Photo Gallery

Teacher Education Kick-off 2026 Photo Gallery

School of Education Welcomes the Newest Credential Cohort

A credential student wearing a green button-up shirt writes in his program handbook.A student wearing a green shirt and nametag holds a beach ball in one hand and addresses a small group of people standing around them.A crowded room of new credential students. They face a projection screen and podium.A student reads the program handbook while seated at her table.A credential student wearing a blue shirt, glasses, and a nametag sits at a table and writes in her program handbook.A credential student wearing a blue button-up shirt and nametag looks to the speaker at the front of the room.Two credential students converse with each other while seated at a table.A credential student looks down and writes in her program handbook.A credential student addresses the other people sitting at her table.Teacher Education Associate Chair Lola Muldrew speaks with several new credential students.A small group of people stand in a circle outside and take turns throwing a beach ball to each other as an icebreaker activity.Four students gather around to face off in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.A credential student wearing a navy shirt leans over and smiles at people sitting in front of her.Dean Tom Smith stands at a podium and addresses the audience seated in front of him.A credential student smiles and holds a beach ball in her hands.A group of five women stand up and address the room of people around them. One student speaks into a microphone.Alexis Patterson Williams addresses the newest teaching credential cohort while standing at a podium.Two credential students sit at a table and speak to each other.Three agriculture credential students stand at the front of the room and speak into a microphone.A credential student smiles while holding a letter she wrote to her future self.Two students face off in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.Credential students sit around a round table and talk to one another.A large crowd of credential students gather around to face off in Rock, Paper, Scissors.Two credential students sit at a table and look down while writing in their handbooks.Two credential students sit at a table and put stickers onto envelopes.A credential student catches a beach ball with icebreaker questions written on it.Multiple-subject credential lecturer and supervisor Lisa Sullivan speaks with a credential student during one of the kickoff breaks.A woman seated at a table looks up and smiles.Lecturer and supervisor Rebecca Rosa plays Rock, Paper, Scissors with a credential student.

Before they walked through the student handbook, discussed coursework, or met with faculty, students in the UC Davis School of Education’s newest teacher credential cohort were asked to write a letter to their future selves during the 2026 Teacher Education Program Kick-off.

“The letter is really about thinking ahead,” said Prof. Alexis Patterson Williams, chair of the teacher education program. “What qualities do you have that already align well with the teaching profession? What are you looking forward to, and what does your future self most need to hear?”

Students will receive their letters back at graduation after a year of designing lessons, strengthening interpersonal skills, and preparing to lead classrooms of their own. Faculty hope the letters will give them a chance to see how they have grown and remember what drew them to teaching in the first place.

This letter was the first of several activities that asked students to consider the kind of teachers they want to become. “What sets teaching apart is the influential setting that you’ll be working in: K–12 classrooms,” said Dean Tom Smith during his opening remarks. “You’ll be in a unique position to make a meaningful impact.”

To support them in that work, students were encouraged to begin building relationships with each other. Through small-group conversations, icebreakers, and cohort-wide discussions, they got to know the classmates and faculty members who will accompany them through the program and into their careers.

Other activities pushed students to consider what their responsibilities as teachers might look like in practice. In an exercise on advocacy, they examined a case study in which a credential candidate noticed that a mentor teacher routinely took cell phones away from students in standard classes but not from students in Advanced Placement courses. Students discussed how they might respond, keeping in mind the importance of balancing students’ well-being with collaboration and respect for their colleagues’ choices.

The many questions credential students discussed during kick-off will follow them into their own classrooms this year, where they will begin navigating the responsibilities, relationships, and decisions that shape a teacher’s daily work. “This program prioritizes justice and is deeply committed to educational equity,” Smith said. “Many people talk about making change, but you’ll be creating it. They talk about working toward a better future, but you’ll be building it by making sure that every student you teach receives the quality education they deserve: the education that will help them reach their potential. Your positive impact will spread from child to family to community across a lifetime.”

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