BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — 200 area high school students spent today on the SUNY Buffalo State University campus to learn more about careers in education.
The state is projecting we'll need 180,000 new school teachers in the next decade.
"And I just hope that one day when I have my own classroom, I could be someone that they could look up to,” remarked Kyle Martin, senior, Lakeshore Central High School.
"Because I love working with kids,” declared Dyomaris Navarro, student, Buffalo International Prep.
"I want to help kids navigate their mental health, especially like anxiety after growing up with it,” explained Grace Gurnett, student, Frontier Central High School.
High school students told me they're hoping to become teachers one day.
The students represented 18 area school districts spent the day out of their classrooms and here at Buffalo State to explore careers in education.
“I’ve always been interested, because there's such a scarcity of male teachers in the elementary level of education, and I would like to make an impact on the younger kids,” replied Martin.
Erie 1 BOCES partnering with other higher education institutions and school districts to host this conference so these students can find out what it takes to be a teacher.
"What we have going on here is the future. These are the folks who have expressed an interest in becoming teachers or in following careers in school personnel, such as social workers, counselors, and everybody else who's managing community schools these days,” explained Wendy Paterson, Dean of the School of Education, Buffalo State.
This is the third year Erie 1 BOCES has hosted the conference hoping to encourage students to become future educators and to help reverse a major teacher shortage.
“Teaching is the most noble profession, and I think this generation of young people want to make a difference,” noted Steve Graser, director, Erie 1 BOCES.
As part of this event, these high schoolers are participating in breakout sessions to encourage them to teach in a classroom.
“I feel like everyone can say they have a teacher that made an impact on them,” Gurnett responded.
Students tell me they have been inspired by their own teachers and will never forget how they lifted them up.
“My teacher — was my third, fourth, and fifth grade, Mrs. Brennan. She was the most amazing teacher I’ve ever had. She helped me with my anxiety, through all those grades, and she just meant so much to me, and she had just that impact on me that made me want to help kids like that,” Gurnett reflected.
"What inspires you?” Buckley asked. “A teacher that I had when I used to like struggle in school, he used to guide me to do better and work really hard and I was feeling very bad he really helped grades and I actually passed,” Navarro replied.
“It makes me feel cared about, cared about and loved, and it makes me want to do that for someone else in the future,” recalled Martin.
