On January 13th, 2018 200 future teachers, current educators and representatives from teacher prep programs and school systems gathered at UNT-Dallas to celebrate and explore the teaching profession. Attendees, all prospective teachers, were inspired and equipped with the information and connections they needed to apply to a teacher prep program and enter the classroom well-prepared to make a difference and thrive! Attendees heard from Nancy Bernardino, TeJay Johnson, Byron Sanders, UNT-Dallas President Bob Mong and UNT-Dallas School of Education Dean, Dr. John Gasko. Attendees attended workshops with experts in the field, met with teacher prep programs and school system recruiters. They were also the first to hear about the launch of TeachDFW’s My Application Coach.
Nancy Bernardino spoke during the opening session about how she came to open Solar Preparatory School for Girls as the founding principal. Bernardino and her team wrote a proposal for the all-girls STEAM school as part of the Public School Choice initiative in Dallas ISD. Bernardino was chosen to lead the K-8 campus, the first of its kind in Dallas. In addition to STEAM, the school focuses on Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and uses blending learning. At Solar Prep, 50% of the students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and 50% do not.
Attendees met with representatives from 10 regional teacher preparation programs and multiple school systems.
Teacher prep programs present included Compass of Dallas ISD, Dallas Teacher Residency, Relay Graduate School of Education, SMU Simmons, Teach For America, Texas Tech, Texas Women's University, UNT-Dallas, Urban Teachers and UT Dallas
School systems present included Dallas ISD, Desoto ISD, Richardson ISD and Uplift Education
TeJay Johnson, our keynote speaker, did not dream of becoming a teacher. A native of Dallas, TeJay Johnson is a graduate of Texas Christian University and a former All-American safety. He decided not to pursue the NFL draft because of his dedication to completing his bachelor's degree. He decided to teach when a Teach For America recruiter recruiter spoke to him about the power of an educator to create social justice and educational equity.
We were excited to launch My Application Coach to the attendees of the Summit so they could have priority access to this suite of services to help them with their teacher prep program applications. My Application Coach is now available for anyone applying to participating teacher prep programs.
Thanks to a generous gift from the Williams Family Foundation we were able to raffle off three scholarships to future teacher attendees! These funds can be used to pay for qualifying teacher preparation programs in 2018. Congratulations Cristina, Michelle and Renee!
We are so grateful to our sponsors, hosts and partners who made this day possible for so many future teachers!
Sign up for My Application Coach to get personalized coaching and help picking the right teacher prep program and applying! You could be reimbursed up to $100 for your teacher prep program fees!
January 13th, 2018 at UNT-Dallas
