become an educator.

“I liked the class, I liked what I was learning about the field of education, so it solidified my decision,” she said.

The transition from student to teacher was an experience that DeLeon found exciting, especially applying college coursework in an actual classroom, writing lesson plans and putting them into practice.

“Jaylyn is uplifting and grounding at the same time. She sees what needs to happen for schools to serve all children justly, and she knows the wisdom, creativity, and energy that work will demand of her. But she also sees so much hope and possibility within herself and within her peers. We need that in teachers,” said Virginia Killian Lund, assistant professor of elementary education.

Creating a welcoming environment for her students so they want to come to school is of great importance to DeLeon.

“So many of these kids need so much more than just a teacher. They need a role model, they need a friend, they need a parent,” she said. “This is what I was meant to do.”

DeLeon was honored with the Teaching Excellence Award in Elementary Education at the Kappa Delta Pi education honor society induction ceremony on April 9.

The first in her family to earn a college degree, she wants to be an inspiration for her two younger brothers and other first generation college students. Her advice to them is, “Stay present in the moment and take each challenge as it comes. And go to class.”

Her educational journey will not end at Commencement. The next day, she will begin URI’s 4-Plus-One master’s program in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and has accepted a long-term substitute teaching position in Bergenfield, New Jersey, teaching middle school math courses, while pursuing a full time teaching position.

“We are all always students at heart because no matter how old we get or how many degrees we earn, we never stop learning,” she said.