West Virginia First Lady Gayle Manchin and state Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steven L. Paine will both speak at teacher education gathering Thursday (March 30) at West Virginia University’s Erickson Alumni Center .

The two will participate in a day long development conference of the Benedum Collaborative, WVU ’s acclaimed five-year teacher education program.

Paine will speak at 9 a.m. and Manchin will deliver her remarks at noon.

Some 130 educators are expected to attend from the collaborative’s 28professional developmentschools from across the region.

A former teacher, Manchin will discuss ways schools and educators can ensure that children who come from economically disadvantaged families and communities can enjoy the full advantages of public education.

Paine will discuss the state’s collaboration with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills learning enrichment programand the needs of state teachers as they prepare young people for entry into today’s workforce.

Manchin taught in public schools in Marion County Schools and at Fairmont State College (now Fairmont State University ), where she was the first director of its Community Service Learning Program. She also handled the professional development for the school’s GEAR -UP tutoring grant.

She has since served as conference chair for West Virginia’s Commission on National and Community Service. She was state director of the AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Program, and also helped implement the West Virginia Partnerships to Assure Student Success Initiative, which provides educational support and resources to children and families across the state.

She has also been a national consultant for Dr. Ruby Payne, a renowned authority on the affects of poverty on children and education.

Paine became West Virginia’s 25th State Superintendent of Schools on July 1, 2005. He was teacher and county superintendent of schools in Morgan County , and was also a principal, assistant principal and curriculum director in Harrison and Upshur counties.

Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School under his direction as principal was named aBlue Ribbon SchoolandSafe, Disciplined Drug-Free Schoolfrom the U.S. Department of Education. He also holds the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.

Paine earned degrees from Fairmont State and WVU and also completed post-graduate studies at The Ohio State University and at Marshall University .

The Benedum Collaborative was established in 1990 as one of the nation’s first school-university partnerships.