On Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the California State University, East Bay Concord Campus will host the 13th annual Day of the Teacher conference titled “Success: Nothing Less.”

The conference is geared toward those who want to become teachers and will feature workshops, interactive sessions and presenters, including some CSUEB staff and faculty.

There will be a dual keynote address to kick off the event by Contra Costa County teachers of the year Elizabeth Lanfranki from Martin Luther King Jr., Junior High School in Pittsburg, and Brian Wheeler from Alhambra High School in Martinez.

According to the CSUEB website there will be several new workshops that include, “Technology and Formative Assessment, Becoming a Community College Instructor, Shaking up STEAM with the Next Generation Science Standards, [and] An Introduction to HOST [Hands On Science Teaching].”

District 14 Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla will give a lunchtime address to attendees. There will also be tables with information from local school districts, university programs, teacher support programs, and networking sessions.

The conference comes at a unique time for current teachers in the state of California who have seen their numbers decline in recent history. According to the California Teachers Association, “A third of the teaching force is nearing retirement and the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning estimates that California will need an additional 100,000 teachers over the next decade.”

They further went on to explain that, “20 percent of all new hires leave the classroom within three years. In urban districts, the numbers are worse—close to 50 percent of newcomers flee the profession during their first five years of teaching.”

This creates an interesting role for not only CSUEB but all CSU’s, since according to calstate.edu, “More than half of teachers in the state of California earned a degree at a California State University,” and CSUEB is hopeful that events like this will help better prepare potential teachers for the profession and lead to long term hires.

There are no prerequisite requirements for the event, and it is open to anyone who registers with the event organizer and pays the required fee of $20. However, CSUEB students, faculty and staff will receive a 10 percent discount.

“I never really thought about becoming a teacher until this year, even though I have enjoyed working with kids in the past,” psychology major Frank Jimenez said. “I am really interested in getting a teaching credential once I graduate, so I think all of that information would be worth it alone.”

There is a limited number of seats for this conference and for more information call or email CSUEB counselor Annie Chandler at (925) 602-8638 or [email protected].