VIRGINIA BEACH – More than 170 students from across the commonwealth will spend their Saturday learning the ins and outs of a teaching career.
The students will gather at Kellam High School for the annual Educators Rising Conference as a part of Virginia’s Teachers for Tomorrow program.
The day will include competitive events in lesson planning, interviewing and speaking, workshops with teachers, and a keynote address from Virginia Beach Schools Superintendent Aaron Spence.
This is the first time Virginia Beach is hosting the conference, said Kathleen Vuono, the event coordinator and family and consumer sciences instructional specialist in the Office of Technical and Career Education. The district has one of the largest Teachers for Tomorrow organizations, with a program at every high school.
The conference aims to help prepare students for the experience of teaching, according to Vuono. One event, for example, is “impromptu teaching,” where students get just 15 minutes to prepare a lesson. Another competition — one of the hardest, Vuono said — is an ethical dilemma case in which students must decide how to react.
The conference encourages students to not only pursue teaching, but to teach in Virginia.
“We have a lot of colleges that support us,” Vuono said.
Virginia Tech, Old Dominion, Liberty, Longwood and the University of Mary Washington will all be exhibitors.
“What we’re trying to do is grow our own,” Vuono said.
