Thinking About Teaching?
Any future teachers out there? If you answered yes (or are a cautious yes), then Florida Future Educators of America (FFEA) is the club for you! FFEA is in schools all across the state at the elementary level, at the secondary level (middle and high school) and all the way up into the colleges and universities. It is a great resource for anyone looking to work as a teacher one day.
Aspiring teachers should join this program because it provides many opportunities to work with students, allowing you to gain practical experience doing what you love, or to learn that maybe this isn’t the field for you after all. (Check out “Volunteering to Find Your Passion” to read more about how to find your niche.) Every FFEA chapter does things differently. Here’s a little bit about what Eastern Florida State College’s chapter has been up to:
The EFSC chapter of FFEA focuses on local outreach. As this club is based on our Melbourne Campus, we mainly work with an elementary school near that campus. Some of the events we have done with this school include reading fall stories on Halloween, judging a science fair and running an Earth Day event for their first and second graders. To work more closely with the school, we also volunteer in the classrooms. We choose to really pour our efforts into one school because we want to be sure we reach each student individually. That way, they know we really care about them as we encourage them in their academic endeavors. Quality over quantity!
In addition to collaborating with that school, EFSC’s FFEA also attends individual, student-focused events throughout the year. During the past academic year, we worked with exceptional education students at the Brevard Zoo during the Very Special Arts Festival. This super fun opportunity allowed us to make crafts and interact with students one-on-one, and the EFSC volunteers also got to spend the rest of the day at the zoo for free! (I mean, who doesn’t want a free trip to the zoo?) We also visited local schools for Junior Achievement, a program that teaches financial literacy to students in grades K-8.
While working with kids is at the heart of FFEA’s activities, we also get to take advantage of professional development opportunities. Six of our club members recently visited Orlando for the FFEA Annual State Conference, held each January. At the conference, we went to different sessions to learn about teaching and how we can best help our students to learn. We also competed to write lesson plans, create school safety videos, give speeches about technology use in the classroom, etc. Out of the eight awards we were eligible for, our chapter brought home three! We won first place in the lesson plan competition, first place in the education research competition and the Outstanding Chapter Award for all post-secondary chapters.
In my time at Eastern Florida State College, I have had the opportunity to be involved in FFEA as a club member, as secretary and as president of the chapter. Personally, the work we have done through this program is one of my favorite college memories so far! I honestly cannot imagine my college career without this club. It has helped me to grow in my field, as well as to find some of my closest friends. Check out current clubs on each EFSC campus to get involved. I hope this post encourages you on your journey to become a teacher, and that you find a group like FFEA that can help you accomplish your goals.
- Working On-Campus - August 21, 2019
- Study Abroad: Just Do It! - June 5, 2019
- Thinking About Teaching? - April 17, 2019
