Next month, STEM teachers from across the country will arrive in Reno for the annual . UTeach is a nationwide, university-based teacher preparation program designed to increase the number of secondary teachers with STEM degrees. Â鶹ӳ»Teach, the dual-degree program for secondary education and STEM majors at the Â鶹ӳ», will be cohosting the conference.
This is the first time the conference will be hosted outside of Austin, Texas, where UTeach was started. The conference attracts teachers, many of whom are alumni of UTeach programs, current UTeach students, UTeach program directors, and Master Teachers, who teach future STEM educators at universities. Â鶹ӳ»Teach has historically had a strong presence at the conference, with students, alumni and Master Teachers presenting and sharing their work.
UTeach Assistant Director for Communications and Network Support Amy Winters said that Â鶹ӳ»Teach, a program housed in the University’s College of Education and Human Development with degrees in the College of Science, the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources and the School of Public Health, is a model program. Â鶹ӳ»Teach has produced 141 highly prepared graduates. Currently Â鶹ӳ»Teach graduates are teaching in STEM classrooms across 11 states and internationally, with 81% teaching in Â鶹ӳ».
“When we decided to take our conference out of Austin for the first time this year, Reno was our obvious choice,” Winters said. “Out of the 54 UTeach programs in our network, Â鶹ӳ»Teach program leaders, faculty, and students are some of the most enthusiastic. We can depend on them to pitch in with ideas and resources that benefit the entire network.”
Â鶹ӳ»Teach Master Teacher Glenn Waddell is organizing field trips for other programs to visit the Â鶹ӳ»Teach space and the W. M. Keck Earth Sciences and Mineral Engineering Museum at the University. Conference registrations are expected to exceed 300 attendees.
“By cohosting the conference here in Reno, our Â鶹ӳ»Teach students will have improved access to attend the conference and greater opportunities to network with other STEM education professionals,” Waddell said.
Four Â鶹ӳ»Teach faculty members are presenting sessions and over half a dozen Â鶹ӳ»Teach students will present posters at the conference, which will take place from May 20 – 22.
The conference theme this year is “Belonging as a Catalyst for STEM Learning” and Waddell will be facilitating a panel discussion for the opening session on belonging. The panelists include one Â鶹ӳ»Teach alumna who is now a high school math teacher.
