November 8, 2004 - Future teachers in Estrella Mountain Community College's inspire.teach program will host high school teens and college students from all over the Valley for the Second Annual Future Teachers Conference on November 19, 2004. Designed, planned and executed by college students and faculty advisors, the free one-day conference has already drawn an interested crowd of participants from Goodyear, Avondale, Buckeye, Peoria, and as far away as Moon Valley High School and Chandler Gilbert Community College.The conference features distinguished experts such as Kathy Wiebke, Deputy Assistant Superintendent, Arizona Department of Education; Sharon Carpenter, Assistant Director of Special Services, Cartwright Elementary School District; and Dr. Cheri St. Arnauld, National Director of Teacher Education Programs, Maricopa Community Colleges. These education professionals will lead activities and speak on a variety of topics such as classroom management, ESL, and even tips on how to make math and science a fun and enjoyable aspect of any classroom. Tracy Tadrick, ASU West and Ray Simpson, Estrella Mountain Community College, will speak to students on the topic "College 101", providing them advice on successfully completing their college studies at both the community college and university level. Additional speakers include teachers and administrators from Valley high schools Westview, Agua Fria, and Dysart, providing real world experience as well as an opportunity to build relationships potentially resulting in future employment. According to Deborah Raffin, Estrella Mountain faculty who works closely with inspire.teach, "Our students at EMCC planned everything, even working to get donations so the event could be free for these high school students." The students invested themselves in providing an experience they were confident would help Valley teens find out everything they need to know to become a teacher. The students were able to utilize their own experience as a basis for selecting topics and assisting Estrella Mountain faculty in securing guest speakers.The conference is part of a combined effort of Estrella Mountain Community College's Teacher Education program, inspire.teach, and Future Teachers Club. Estrella Mountain students and faculty hope that their hard work will not only answer any questions these high school students may have about their future careers, but will serve to inspire these students to reach for their goals, and most of all, to teach.For more information, contact Nicole DeLeon, Office of Marketing and Public Relations (623) 935-8056, or Deb Raffin, Teacher Education, (623) 935-8441.
