Educators Rising is a competition that helps prepare students to become educators and learn about the process of becoming a teacher. Students active in this organization have the opportunity to showcase their skills up to the national level, with some students (senior Julia Billings, junior Sophia Ryan, and junior Jasmine Blackwell) competing at the national competition in June. 

“The goal of Educators Rising is to inform students with teacher preparation programs,” Billings wrote in an email. “I competed in Educators Rising because I want to become a teacher, and Educators Rising prepares students well for teaching. It also allows me to interact with people who have the same passion for teaching that I do.”

During competitions, participants pick what they want to present to the judges; they can compete in different categories, like lesson planning to showcase what skills they have developed in that area. 

“Interactive Bulletin Board – Elementary is my category for the competition,” Ryan wrote in an email. “I had to create a bulletin board for an elementary school classroom, but I had to find a way to make it interactive by creating parts on the board that students would be able to touch and move, making the lesson more engaging.”

In addition to competitions in Educators Rising, students have the opportunity to hear speakers who have experience teaching. There are also group activities available for competitors.  

“After we present to judges, they give us input, and then the rest of the day we have workshops,” Blackwell said. “They give us insight on how to be better teachers and improve our skills.”

Being a part of Educators Rising can help ensure that students have the background knowledge about what being an educator means. It provides opportunities for students to gain experience before they go into the education field and prepare for future careers. 

“The reason why I joined and why I want to become a teacher is because I’ve always been very shy in school, especially when I was younger, and I’ve had some really wonderful teachers who have helped support me and push me to be better,” Ryan wrote. “I feel they’ve helped me become who I am today, and I want to be able to do that for someone else.”