Jane Rendon’s Biography

I have been a part of John A. Logan’s term faculty since the fall of 1999. I came to teaching in a round about way. After completing my bachelor’s degree in Spanish at SIU, with a secondary concentration in business administration, I was approached by the Spanish Department Chair, Mildred Wilkinson, with an offer of a graduate assistanship in Spanish. With an eye toward a career in international trade, I accepted the offer and began working on a master’s degree with the goal of fine tuning my language skills. The only part of this plan I was unsure about was the job that came with the position: teaching SPN 140A and 140B. At 21 years of age, knees knocking, I walked into a classroom in Faner Hall filled with 27 students, many of them older than me. That 50 minutes changed the course of my life. By the time I walked out of that classroom, I knew. This is what I wanted to do. I was meant to be a teacher.

While working on my master’s degree, I started teaching Spanish at Christian Fellowship School in Du Quoin, Illinois. Over the years, I have taught all levels of Spanish, grades 1-12. On alternate years I taught Geography, Government and Economics in the high school. In 1997, I returned to SIU (while still working) and completed course work, including a semester of student teaching, to get an Illinois Teaching Certificate with an endorsement in Civics. I recently resigned from Christian Fellowship, after teaching there for 23 years.

As stated earlier, I am a member of the John A. Logan’s term faculty. I can usually be found teaching at the Alongi Extension in Du Quoin, and occasionally, the extension center in West Frankfort. I have also taught a number of Continuing Education courses which include Spanish for Teachers I and II (in which teachers can earn CPDUs) and also, Kid’s College summer classes in Spanish and geography.

I am very family oriented and most of my career choices have been made with my family’s best interests in mind. My husband and I, soon to be “empty nesters,” have 2 sons of whom we are extremely proud. Our oldest son, Michael, is a senior at SIU (kinesiology) and is getting married September 27 of this year. Our youngest, Gabriel, is a freshman at SEMO (sport management).