CHAMPAIGN — As she ventured into her career as a teacher almost seven years ago, Jeniece Mitchell always knew who she could call when she had a question, ran into an issue or struggled with anxiety.
“When I had questions about certain things, I would say, ‘Oh, I know who knows about this,’” she said. “‘I need to call my mom.’”
The late Janice Mitchell was a resource for many in the community. As director of the Urbana Neighborhood Connection Center for 11 years, she was well-known for working late into the night writing grants or working to prepare the center for the next day of after-school or summer activities for children.
“Her passion oozed out of her,” her daughter said. “She really became like a community mom on this side of town. Everyone in east Urbana knew, Ms. Mitchell’s coming, everybody better shape up. … I think that grew my passion for wanting to help young people and wanting to make those positive connections and to be that support person.”
It was no surprise, then, when Jeniece Mitchell decided to become a teacher after her father recommended the career, or that she wakes up some nights thinking of an idea to teach her class of sixth-grade students at Franklin STEAM Academy and quickly begins jotting it down in her planner.
It’s no shock that she’s working to earn her doctorate from University of Illinois in diversity and equity in education, trying to parse out what universities can do to better recruit and retain students who start out wanting to become teachers.
Like her mother, she’s also become an expert in building genuine relationships with her students.
“She’s just great with people,” Franklin Principal Sara Sanders said. “You can throw any kid in her class, and she’ll make a connection.”
Growing up, Jeniece Mitchel was always involved with several activities, whether she was tutoring other kids when she was a student at Urbana Middle School, singing in choirs, playing basketball or participating in one of the many clubs and organizations her mom founded.
After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University, she began her career teaching kindergarten in 2015. After two years, she decided her love of reading, writing and poetry would suit an older age group, so she made the move to Franklin, where she has taught English/language arts, Advancement Via Individual Determination and reading intervention.
Last week, she was awarded one of four Shining Star Awards from the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation, which was no surprise to her principal.
“She’s just an all-around excellent teacher,” Sanders said. “She has a very methodical approach to lesson-planning and trying to make things relevant to her student, and teaching them how to read and write, and tell them why it’s important to their lives. … She’s just a teacher through and through.”
Long before Jeniece Mitchell interviewed for a job at Franklin, Sanders knew her mother, who baked a cake for her wedding 11 years ago through her business, Mitchell’s Sweet Creations. She got to know her further through the neighborhood connection center, which Janice Mitchell directed after career stops as a social worker at Cunningham Children’s Home in Urbana and with the Urbana school district.
She “just connected with kids, and with people in general,” Sanders said.
In November, the community lost a beloved figure and crucial resource when Janice died of cancer at age 59. Her daughter lost the person she leaned on most, who almost always answered when she called, even when she had to step away and call her back as she dealt with her myriad responsibilities.
The loss of her mother is “like a hole in your heart that doesn’t close,” Jeniece Mitchell said, which she’s learning to cope with.
“I think the hard thing is still trying to unlearn certain behaviors,” she said. “Trying to get out of the habit of saying, ‘This is my go-to person,’ in my mind. … I think my mind is still playing tricks on me and I’m not used to it yet. There are times when I want to call, and there are times when I start dialing her number and stop in the middle.”
Her mother’s legacy lives on, not only through the organizations she built but also through a daughter who grew up learning how to guide and influence children in a positive way.
Janice Mitchell’s “spirit was just so pure, just like her daughter,” Sanders said. “They are two of a kind. They’re mother-daughter, but they’re soul sisters as well. How she deals with people and how she approaches humanity, I just see so much of her mom.”
