WILMORE, Ky. (LEX 18) — More than 300 students and educators from around the blue grass met at Asbury University for the 2023 Educators Rising conference.
The organization has been in Kentucky since 2017. KDE employee and Educators Rising’s academic program consultant, John Paise, says, "Educators rising is a career and technical student organization that promotes students exploring careers in education."
Asbury's education students are sitting down with high schoolers who are prospective educators and having roundtables to discuss what the education coursework is like and what they can expect once they get into the field. Asbury senior, Isaiah Thompson says, "Just getting all the assignments done and all the clinical hours done. So, I just tell them it's gonna be alright and you know it's exciting to be an education major because you get to impact lives daily."
Lincoln County high school student, Maecey Carrier shares, "We get opportunities to go to different leadership workshops and visit tables and have fun with other people in educators rising." The conference is focusing on the nationwide teacher shortage. During a meeting in 2022, then Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass reported that for the 2022 fiscal year, that 72% of Kentucky’s teacher workforce was at risk of leaving.
Rockcastle County Schools's superintendent, Carrie Ballinger, wants to show students how rewarding the career can be. She says, "There's nothing better than getting a phone call or getting an email, or getting a text message from a former student and you see the success that you're having in their life. And it's very rewarding and it's very purposeful, and it give a purpose to your life and your efforts."
Many of the educators attending the conference agreed that younger generations stray away from the profession because of worries about the workload and pay. They say this career is a gateway to all others saying that everyone can remember their favorite teacher. Paise shares, "We get a lot of bad press, we see a lot of things on YouTube and Facebook. You know we only see the bad moments but if you look at the good, they far outweigh the bad." Students here say they want to be educators to make a difference in the world and to change lives.
