California Teachers Asociation’s (CTA’s) authentic and relevant outreach, the New Educator Weekend, is helping define the power of advocating for students and communities to a new generation of educators who will become the next generation of local and statewide union leaders.

For new educators like Kayla Franklin, CTA New Educators Weekend was an opportunity to receive training from veteran practitioners while learning about the many systems of support their union provides to ensure they can advocate for their students without fear of reprisal.

Kayla joined the Oceanside Teachers Association mid-year and was pleased there were so many options to learn strength-based instructional approaches at her first conference as a professional educator. “I’m already planning on how to use an icebreaker activity I learned about called ‘Two Truths and a Lie’ that I’m sure will increase student interaction”, she explained.

The decision to keep the conference cost low was meant to attract educators who are newer to the profession and typically find opportunities for professional learning and training support an unaffordable luxury. The decision was fortuitous; the sellout weekend proved that CTA succeeded in discovering and meeting a need for additional support for new professionals.