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Contact: Marilynn Fryer
(517) 796-8466
e-mail: FryerMarilynT@jccmi.edu
February 5th, 2007
For immediate release

Educators have chance to learn at 5th Annual Future Teachers Conference

Early registration deadline Feb. 16

Future teachers take note: The 5th Annual Future Teachers Conference is Feb. 24, 2007 at Spring Arbor University.

The Future Teachers Conference provides an opportunity for current and future teachers to explore issues in education and instructional methods. The largest of its kind in Michigan, the conference is sponsored by Jackson Community College, Spring Arbor University and the Jackson County Intermediate School District.

This year’s event features two keynote speakers, William (Bill) Cecil and Esmé Raji Codell. Cecil is a 21-year teaching veteran and fifth-grade teacher for Waverly Public Schools in Lansing. He received the 2003-04 “Michigan Teacher of the Year” award for his upbeat and imaginative style. Codell is author of the highly acclaimed and best-selling “Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year.” She has written several children’s books and a novel for intermediate children, and is an outstanding advocate for literacy. She has been a speaker at numerous conferences and has appeared on “CBS This Morning,” CNN, CSPAN’s “Book Talk,” and NPR’s “Voice of America.”

Concurrent sessions will be held in the morning and afternoon on a variety of topics for participants to choose from, including:

  • Classroom management;
  • Professional interview for a teaching position;
  • Principal’s panel;
  • Special session by Kimberly Kyff, 2006-07 Michigan Teacher of the Year;
  • Creative ways to catch a kid’s attention;
  • Science on a shoestring budget.

Registration for the conference begins at 8:15 a.m. in White Auditorium on SAU’s campus, and the conference begins at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. Advance registration is only $15 until Feb. 16; registrations postmarked after Feb.16 will be $20. Lunch is included. To register in advance, visit online at www.arbor.edu/futureteacher. Registration forms may also be requested from SAU at 517.750.6674, or from JCC at 517.796.8581.