In order to encourage students to become teachers, two Michigan Teachers of the Year will speak Wednesday night at Grand Valley State University.
This school year’s MTOY, East Kentwood High School math teacher Luke Wilcox, and the 2016-17 MTOY, Kenowa Hills High School instructional coach Tracy Horodyski, will speak at 7 p.m. at the Cook-DeWitt Center on the GVSU Allendale campus. The free event will also be livestreamed on the GVSU Student Senate Facebook page.
The forum was initiated by Eric-John Szczepaniak, a GVSU education major and member of the Kenowa Hills Board of Education. Szczepaniak, who chairs the Student Senate Educational Affairs Committee, said he was concerned about the high number of education majors in universities who switch majors.
He figured Wilcox and Horodyski, both GVSU graduates, could help inspire aspiring teachers.
“I wanted to do something to help excite future educators and help them stick with it,” Szczepaniak said.
In a program titled “Teacher Leadership Matters,” Wilcox and Horodyski will talk about their roles as Teachers of the Year, the importance of leadership in their schools and communities, empowering fellow staff members and helping students grow.
