TAMIU Hosts Three Events Celebrating World Teacher Day
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 28, 2019, 0 Comments
Courtesy Steve Harmon,
(Laredo, Texas)-In advance of World Teacher Day, Saturday, October 5, 2019, the Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) College of Education will host three events focused on the past, present and future of teaching.
TAMIU Dean of the College of Education Dr. James O’Meara said World Teacher Day marks a global opportunity locally.
“World Teacher Day provides the global education community here with an opportunity to celebrate progress and reflect on ways to counter the remaining challenges for the promotion of the teaching profession. This year we celebrate teachers with the theme, ‘Young Teachers: The Future of the Profession.
“The events we’re hosting offer a solid opportunity to address some of the issues central to attracting and keeping the brightest minds and young talents in the profession,” Dr. O’Meara said.
Since this is the University’s 50th Anniversary, the College found itself with a perfect opportunity to share its impact with the Anniversary theme, “A World of Difference.”
“As most know, TAMIU is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, so we wanted to pause for this World Teacher Day and offer opportunities to look at how our teacher graduates are impacting our community and world, and how their legacy is being carried forward by future teacher candidates…how we make a ‘World of Difference,’ ” he explained.
The first event, offered Wednesday, Oct. 2, from 9:10 – 10:10 a.m. in Senator Judith Zaffirini Student Success Center 101, is a “We Teach Laredo Master Class,” O’Meara said.
“We’re bringing together our College of Education alumni from the past 50 years to share their experiences with teaching, teacher preparation, and lifelong learning with the next generation of future teachers. Together, they’ll explore what teacher preparation here was like for them, how teaching has changed since they graduated ,and insight they can provide to teacher candidates that reflects what alumni wish they knew when they decided to go into teaching,” he explained.
On Thursday, Oct. 3, the College will host a “We Teach Texas” Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library’s Helen Richter Watson Gallery to elevate the teaching profession, celebrate the University’s impact, and appreciate supporters of future TAMIU educators.
“We’ve invited key partners from around TAMIU, the City, and other partners to celebrate World Teacher Day 2019 and to share the various achievements of our College of Education faculty and students,” O’Meara said, “Our College is a leading member of The Texas A&M University System’s ‘We Teach Texas’ campaign, which focuses on attracting and keeping the brightest minds and young talent in classrooms across Texas. TAMIU is the number one supplier of educators in the Laredo region, and the A&M System is ranked No. 1 in Texas in the production of initial educator certificates. Of new teachers within a 100 mile radius of the campus, 100% are TAMIU graduates and 80% of those teachers that are prepared by TAMIU are employed in schools for more than 10 years,” he noted.
While the first two events celebrate the past and present of teachers’ collective impact, the last event is tightly focused on the future, he observed.
“Our final event will be Friday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. at the new Academic Innovation Center, room 128 and will serve as our World Teacher Day Induction Ceremony for RISING Leaders in Education. We’ll celebrate local students in Early College programs at H. J. García Early College High School and J. W. Nixon High School and other Laredo Independent School District campuses who have selected education and teaching as their career path. This is our third annual offering of the Induction Ceremony. It gives us a chance to introduce and welcome these teacher candidates to our profession,” O’Meara concluded.
