group of diverse students attending last year's conference, standing together and smiling outside on Greeley's campus

Education

Education Conference Caters to Colorado’s Future Teachers

UNC is awarding two $1,000 student scholarships at the ninth annual Future Teacher Conference and Future Rural Teachers Summit Feb. 1-2.

January 9, 2024 | By Christina Abel

For the ninth year in a row, hundreds of high school and community college students will descend upon the University of Northern Colorado’s campus in early February to learn first-hand what it takes to pursue a career in education at UNC’s 2024 Future Teacher Conference and Future Rural Teacher Summit.

These two free annual events are one of the many ways the university is addressing the current teaching shortage. Students who are interested in pursuing a career in education get the chance to tour campus, meet their peers who are also interested in pursing a career as a teacher and attend sessions. Veteran faculty, student teachers and others will present engaging sessions such as A Mathematical Tug of War or Digital Classrooms and Dynamic Teaching and more.

This year, for the first time, the university is awarding two scholarships to eligible* students who attend the Future Teacher Conference (FTC) on Feb. 2. Each $1,000 scholarship will be given to an undergraduate student who is starting at UNC in the fall of 2024.

RELATED: Future Teacher Conference Preps Students for Classroom Innovation

“It is hard to believe this is the ninth year for the Future Teacher Conference. Each year we try to add something new, so I am pleased to unveil the $1,000 scholarship opportunity for two of our future teacher participants,” said Suzette Youngs, Ph.D., professor of Literacy Education, and co-founder of the conference.

“The conference is an important step in UNC’s journey to build a community of teachers that have the potential to transform the future of education.”

The events bring together more than 500 prospective students, their parents, plus high school teachers and counselors. The Future Rural Teachers Summit (FRTS) is the late afternoon and evening of Feb. 1, and is geared toward students who are interested in teaching in a more rural setting, followed the next day by the conference.

The 2024 FTC features a keynote speech from Steve Spangler, Emmy Award-winner and one of Time Magazine’s most influential people, and the Rural FTS features a keynote speech from Susana Cordova, the Colorado Commissioner of Education.

Founded as a teacher’s college in 1889, UNC preparesand graduates more education professionals in the state of Colorado than any other university. The university has educated more than half of the teachers in Colorado and 30% of the Colorado’s Teachers of the Year award winners have been UNC alums.

Students, teachers, counselors and parents are all welcome to attend the events on Feb. 1 – 2. Registration is available here.

*Students must be present at the Future Teacher Conference on Feb. 2, 2024 to receive a scholarship. Students selected must be enrolled full-time in an undergraduate teacher licensure program for Fall 2024 on the Greeley Campus to receive the scholarship.

Future Teacher Conference Preps Students for Classroom Innovation

Annabelle Meyer, ’23, attended UNC’s Future Teacher Conference in 2018. Unlike many of her peers and friends, she had known she wanted to teach for a long time. After being bullied in her elementary school, Meyer found a safe space with her teachers, which led to her dream to create that same safe space for her own students someday.

The Future Teacher Conference (FTC) and Rural Future Teacher Summit (RFTS) annual events bring together more than 500 prospective students, their parents, plus high school teachers and counselors each year to learn about careers in education. During the full day conference and the summit the night before, students attend hands-on workshops, learn from veteran teachers, student teachers who are currently attending UNC and keynote speakers, such as the 2024 headliner Steve Spangler, an Emmy-award winner and one of Time magazine’s Most Influential People of the Year.

“My principal has told me that the level I teach at as a first-year teacher does not show a first-year teacher, it shows someone who understands the profession. I go in-depth of my analysis of what I’m teaching, and so I think all of that helps because it’s UNC…because UNC was created for teachers by teachers.”

— Annabelle Meyer

Attending the FTC in 2018 solidified Meyer’s decision to attend UNC and study teaching. She enjoyed all of her education classes, but especially new literacies, which utilizes multi-modal text to teach literacy, so platforms such as SMS text messages, face time and social media posts to teach literacy. Rather than traditional assignments, such as a book report or presentation, students created Facebook accounts for fictional characters and delivered TED Talks on authors.

She also said she learned things such as teaching hands-on math, which she now uses in her own classroom teaching first grade at Laredo Elementary School in Aurora. She said the skills she learned at UNC have given her experience beyond her years that’s not gone unnoticed.

“My principal has told me that the level I teach at as a first-year teacher does not show a first-year teacher, it shows someone who understands the profession,” Meyer said. “I go in-depth of my analysis of what I’m teaching, and so I think all of that helps because it’s UNC…because UNC was created for teachers by teachers.”

Meyer is one of many students who earn their UNC degree, then go on to achieve as teachers in their own classrooms.

UNC has a history of producing excellent teachers as evidenced by the 30 percent of Colorado Teacher’s of the Year being UNC graduates. This includes the 2023 winner, Jessica May ‘96. May credits her experience at UNC student teaching for three semesters with her early success in the classroom. While current students are only required to complete one semester of student teaching, May said she was able to establish connections to her fellow teachers, students and administrative staff over the course of a year and a half.