More than 1,000 teachers, principals and educational professionals from Duval, Nassau, St. Johns, Clay, Baker and Hamilton counties in Florida and Ware county in Georgia attended the first annual TEACH conference, hosted by WJCT and Community First Credit Union, at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront on Sept. 15, 2012.

The one-day professional development conference for educators featured national speakers, breakout sessions, exhibitors, book signings, lunch, door prizes and much more. Feedback from attendees at the inaugural conference was overwhelmingly positive, particularly for keynote speakers Lucy Calkins and Bradley Cohen. The eighteen breakout sessions covered topics ranging from “Please Don’t Ask Me To Bake Cookies! – Meaningful Parent Engagement” to “How To Tell Your Story to Elected Leaders To Help Save Public Education.”

Community First Credit Union is proud to co-host this valuable event for Northeast Florida’s educators. For many years Community First’s membership consisted exclusively of teachers and other educational system employees and their families. Today, Community First offer services to any resident of Northeast Florida, but remains committed to its educational roots.

“At Community First, we believe collaboration – amongst members of the community, customers, partners and employees – is the foundation of success, and we are dedicated to being part of the team that makes the First Coast a great place to live, work and play,” said John Hirabayashi, president and CEO of Community First. “We strongly believe that the educational system is at the core of any healthy community, and we take a great deal of pride in continuing to support both the schools and the educators who work within them.”

The second annual conference, once again co-hosted by WJCT and Community First, is scheduled for Sept. 28, 2013. If you have an idea for a Breakout Session or Keynote Speaker, or are interested in presenting at TEACH 2013, click here to fill out a form. For more information about the event, visit http://www.wjct.org/teach/index.php.