Taking a leadership role in reversing the growing teacher shortage across the nation, the Teacher Education Advocacy Center (TEAC) at Montclair State partnered with the New Jersey Future Educators Association (NJFEA) to host the NJ Future Educators Conference. The daylong, January 9 event was designed to support high school students\u2019 interest in becoming teachers. <\/p>\n
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\u201cThere is an estimated current shortage in the United States of approximately 64,000 teachers,\u201d says Montclair State TEAC Director Carolina Gonzalez. \u201cThis number is projected to increase to as many as 112,000 teachers by 2018.\u201d The shortage, which is due in large part to a decline in students entering teacher preparation and education degree programs, is particularly severe in areas such as special education, STEM disciplines, and in low-income communities. In addition, there is a lack of diversity in today\u2019s teaching workplace.<\/p>\n
The NJFEA Conference introduced 425 high school students in grades 9-12 from 31 New Jersey schools and their teachers and counselors to the career of teaching through a program of presentations and breakout sessions led by some of New Jersey\u2019s top educators.<\/p>\n
Montclair State alumnus Gemar Mills \u201905 delivered the keynote address titled \u201cI Save Lives Daily.\u201d As principal of Newark\u2019s Malcolm X Shabazz High School, Mills was dubbed \u201cThe Turnaround Principal\u201d after saving the failing school from closure by the state. Since 2015, he has served as chief education officer of The Future Project, a New York City-based nonprofit focused on reinventing the structure of the nation\u2019s high schools and unlocking student potential. He advised the conference\u2019s future educators to \u201cuse your pain to push yourself to greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students could choose to attend sessions that featured a conversation with Argine Safari, the 2016-17 New Jersey Teacher of the Year, as well as presentations by Montclair State faculty, alumni, students and partnering school districts. Session topics ranged from \u201cBeing Leaders, Teaching Leaders\u201d to \u201cApps & Technology for Learning in the 21st Century.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Gonzalez, the conference was an ideal forum for educating future teachers and providing them with pre-professional networking opportunities to engage and interact with peers who share similar career goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shortage of teachers in our country is a serious issue, and events like this conference are the types of steps needed to reverse the trend,\u201d explains Gonzalez. \u201cIn keeping with the TEAC mission of diversifying the teaching profession, we coordinate experiences such as this to help pre-collegiate students \u2013 especially those from underrepresented groups \u2013 enter the teacher education pipeline and get a jump start on their goals.\u201d <\/p>\n
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