Do you want to diversify and develop the educator pipeline in Illinois? If so, then join Educators Rising Illinois to elevate the education profession! By participating in Educators Rising Illinois, a school district is committing to excite future educators about joining the education profession through experiences, opportunities, support, and more!
Educators Rising is the ONLY Career & Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for ALL future educators. Future Teachers of America (FTA) turned into Future Educators Association (FEA). Then FEA transitioned into Educators Rising in 2015.
Does your district have a future educator club that isn’t Educators Rising? If they do, then they are missing out on JOINING THE MOVEMENT as well as accessing the planning resources, engaging activities, and so much more that EdRising provides.
Start a middle school or high school chapter today!
Start an Educators Rising IL Chapter
High School Students and Teacher Leaders
- Benefits of Being a Registered EdRising Member
- Funding Options to Pay for EdRising Student CTSO Memberships
- Steps for making one payment for all student memberships
- Worksheet students can complete for membership registration information
- Are you ready to take the next step? Find out how to join Educators Rising!
- How to join as a teacher leader
- How to join as a high school student
- 2024 Webinar to Guide You Through the Registration Process
- Guide for joining, renewing, or accessing resources
- Video: How to Join
- Sustainable Funding Ideas
- EdRising Illinois Planning and Preparation Guide for the 2024-2025 School Year
- June 2024 Educators Rising IL Legislative Funding Update
- May/June 2024 Educators Rising IL Newsletter
- April 2024 EdRising IL Newsletter
- March 2024 EdRising IL Newsletter
- January/February 2024 EdRising IL Newsletter
- EdRising Illinois logo with a white background
- EdRising Illinois logo with a blue background
- Educators Rising Illinois Statewide Projects
- Educators Rising National Activity Resources
- Teacher Leader Activities Calendar (sign-in required)
- Educators Rising Scholarships
- Educators Rising Illinois Scholarships
- Educators Rising National Scholarships
- Annual State Conference Resources
- Funding for Educators Rising
- Teacher Leader Resources
- Educators Rising Illinois Resources for Teacher Leaders
- Educators Rising National Teacher Leader Resources
- National Educators Rising Important Dates
- Educators Rising logo
- Teacher Leader Resources (sign-in required)
- Discussion Questions for students leading meetings or activities
- Benefits of Being a Registered EdRising Member
- Funding Options to Pay for EdRising Student CTSO Memberships
- National Educators Rising Honor Society
- Annual National Officer Opportunity for Educators Rising
- Annual State Officer Election for Educators Rising IL *Application Opens 2nd Semester*
- Educators Rising Ambassador Program
- College Planning Resources
- Fundraising Ideas
- Illinois State University Educators Rising Scholarship
- Educators Rising National PDK Educational Foundation Scholarships
- Scholarship and Higher Education Funding Resources (See “Preservice Teacher Scholarships and Funding for Higher Education” Section on this webpage)
- SAVE THE DATE! March 6, 2025
- EdRising Illinois 2025 Competition Resources
- Register to attend the annual conference! *Coming Soon*
- Annual Illinois Conference Registration Resources *Coming Soon*
- 2024 EdRising IL ISU Future Educator Signing Day (8/27/24)
- Educators Rising Illinois 4th Annual State Conference (3/5/24)
- Cultivating Future Educators While Elevating the Teaching Profession (10/24/2023)
- ISU & Educators Rising Celebrate 75 Future Educators on Signing Day (9/27/2023)
- ISU College of Education holds first signing day for future educators | News Video (9/6/2023)
- ISU Educator Signing Day set for Sept. 6 (8/21/2023)
- Educators Rising holds first teachers signing day (5/2/2023)
- In Metamora, aspiring teachers and their families celebrate the future (5/2/2023)
- Future Educators Gather at ISU for Annual Conference (3/19/2023)
- Regional Superintendent of Schools discusses solutions to the ongoing teacher shortage (3/10/2023)
- 25 Educators Rising students participate in state conference (3/8/2023)
- 2nd Educators Rising conference held in hopes to inspire more teachers (3/6/2023)
- Gov. Pritzker highlights New Teacher Pipeline Initiative to address shortages (3/3/2023)
- State Superintendent letter (1/4/2023)
- Educators Rising: The Future of Education (10/7/2022)
- How the teacher shortage is affecting central Illinois (7/13/2022)
- What it will take for more Illinois school districts to ‘grow your own’ teachers (3/31/2022)
- Educators Rising program makes progress (4/5/2020)
What’s the difference between an EdRising curriculum site and a EdRising IL chapter?
- While there are many resources included with your annual CTSO chapter membership registration, the curriculum is a separate component that can be accessed for a fee with a site contract.
Why Choose the EdRising Future Educator CTE Curriculum?
It offers flexible, implementation-ready 1-day, 3-day, or 5-day weekly lesson formats. The curriculum is aligned to National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and inTASC Standards. The package also includes clinical experience resources, engaging lessons, thematic units, power points, student materials, and more. Additionally, there are online student assessments.
Curriculum Implementation Support
Monthly Group Coaching call is the first Monday of every month. During these calls, peer teacher leaders share tips and staff provides other valuable resources. Register to attend.
One-On-One Implementation Support: Register for a session.
Cross-cutting themes
- Cultural Competence
- Fairness, Equity, and Diversity
- Reflective Practice
- Ethics
- Collaboration
- Social Justice and Advocacy
- Self-efficacy
Standards
- Understanding the Profession
- Learning About Students
- Building Content Knowledge
- Engaging in Responsive Planning
- Implementing Instruction
- Using Assessments and Data
- Engaging in Reflective Practice
Check out these funding opportunities to help you achieve your goal of becoming an IL Educator!
Review which higher education institutions have met the criteria to be considered preferred or highly recommended Educators Rising Illinois Higher Education Partner Institutions.


Lindsey Jensen
Dr. Lindsey Jensen is the 2018 Illinois Teacher of the Year, the 2020 NEA Foundation for Teaching Excellence Illinois Awardee, and Vice-President of the Illinois State Teachers of the Year. Her work has been featured in IL-ASCD, Teach Plus, NEA Today, Education Post, and Flip the System US: How Teachers Can Transform Education and Save Democracy. Her career in education spans 19 years, and she currently serves as the state coordinator for Educators Rising Illinois & the Early Career Development and Aspiring Ed Director for the Illinois Education Association.

Christine Schweitzer
Christine Schweitzer has dedicated her career to education in Illinois. In her 22 years in education, she has served students as a teacher in early childhood, elementary, and higher education in addition to spending several terms as a school board president. While currently supporting Career and Technical Education as a state coordinator for Educators Rising Illinois, Christine provides statewide programming, support and professional development for teachers and students, and event planning in her effort elevate the profession and build the educator pipeline in Illinois.
Email: educatorsrising@ieanea.org
Lindsey Jensen
Educators Rising IL State Coordinator
Christine Schweitzer
Educators Rising IL State Coordinator
815-713-4788

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