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Tolu Oyesanya

Sophomore Aparna Uppalapati crouches between two girls, engaging with them as they create a chalk flower on the pavement. “I love children and I’m very passionate about children, so that’s why I joined TAFE,” Uppalapati said. “After being in TAFE, I learned how to get a child to understand [me] better and how to understand a child better.”

Every professional development day, the Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE) chapter hosts Kids Camps, a district childcare program designed for children of teachers. Last Friday, on Oct. 11, TAFE held a camp at Hughes Elementary School.

“This is like their business and how they make their money,” TAFE advisor Holly Sanchez said. “They have to do all the sign-ups, they have to manage any kind of money that comes in, we have to do all the ordering. And then we’re also watching kids.”

Along with offering childcare, the camps provide valuable experience for TAFE members, building leadership and employability skills.

“In Kids Camp, you have class-sized groups of children and you don’t know them, and it’s kind of imitating that first day of school as a teacher,” junior Sophia Lim said. “You don’t know the kids you’re about to get, but you’re going to try your best to make it super fun and get to know them, but also keep it a safe environment for them.”

TAFE members gain hands-on experience in planning activities, managing groups, and developing leadership skills through their involvement in the Kids Camps.

“I’ve definitely learned more classroom management, like how to handle situations,” senior and TAFE president Valeria Duron said. “Also, I used to be really shy, but now I’m able to communicate with people better.”

TAFE members also find the Kids Camps to be a valuable opportunity for social interaction and relationship building.

“It’s a way for you to get to see other people and get to know other people,” senior Japji Khangura said.
“It’s the connection that you make with them because you see them almost at least 9 times a year. It’s definitely something very enjoyable and working together with my friends and all the other volunteers is a blast.”

Beyond Kids Camps

TAFE opens doors to a wide range of career paths that extend well beyond traditional teaching roles.

“A lot of people don’t realize that it’s not just teaching that’s in education,” Sanchez said. “There’s a lot of things, like coaching, for example. We also have different career paths like HR, or being a corporate trainer, or anything that has to do with the school district.”

TAFE members in the Ready, Set, Teach program, through taking the Instructional Practices elective, gain practical experience through internships and classroom activities.

“Usually, Monday-Thursday, since I’m a second year, I’ll go to internship at Calhoun and I’ll spend an hour there,” Duron said. “And then on Fridays, we usually have a lesson about things we need to know in the classroom.”

The program helps students refine their career goals and exposes them to different teaching environments.

“I originally wanted first grade, but then after being an intern in first grade, I realized that I didn’t really want to do that,” Duron said. “[Ready, Set, Teach] has helped me know exactly what grade I want to teach.”

The Ready, Set, Teach program has shed light on various aspects of teaching for students.

“I’ve learned a lot of the background stuff, like the behind-the-scenes stuff,” Duron said. “Like how much we get paid and extra money we get, and what teachers have to do dealing with parents, which I didn’t know before being in the class.”

TAFE members are interested in a range of grades, from preschool to secondary education.

“Right now, I’m doing preschool and I really like it,” senior Grace Cross said. “I like preschool and kindergarten, so the younger grades are probably something I’d do.”

TAFE members have the opportunity to participate in competitions at area, state, and national levels. Their Area competition is on November 16 at Dallas Baptist University.

“They can compete in job interviews, they can compete in creating lesson plans, they can do interactive bulletin boards, creative lectures, ethical dilemmas,” Sanchez said. “It’s mostly just speaking. Some of it is even a little debate in there too. But it’s all teacher-based.”

TAFE is also actively involved in projects that benefit the school community.

“We do a lot of projects in the school district,” Sanchez said. “All the bulletin boards you see in school, that’s us. Anytime a teacher needs a poster or a lamination, we do that too.”

Anyone seeking to gain valuable real-world experience is welcome to join TAFE.

“You don’t even have to super want to be a teacher to be in TAFE,” Lim said. “You are building skills to be able to communicate with people and building skills on how to get to know people better.”