As the Vice President of the Education Club here at Eastern I have had the opportunity to work closely with local principals and other educational staff, acting as the liaison between them and our members.
Eastern is a well-known college for its Education program as it started off as an "education-focused school" graduating 14 female teachers in 1889 (the first year that the college opened). From then on Eastern has continued to flourish, and has continued to graduate well-rounded, diverse students who are ready to act as professional teachers in the real world. As an officer of the education club on campus, I obviously have a bias as to how awesome it is J. We have an estimated 60-70 member attendance every meeting and hold about 7-10 events every semester. Our biggest event this fall was our walk-a-thon where we choose a school to sponsor and fundraise for. Last semester we ended up being able to raise over $3000 for Sweeney Elementary school, allowing them to purchase white boards for every single classroom! A fellow officer and I were able to present the check to the school during one of their monthly assemblies in the gym; it was such a great experience. Our members and other officers hope to be able to raise just as much for our selected school this year. Only time will tell!
Walk-a-thon tends to be one of our biggest events, but we also have several smaller events during the school year including Mock Interviews, read-a-thons and volunteering opportunities. This year I was in charge of setting up a Mock interview session with a local principal where we invited her in to come talk with our members about what she looked for in a resume, and what she wants in a potential teacher. This event had a great turn out and served to be extremely helpful as students had the opportunity to ask our guest any questions they had which would help them become a stronger candidate in the future. Our next event would be our read-a-thon which happens twice a year (once a semester) where we go to a local elementary school and read to the children as an "after-school activity." Those students who sign up and attend our event have the opportunity to take home the book that they read with one of our members as a keep-sake and memory. This is one of the Educations Clubs favorite events, as we enjoy being able to read to students and promote their literacy. Our economy is getting tough and we know that we need strong, literate students now more than ever! Lastly, we have volunteering opportunities that we offer to our members. We work closely with several schools and have classrooms that our members can work in once or twice a week where they can get experience working with children, and have the opportunity to be supported and guided by the teacher as well! It really is a great experience for students as it is a fun and rewarding experience and it is a great resume-builder.
Overall, if you got through reading all of this, congrats! You are clearly an interested education major and I highly advise you to become involved with the club when you come to Eastern. It has been part of my life since freshman year and I am so happy that I made the choice to put myself out there and join - I have benefitted so much from it and I hope you will too! J
