07-03-2025
Future Educator Resource Fair at Illinois State University gives hope to future teachers
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — With CBS reporting that President Trump is expected to sign an executive order to begin to dismantle the Department of Education, what do future educators think?
At the Educators Rising conference in the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University, more than 500 eager-to-learn high school students were in attendance, going booth to booth and gaining knowledge about different programs and colleges geared to set them up for success.
With the Department of Education expected to be dissolved, Dr. Lindsey Jensen, state coordinator for Educators Rising, explained what the impact of losing the federal dollars would be in central Illinois.
'The reality is, if we don't have federal funding coming into those schools, our rural schools, our special ed communities, they're going to feel the impact of that,' Jensen said. 'But regardless of all of that, we still have young people who are very eager and excited to enter the profession and serve their communities.'
Students made their voices about education known as well, saying how important it is to them.
'We're constantly needing people to guide the next generation and making sure that these students, future students, are making right decisions,' said Adrianna Christofalos, public relations secretary for Educators Rising, who is also a high school student and future educator.
Christofalos continued by saying, 'It's so important to me that I'm able to have an impact on that and just be able to be an educator and be that light for the students with the future.'
Events at the conference included EdRising IL competitions, which incorporated a job interview contest, a keynote speaker, Dr. Rachael Mahmood who won Illinois Teacher of the Year in 2024, along with other breakout sessions and awards.
The conference ended at 3:30 p.m. with an optional admissions tour following the conclusion.
In a study done by Illinois Report Card for the 2023-2024 year, 137,212 residents in central Illinois were teachers.
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