Future Teachers

By Nikki Andrade

   The Future Teachers are high school students who have the desire in becoming a teacher as a career in the future. On Friday, November 3, 2006 students from Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, Newtown, Waterbury, Western Connecticut State University and Education Connection came together at W.C.S.U Student Center and participated in several workshops. These workshops were to provide rewarding educational activities and to “Inspire the desire to learn and finally teach.”

All the students were divided into three groups by the color of the sticker on their name tags. This was to separate students from their schools so they can make new friends and hopefully bring these area schools together. Each group rotated to three different workshops presented by three different teachers.

“What would you do?” was a workshop presented by Rona Rothhouse, former Bethel Teacher of the year. This workshop was to interact with each other which students’ role played a few situations that would go on in an everyday class room. “Just for the Health of It!” was a workshop presented by Diane Arifian, a health teacher at Danbury High school. It was a wellness workshop. During this workshop we touched up on bullies in the classroom, how to react to them and how to notice when it’s happening. Their also was an assignment that each student traced their own foot and wrote about someone who we want to fallow the footsteps of. “Personal Insight and Reflections” this workshop was presented by Joe Depalma, a Rogers Park art teacher and also the Danbury Teacher of the year. This was a feel good project. On a huge piece of paper shaped as a head we were given magazines to find words that describe the positive traits that make us who we are. This brought the little kid out of all of us. Their was also a speech given by Daniel Martins about student and teachers and their relationships.In each workshop we discussed what makes a good teacher.

This Future Teacher workshop definitely benefited those who desire to be teachers in the future. Thanks to Nancy Berman students at ACE were able to go to this Future Teacher workshop.