Recently, 14 TAFE (Texas Association of Future Educators) members qualified for the state-level TAFE competition in their respective events, including both competitions and contests. At the TAFE conferences, members compete and present in a plethora of events that cover the field of education.
Arwen Salgado (12), President of TAFE, qualified for three events: Breakout Sessions, ELF Test, and Project Visualize. For the Breakout Session and Project Visualize, the members of the contest work on projects throughout the school year that they present at all conferences, completing a hygiene drive and creating a friendship bracelet making project for students.
“We use the same [projects],” Salgado said, “We’ll just make some tweaks according to what the judges said and move on from there.”
The Breakout Sessions allowed its competitors to create and present a project that’s relatable and relevant, designing a Taylor Swift-themed activity, presenting in front of judges as well as fellow TAFE members from across other schools.
“It’s judges and different TAFE members so there’s like a max capacity that the rooms can hold, and we actually hit that…so that’s kind of cool, so we get to present it to judges, but then we also present it to other students our age,” Salgado said.
Another TAFE member, Kaylee Collett (11) advanced to state in Exploring Non-Core and Interactive Bulletin Board which included creating a lesson plan and shadowing a music teacher.
“The experiences it gives you, like the fact that we’re able to, like for the Exploring Non-Core Subjects that I was able to go into the classroom and see so much of that and also just to be at these conferences with people that also want to be teachers,” Collett said.
Becoming competitors at TAFE conferences gives students pursuing a career in the education field allows them to not only experience real life education projects but also surround themselves with like-minded students. Members of Wylie’s TAFE who’ve advanced to state will compete at the conference in February.