Seventy-three student participants from the PWCS Growing Our Own (GOO) Teachers program and principals from CD Hylton, Charles J. Colgan Sr., Gainesville, Osbourn Park, Patriot, Woodbridge and Unity Reed High Schools traveled to Richmond to participate. at the annual Educators Rising® Student Leadership Conference and Competition events.
Congratulations to the students who received first, second or third prize. First and second place finishers have the opportunity to represent PWCS and the state of Virginia at the Educators Rising® National competition in June in Orlando, Florida.
CD from Hylton High School (Katharine Jackson, Head Teacher)
First place:
- Kaydence Costello, JV* (Lesson Planning & Delivery Arts)
- Lyla Barninger & Ava Cantu, JV* (Children’s Literature K-3)
- Ezekiel Miller (Exploring careers outside of the core subjects)
Second place:
- Natalya Barnwell, JV* (Exploring Non-Core Careers)
Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School (Lori Pawlik, head teacher)
Second place:
- Brooke Worth (sudden word)
- Lauren Crawley (TED Talk creator)
- Valeria Alberdi Fernandez (Teacher Created Materials)
From Gainesville High School (Mindy Warmbrunn, Head Teacher)
First place:
- Joy Park, Kylie Drewry, Olivia Ross (Inside Our Schools)
From Osbourn Park High School (Christina Mullins and Mattea Edwards, Head Teachers)
First place:
- Lena Gooden and Dyhemia Cummings (Children’s Literature, K-3)
- Suhaima Sajjad, Zeinab Metawea, Zahra Haque, Saman Fatima (Challenges in learning to research)
Third place:
- Ryan Dinardo (Educators Rising Moment)
- Audelina (Emma) Rubio-Argueta (Lesson Planning & Delivery-Arts)
- Abigail Alvarado-Nino and Iliana Gonzalez (Children’s Literature in Spanish)
- Kimberly Rivas (Interactive Bulletin Board)
*JV represents ninth or 10th grade students who participated in Educators Rising® at the college level.
“The Department of Human Resources values the Growing Our Own Teachers program. Working in partnership with our colleges, the teacher recruitment team identifies, hires and mentors current PWCS students who commit to PWCS classrooms as teachers after college,” said Kelli Stenhouse. Coordinator of the PWCS Growing Our Own Teachers Program.
“Students are identified by school counselors, principals, teachers, parents and sports coaches to participate in these programs. All GOO participants who enroll in postsecondary teaching programs will be offered PWCS internships and student teaching opportunities, along with ongoing professional development. For the 23-24 school year, 11 PWCS high schools will offer the Growing Our Teachers Program. It is a commitment of the strategic plan that by 2025, this initiative aims to extend to all institutes to better reflect our goal of increasing the rich diversity of our certified workforce from its current status of 26% to at least 30%. communities”.
Educators Rising®, with affiliated chapters in all 50 states and nationally, is a career and technical student organization that middle school, high school and college students can join through their school clubs. It provides students with professional learning opportunities, annual conferences and access to a social media website. Educators Rising clubs are active at most PWCS high schools for students in grades 9-12 and the program continues to grow each year.
The PWCS Growing Our Own Teachers program supports and mentors high school students interested in a career in education. Among its benefits is facilitating Virginia Teach for Tomorrow (VTfT) courses available to 11-year-olds.th and 12th grade students VTfT is controlled through the Virginia Department of Education. Students explore the teaching profession and gain classroom experience on a personal and professional level as they become familiar with teachers and teaching, including a brief classroom practicum.
