VEA’s Conference an EPIC Workout
July 21, 2023
July 21, 2023
High energy and hands-on work marked VEA’s second annual EPIC (Education Professionals in Collaboration) Conference, called For Our Students: Daring to Be Bold, beginning with a fast-paced, multimedia keynote speech by Rick Wormeli. He’s a former Fairfax teacher, now an author and speaker, who received Disney’s American Teacher Awards’ 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation honors.
In a crowd-pleasing presentation entitled, “What We Can Do When We’re Brave Together,” Wormeli focused on being a brave educator in times of significant change, using video, music, humor, and even impersonations (and burning lots of calories) to drive his message home.
“He was funny and inspiring,” said Amanda Ronco of the Falls Church City Education Association. “I will do my best to remember his words in the tough moments.”
After being fired up by Wormeli, EPIC attendees spent the rest of the day in breakout sessions on a wide range of topics, largely presented by fellow VEA members and including Spanish for educators, literacy, trauma-informed instruction, empowering students for equity, becoming a content developer, holistic classroom management, and more.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers in Virginia earn 67 cents on the dollar compared to other (non-teacher) college-educated workers. Virginia’s teacher wage penalty is the worst in the nation.
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