Triton College’s Education Department hosted an Education Symposium on Friday, April 14, in the Auditorium (R Building). “The symposium was geared towards current and prospective students who are interested in the education field,” said Angela Staunton, the Education Department chairperson. The symposium began with keynote speaker Dr. Rebecca Pruitt of Lewis University, who debunked many current myths plaguing the education field. She discussed teacher burnout and statistics regarding teaching positions in Illinois. “There are a booming number of teachers that are not leaving the teaching field,” Dr. Pruitt explained. After remarks from Dr. Pruitt, there were breakout sessions from Dr. JoLynn McCray, a Triton Early Childhood Education faculty member, and Dr. Melissa Smith, an assistant professor coordinator of Early Childhood Education from Concordia University, among others. The breakout sessions taught students how to incorporate “self-care” into their lives along with incorporating reading and social emotional learning techniques. “Approximately 40 high schoolers from East and West Leyden, and Proviso West were in attendance, as well as many current Triton students,” said Staunton. “Triton has a variety of programs within the Education Department that prepare students to be teachers in the education field,” she said. To learn more about Triton’s Early Childhood Education (birth through second grade) or education programming (first through 12th grade) please visit https://www.triton.edu/about/dept/academic/arts-and-sciences/education/