Arkansas Tech University alumnus Daryl Anderson shared his why with potential future teachers on Thursday, Nov. 2, in hopes of helping the high school students in the audience discover theirs.
Anderson, who earned a Master of Education degree in educational leadership from Arkansas Tech, provided the keynote address for the Educators Rising Regional Conference on the ATU campus in Russellville.
Director of behavior services and the SOAR Academy for the Fayetteville School District, Anderson spoke about mentors in his life such as geometry teacher Joyce Horton and coach Willie Fritz and the role they played in helping him frame his future.
“I teach because I want to make a difference,” said Anderson. “Teaching is hard. It is demanding. Mental health is real. You have to take care of yourself first. My greatest source of pride is when students come back and tell me how successful they are in their lives.”
Approximately 180 students representing 16 high schools learned about public speaking, lesson planning and teacher leadership during breakout sessions at the Educators Rising Regional Conference. They also received a tour of the ATU campus.
According to information provided by the organization, Educators Rising is “a career and technical education movement that aims to inspire high school and college students to serve their communities by entering the field of education.”
ATU, the Arkansas Department of Education and the Walton Family Foundation are among the entities engaged in a partnership that seeks to establish more Educators Rising chapters at high schools around the state, update the curriculum for introduction to education classes at high schools and support competitions for potential future teachers.
Learn more about Educators Rising in Arkansas at https://sites.google.com/pdarkansas.net/edrisingarkansas/home.
Learn more about the ATU College of Education and Health at www.atu.edu/ceh.
