By Marin Murray.
Seven students will compete in the Educators Rising Nationals Conference in Washington D.C. in June after participating in the Texas Association of Future Educators, or TAFE, state convention on March 1.
“We had a really good trip,” TAFE sponsor Shea Roberson said. “I took a really good group of students, and they competed very well. We had a lot of fun.”
There are two teams that advanced: a junior varsity ethical dilemma team with four members and varsity interactive bulletin board team consisting of two seniors. Sophomore Vivian Dyer advanced as a solo competitor in junior varsity public speaking.
“It was really cool,” freshman Kate Breckenridge, who competed in ethical dilemma, said. “We felt really proud of what we did. We really felt like we put our all into it, so our hard work paid off.”
The ethical dilemma team is made up of only freshmen and sophomores. For their competition, they had to interview teachers and principals before formulating a solution to an ethical problem in a school-like setting.
“I was really impressed with our JV ethical dilemma group,” Roberson said. “They did a really good job of pulling their project together and that is a really hard competition to advance in.”
Most of the students work on these projects for the entire school year, so they spend a lot of time practicing and bonding with their team before it is time to compete against other schools.
“My favorite part was probably working with my team, because we all got along really well,” sophomore Rickey Lackey, who competed in ethical dilemma, said. “And then also, the competing aspect of it was fun.”
Dyer’s public speaking event requires her to present a speech, while seniors Sarah Richert and Olivia Cabes created their very own interactive bulletin board for their event.
“The competitions are really good for students to learn things about being a teacher and things you have to do in the classroom,” Roberson said. “It’s also really good for learning regular soft skills, like writing, how to speak in public and learning how to organize and manage time.”
Roberson had 38 students compete at the state competition out of the 41 students who advanced out of the area competition, which took place during the first semester.
“It’s just always fun to take students out of Abilene and out of the state of Texas,” Roberson said. “It exposes them to more culture in different environments, so it’s always fun.”
