On Saturday, March 26th, 14 Glen Allen High School students left school in the dark at 6:45am to travel to Langley High School in Fairfax for the Virginia Educators Rising Leadership Conference and Competition. The students were dressed professionally, excited and prepared for the day, and encouraging and supportive of each other. We arrived at 9:00am and the students had to run straight into the building and immediately into their competitions that started at 9:10am. They remained calm, cool, and collected! Throughout the day they attended breakout sessions on relevant education topics, visited with college representatives, and listened to a moving keynote address from the Virginia 2021 Teacher of the Year, Anthony Swann.
Next, was the awards ceremony, where Glen Allen High School shined! Every student earned a 1st or 2nd place award.
1st place Job Interview- Paige Barron
1st place Public Speaking- Eric Fagan
1st place Lesson Planning and Delivery CTE- Salma Abdalla
1st place Ethical Dilemma- Madyson McRay, Katherine Raymond, and Evan Waggoner
1st place Researching Learning Challenges- Aaron Falik, Olen Staggs, and Alex Heyman
1st place Inside our Schools- Burton Harbrook and Peyton Via
1st place Impromptu Speaking- Wyatt Flint
2nd place Children’s Literature- Kat Tull
2nd place Exploring Education Administration Careers- Charlotte Swanson
2nd place Job Interview- Joey Marchioli-Acra
2nd place Impromptu Lesson- Dhruv Naidu
2nd place Lesson Planning and Delivery STEM- Jaylan Garcia
All of these students qualified to compete at the National Educators Rising Conference and Competition in Washington, DC in June. On the way home, we drove through a hail storm, sleet storm, and a snowstorm (!!) before the sun came out and many of these students got off the bus at 5:30pm and went straight into the school to participate in the Battle of the Classes night for the next 4 hours!! These are truly phenomenal students to dedicate their entire Saturday to our school and I’m lucky to get to work with them.
Shana Katz, M.Ed, Ed.Specialist, NBCT
Glen Allen High School
Family & Consumer Sciences Teacher
Career & Technical Education Department Chair
Educators Rising Sponsor