FFMT, Inc. Hosts 14th Annual Conference for Future Minority Teachers in Orlando, FL

Feb. 22, 2010 - PRLog -- GAINESVILLE, FLA. (February 19, 2010) – On March 6-7, 2010 the Florida Fund for Minority Teachers, Inc. (FFMT) will host its 14th annual Recruitment and Retention Conference at the Marriott World Center Resort in Orlando, FL.  The conference services recipients of the Minority Teacher Education Scholarship (MTES) and minority community college students preparing to enter teacher education programs.  The theme of this year’s conference is “Back to the Basics: Innovation, Imagination, and Dedication.” It will host over 800 scholars, community college students and other guests and community leaders.  The hours of the conference are from 9:00am – 8:00pm on Saturday, March 6 and from 7:00am – 11:30pm on Sunday, March 7.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this conference is its ability to motivate and empower young people who are preparing to become teachers. Monserrat Pere, Primary Contact at Miami Dade College, said of her students at a previous conference, “They were very excited prior to the conference with their expectations, but they never thought it was going to be as great as what they got.  The students were very thankful for the opportunity to attend and came back truly proud to have chosen teaching as their career choice.”  Wendy Gallegos, Immokalee Middle School teacher and Clay County recruiter, added, “I was in awe of the potential of all the young people I met…I believe in what your organization is doing and wish it had existed when I was in college!"

The conference serves three main purposes.   First, it gives scholarship recipients an opportunity to network with recruiters from school districts across the state and potentially line up job offers before they graduate.  Secondly, scholars attend various workshops that are conducted by education professionals and designed to supplement the instruction these scholars may receive at their individual institutions.   Finally, it allows community college students, a major target of the MTES, to visit the conference and learn more about the scholarship program prior to applying to it.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ffmt.org.

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FFMT is a non-profit Florida corporation with 501(c)(3) status. It was established in 1996 as a means of increasing the number of minority teachers in the State of Florida to better reflect the diversity of the state’s population. FFMT administers the Minority Teacher Education Scholarship to juniors and seniors enrolled in state approved teacher education programs at numerous colleges and universities across the state. The award offers $4,000 a year ($2,000 per semester) to qualified minority students, and requires that upon graduation, each scholar teach in a Florida public school for the same number of years that they received the scholarship.

Since its inception in 1996, FFMT has had almost 4,200 scholars come through its program. Of this amount, it has been verified that approximately 76% have either taught or are currently teaching in a Florida public school. Currently, FFMT has nearly 600 scholars and is hoping to increase this number in the future.