Ali Mayo

MEd in Elementary Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

Are you a mid-career professional feeling that you could be doing more with your life?

That’s exactly what fifth-grade teacher Ali Mayo was going through when she decided that grad school might pull her out of the “burn out.” A similar malaise was felt by her husband James. At the time, the couple lived in Miami where Mayo taught fifth grade and ran an after-school program. There, she saw a need for students to develop organization skills and better study habits – things that traditionally have been taught at home but were no longer learning. She wanted to write curriculum to bridge that gap but was unsure how to proceed.

After researching several online schools, James Mayo felt the MBA program at Jones International University provided the relevant coursework to move his own career forward. Ali, however, was more skeptical about distance learning. She enrolled in a class at a land-based college that met each week for three hours and lasted four months but found the experience tedious and inconvenient.

“I saw the interaction he had at JIU, and I realized I could be getting a lot more out of my education,” she said.

Soon she too was at JIU, on her way to earning her MEd in Elementary Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Because JIU is completely online, she was able to continue her studies when the couple relocated to Sacramento. She said the eight-week courses kept the material fresh and loved that she was able to speak with students around the country about new educational trends.

Mayo felt a true sense of community at JIU, and said she continues to have contact with many of her fellow students. As she progressed with her studies, she gained confidence about her writing (curriculum) and public speaking, and she began to think it was possible to break from the classroom and develop the study habits program she felt had potential back in Florida.

“In the course forums and chat rooms, I talked about how I wanted to write curriculum for the work-study skills and organizational habits. I got a lot of feedback from my classmates, most of whom were teachers just like me. They were saying they wanted to program I was developing. I saw that it was really needed.”

A re-energized Mayo and her husband recently launched their own business, SacramEducate, where they conduct workshops and consult for teachers and administrators. They also opened an enrichment center where pupils develop better study habits and learn organizational skills.

“My coursework gave us a lot of ideas in coming up with different programs we could implement,” she said. “We’re introducing conflict resolution for students. I don’t think I would have thought about that without taking a class where I was exposed to all sorts of resources in that area.”

Mayo loved that JIU empowered her to tailor her projects to her budding business, giving her a stronger investment in the outcome of her education. She emerged from the program confident and eager to put her new knowledge to work in a new and exciting way.

As she said, “It definitely brought me out of the burnout. I was able to see possibilities that weren’t there before.”