Illinois AEYC would like to congratulate David Banzer for being a recipient of the 2019 NAEYC Lasting Legacy Scholarship.  David was 1/240 applicants chosen as an ECE emerging leader in the field receiving a scholarship to attend the 2019 NAEYC Annual Conference.

David Banzer has worked in the early childhood education field for the past 12 years, beginning as a teaching assistant in a Head Start community-based center in Chicago. He has taught preschool for 7 years and has worked as an education coordinator for the past 4 years. He has earned a Master's in Education in early childhood education with a professional educator license in ECE, ECE special education, and ESL. As a teacher, he began developing professional development for fellow teachers at his early childhood center and has continued this focus on professional development, specifically on early mathematics, in his continued work in the field. He has shared his experiences in the field through local, state, and national conference presentations. David is also a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a focus on early math and science teaching and learning, and contributing to research in professional development as a member of the Early Math Counts (Math at Home) and Early Science Matters research team at UIC.