On March 22nd and 23rd, nine students ventured to the University of Northern Colorado for the Rural Education night and Feature Teacher conference. The nine students who attended the conference are interested in becoming teachers. Through the individual meetings that Mrs. Weers does yearly with the students, helped to determine who was eligible to attend. On the evening of the 22nd, students got to listen to the keynote speaker, Otis Superintendent Kendra Anderson. She touched on what working in a smaller school means and the impact that you can make as an educator. They then listened to 4th grade teacher Anthonya Khars from Otis. She gave an enthusiastic speech about what the day in the life of a teacher is like. After that speech, three current teacher candidates gave a humorous speech on what the likes and dislikes are of the education program and the atmosphere at UNC. The evening wrapped up with the UNC teacher candidates answer questions that the attendees had.
On the 23rd, about 500 future teachers arrived at UNC bright and early for a fun filled day. Students got to listen to Colorado teacher of the year Christina Randle, a first grade teacher at Soaring Eagles Elementary School in Colorado Springs. The passion that she expressed kept the entire room engaged. After the speech, students broke into groups to go to McKee Hall, the education hall. They went to three different sessions, which they were able to choose, to experience what classes would be like at UNC. After their three sessions, we got the full college experience when we ate lunch at Holmes Dining Hall. A tour of Harrison Hall, the Campus Recreation Center, and Michener Library ended our experience into college life. The afternoon ended with a question and answer with a panel of UNC teacher candidates. The trip got our nine candidates excited about a possible education at UNC and excited about becoming an educator.