Denver Comic Con to Distribute Educator Passes

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Whenever I think of Denver Comic Con, joy is the first emotion that I feel and for many reasons.  The fact there is an awesome Comic Con in my home town is one part of that.  The fact I've met some incredible people both on the celebrity side and on the staff side add to that as well, but on a personal level, there is one thing that brings me the most joy when it comes to this convention, Comic Book Classroom.  

I've had the opportunity to step inside these classrooms and quite frankly it blew me away.  To see those children so engaged in reading and art, well it was quite a moving experience and an honor to be able to document it for Denver Comic Con TV.  It's that unique experience that made me realize just how important this convention is, and how it is truly changing lives.  

So it pleased me to no end when I saw a press release come across my desk today that Denver Comic Con will be releasing 200 Friday single day passes to educators.  Why do this? Well because Comic Book Classroom works in a simple manner, it takes the power of pop culture and puts it into the classroom.  

So if you're a teacher, paraeducator, administrator, PTO representative, education student, professor or a scholar, you have the opportunity to sign up for this unique opportunity.  Of course, there is criteria that comes with this, educators will have to attend at least three hours of education tract programming at the convention on Friday, June 13th.  Once these courses are complete, the educators will all receive the CBC unit of study, “Storytelling Through Comics” and a gift bag of CBC/DCC merchandise.

So what kind of programming can be expected for educators?  Here is a preliminary listing that is of course, subject to change: 

“Introduction to Comics, Graphic Novels and Pop Culture” – Basic anatomy of comics and graphic novels, what is pop culture, and why they are important

“Top 15 Graphic Novels and Comics for the Classroom” – Resources and suggestions on how to identify and select material for instructors who would like to include them in their classrooms

“Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Video Games” – Using video games to teach and support critical thinking and problem solving skills

“’Cult’ Culture” – Using popular television shows to discuss themes, universality, and characterization)

“Using Comics and Graphics Novel in the Special Education Classroom” – Specifically to support reading and writing

“Carving out a Career in the ‘Geek’ Industry” – How to make a career as an artist, writer, designer in comics, television, gaming, etc…

This of course brings us to the most important part of all, how does an educator sign up to obtain one of these passes?  First and foremost, follow this link: http://svy.mk/1dNIA3x and fill out the application.  The application process for this will end on May 1st.  

This is an incredible way to not only experience Denver Comic Con, but allow educators to discover a new way to integrate pop culture into their curriculum and do what they set out to do, teach and inspire children.  

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