On Oct. 30, Temple University welcomed nearly 250 high school students from across the city of Philadelphia to the Howard Gittis Student Center for the Philadelphia Youth in Education Summit. 

With student-led sessions and keynotes from city officials and educators, the summit was designed to make teaching more accessible and appealing to young people from the Philadelphia area. Students connected, networked and attended breakout sessions that explored teaching career pathways. The event also explored the challenges of recruiting teachers, particularly in Philadelphia and the enrollment decline in teacher education programs. 

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As part of the Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition (PCTC), the summit was funded through Temple’s Pennsylvania Department of Education Educator Workforce grant, which is managed by the College of Education and Human Development’s (CEHD) Center for Reimagining Excellence, Access and Transformation in Education (CREATE). 

“In our work with PCTC, we have worked diligently to support diverse pathways into teaching, including dual enrollment and teacher academies,” said Monika Williams Shealey, dean of CEHD. “The summit’s attendance is evidence that young people are interested in pursuing careers in education. We also know that they will face barriers as they seek to reach their goals and we want to dismantle barriers that prevent them from entering the profession. 

“The summit provided inspiration, motivation, skills and a peer network that will facilitate their efforts to persist through high school graduation and undergraduate degree completion,” she added. “We wanted them to know that we are here to support them every step of the way.” 

As Philadelphia’s public research university, Temple is where many of the region’s educators have been trained. Juliet Curci, assistant dean of college access and persistence and director of CREATE, said they want to continue that Temple tradition in a space to celebrate the next generation of teachers. 

“Seeing other young people who want to be educators helps students realize they’re not alone in their passion to make a difference,” said Curci. “This event could be the start of their community and network, as they think about moving through this profession. Students they meet might even become their classmates in a teacher education program at Temple or another nearby institution.”  

Curci explained that the partnerships with PCTC and Elevate 215 help strengthen the conditions necessary to recruit and retain educators. 

“The PCTC is a unique space uniting district and charter school educators across the city who focus on talent, teaching and learning, and postsecondary school readiness,” she said. “Our research helps us understand the current representation of teachers in Philadelphia and make informed decisions about where to focus our efforts on teacher retention, mobility. 

“There is a need for high-quality teachers from different backgrounds in Philadelphia,” she added. “We want students to know that teachers can make a good salary with good benefits, including pensions and healthcare, something they may not fully realize.”   

Heaven Harris, an aspiring elementary English teacher, enjoyed networking and learning from professionals about pathways she can take to become an educator. 

“Temple’s commitment opens doors to Philadelphia high school students,” said Harris, a senior at Mastery Charter School (Lenfest). “It encourages students to see that they can be educators too. 

“One session taught me how to bring a student’s background into the classroom as a way to teach more effectively and connect better with them,” she added.  

Aaron Rodriques-Johns agreed that the breakout sessions were helpful.  

“Students from Philadelphia haven’t always had access to educational resources like this event,” said Rodriques-Johns, a student at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber. “This event helped us learn a lot about the core ideas of being a future educator and pathways to become one. 

“A big takeaway for me was that knowledge is not power—it’s potential,” he added. “Who you want to be comes down to the choices you make as you pursue your dreams.”  

To close the summit, Debora Carrera, EDU ’94, chief education officer for the City of Philadelphia, shared her story of being inspired at a young age to become a teacher by Felicita Meléndez, a Puerto Rican educator and former principal at Potter-Thomas Elementary School in Philadelphia. Carrera rose from teacher to principal to assistant superintendent during more than 27 years in the School District of Philadelphia.   

“At 17, I walked on Temple’s campus and said I am going to be a teacher,” said Carrera. “It’s a profession that opens other doors, like in my case of working my way up to become an assistant superintendent. 

“Our students need to see more teachers from different backgrounds; representation for children matters,” she added.