Since the second phase of Project FUTURE is a long-term program, there is an on-going effort to maintain close personal contact with participating students until they graduate from high school. During this phase, students return to the Texas Tech campus at least once a year. Teaching as a career is emphasized through interactive learning techniques. Each reunion conference is designed to build upon each other from the previous year. The reunion conferences for 2006 for grades 7, 8 and 9 will be held in the fall.
The themes for the reunion conferences for grades 8 and 9 are “The Game Plan,” and “Teaching, a Global Profession,” respectively.
Eighth graders participate in interactive activities that include a session on designing your own roadmap for life as a well as “Reality Check”, a game of life that teaches participants about what it takes to navigate the roadmaps of life. Reality Check provides students with a paycheck equivalent to one month’s salary for designated jobs. Students quickly learn that they cannot “live” on the money they earn and maintain the quality of life they desire without a college education. An inspirational taped message by Texas Tech Men’s Basketball Coach, Bob Knight, is a highlight of this conference. The concluding activity involves the students designing a game plan for themselves, specifically, making course selections for their high school years that will insure successful preparation for college, with guidance from campus experts.
Ninth graders participate in activities designed to showcase the exciting careers that teachers may undertake in a global marketplace. They are introduced to study abroad programs that can help prepare them for international careers using their teacher preparation education. The participants also are taken through the program, “Calculations across Cultures and History,” where instructors demonstrate ways of teaching mathematics used by other cultures to show students that there are many ways to teach. The students make their own abacus and slide rules and learn how to use them to perform basic calculations. Another presentation of this conference is “Cambodia, Education in Crisis.” This presentation effectively demonstrates that knowledge is power and that teachers hold the key to knowledge.
Most of the students attending the seventh grade conference participated in a Summer Science Discovery Camp in 2006 and will have an opportunity to continue their journeys in math and science during their 7th Grade Academic Conference. College of Education students preparing for careers in teaching will assist with this conference which will be held in the College of Education building in Room 001. The FUTURE students will have an opportunity to interact with college students, their “Tech Friends.”
Conferences include tours and lunch in residence halls.