Article
February 16, 2026
Written by Sydney Kern
PHOTOS: Record-Breaking Attendance at 2026 Future Teacher Conference
Registrants represented six states, including New Mexico, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
During the 11th annual Future Teacher Conference, hundreds of high school students interested in becoming teachers gathered on UNC’s campus to explore different teaching careers, meet future mentors and get answers about the different teaching pathways. This year, 721 individuals registered for the event, including students, parents and teachers. Last year, 675 people registered for the conference. Registrants represented several states, including Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Steve Spangler, author and STEM teacher, opened the event for the second year in a row with the keynote address. Participants then broke off into different workshop sessions discussing a variety of topics, including culturally and linguistically diverse education, special education and K-12 teaching and engagement. The event concluded with a student panel, with current UNC education students answering questions from the high school students. Nearly 70 volunteer UNC students also helped organize the event and the future teachers.
Continue below to see the day in action:
