Teachers along with various speakers from all over gathered together on March 3-6 to attend the annual SXSW Educational Conference.

The four-day conference allows teachers, students, administrators, and many more to connect, collaborate, and change the way they teach and learn.

The event was filled with interactive sessions as well as keynote speeches from various individuals including actor Jeffery Tambor, AISD superintendent Meria Carstarphen, as well as many others.

Students got to attend the annual educational event.

“I got to experience different views on education and education styles as well as meeting new people,” senior Aless Luna said. “It was definitely a cool experience, I’m glad I got the opportunity to go.”

Business teacher Lisa Shaw attended the event along with the students leaving with the belief that the conference was a beneficial experience.

“I think it was great for the students because they got to see different colleges and universities,” Shaw said. “They also got to see the results of the work they’ve been doing because a lot of our students were presenting at the education expo.”

Along with the educational expo, some students got to experience beneficial keynotes.

“I got to see a keynote on how emotional learning is necessary in the classroom and it really hit home,” junior Hannah Kerns said.

“I feel like that topic highlighted how teachers put a wall in front of us and it showed that they really care about our emotional needs as well as our learning needs.”

Shaw said the conference was very motivational.

“Seeing work that’s been done at Akins during the different exhibits that were there was exciting and seeing what our students could be doing in the near future was very inspiring,” Shaw said.

Luna said everyone that attended the conference truly benefited from it.

“I think many people benefited from this because it was like a huge group of educators coming together to spread and share their ideas and thoughts,” Luna said.

With a positive outcome, students believe many should attend next year’s event.

“Many people should go next year because this event truly helped innovate education,” Kerns said.