Teach For America is holding its national Educators Conference in Jacksonville this Thursday and Friday.
The organization works with communities to put recent college graduates into teaching positions at struggling schools in Duval County and across the country.
The focus of this year’s gathering is on helping students succeed in college and, later, in their chosen careers.
More than 800 Teach For America Educators are attending the conference at the Lexington Hotel on the Southbank.
At a town-hall-style meeting on Thursday, Co-CEO Matt Kramer talked about where Teach for America is headed in the future.
“To make the most progress we came up with four areas that we selected as priorities,” Kramer said.
Among those priorities, Kramer says, is fostering educational changes at the local level.
“We know that what we’re going to do in Jacksonville is going to be different than what we’re going to do in St. Louis, and New York, and Las Vegas,” he said, “and so we know that we need to support the efforts for change in Jacksonville on the terms that exist in Jacksonville.”
Executive Director Darryl Willie of Jacksonville’s Teach For America says localization is the key.
Willie said, “After this we need to have those same community conversations, so, bringing those people back together the way they’re in small group or other circles to continue that dialogue.”
The Teach for America conference wraps up Friday afternoon.
