Springing Towards
Conference
The best part about spring approaching is all of
the good feelings that come with it. The feeling of the windows down, the grass
gaining its vibrancy back, the feeling that in a few short weeks you’ll have
the summer to celebrate all of your semester’s accomplishments. While it can be
a crazy time, especially for those of us student teaching, it is a time to be
excited. I am most excited for our Student PSEA Annual Conference and
Convention in conjunction with our Student PSEA House of Delegates; it is less than a month away! The student executive committee has
spent numerous hours planning for this conference to be one of the best yet. I
am going to spotlight some information that you should know before making the
trek to the good ol’ Harrisburg Hershey Holiday Inn in Grantville, PA!
#SPSEA15
Achieving Professional
Excellence
Student PSEA members do amazing things
in their community, work towards personal growth and professional development,
and are political activists in our locals. Once a year, we bring these accomplishments
to share with the other students in Pennsylvania. The APEX is your chance to
showcase your hard work, put your chapter on the pedestal and brag! Whether you
compile your APEX into a binder, a website, or another creative way, you will
be able to share and submit this to win cash prizes. You can set up your APEX
(we will inform you with the location when you arrive) when you register on
Thursday night or Friday morning. They must
be set-up before lunch (by 11 a.m.) on Friday. Members can take some minutes
during lunch to check them out!
Learning Centers
Have
you been working on your learning centers? Learning centers can be submitted as
a chapter or as an individual. The registration form must be completed and
postmarked by Tuesday, March 31st, 2015. Bring 2 copies of this form
to conference for each learning center. The forms must be turned in to the PSEA
office before the first breakout session begins on Friday. Guidelines for the
learning centers can be found on the website (www.psea.org/students) under Student PSEA Conference and Convention.
We
are looking forward to seeing your creations displayed at conference. They always
make the conference center look and feel more like home. J
We
will be announcing the APEX and Learning Center winners during the second
business session on Saturday.
Outreach to Teach: Meet
Levi
With our second year doing a beautification project as our
Outreach to Teach comes another chance to make a positive difference in the
lives of students and the community in which they live. This year we will be at
Camp Curtain Academy (CCA) in the Harrisburg Area School District. Harrisburg
is one of PSEA’s financial recovery districts and we truly feel that we are
putting our energy in the right place. I will save the story of CCA and the
perseverance of the faculty, staff, and students for the principal to share with
you at our OTT kickoff. In short though, their school has undergone many
changes in the past two years. Our projects range from painting walls and
murals to the big project, renovating the library.
With
cuts in educational funding to the district, came the removal of the school
librarian. The library is locked during the day because there is no one to
monitor it. As a student teacher this semester, I see the enthusiasm my
students have for visiting the library during (every possible) free time. I
cannot imagine students not having the ability to visit the library. Bigger
yet, I can’t imagine students not having a large assortment of… books. Book
donations can be brought from your chapter or you as an individual. This
library project is more than just coloring the library with new bulletin boards
and murals; it is coloring the library with organized, Lexile-leveled books. I
believe I’m most excited to see this location come to life again. No matter
which project you sign up for, this OTT is sure to be meaningful and memorable
for everyone involved.
Lastly, I want to
introduce Levi to you – the Camp Curtain Academy mascot! You are sure to see this
face being added to the walls all over the school. We can’t wait to get
started!
Let’s Get to Business
As the ONE time our state’s student
members gather together, the conference weekend is… eventful. Packed. Maybe
even a tad overwhelming. There is just simply not even time in two days to
share all of the meaningful information and collaborate with students from
other universities. Therefore, there is less time to tell you what is happening.
Am
I a delegate? My nametag says I’m a delegate… what does that mean? I would like
to run for a region leadership position, what does this entail? These student
rep positions on the PSEA committees seem like something I’d be interested in,
but what are they exactly?
There,
we already asked some of your questions. Now, we are going to make sure you
have answers.
We
have worked hard to structure the schedule with various breakpoints and transitions.
The schedule has also been planned with some opportunities for you to learn
about what it means to be a delegate, what it means to be a leader, and what
opportunities you have to get involved locally, regionally, statewide, and even
nationally.
Friday
morning during breakfast, Vice President Dave Ramaley will provide a “New
Delegate Orientation.” He will discuss the basic procedures of nominations,
elections and what it means to be a delegate.
Saturday
afternoon during Business Meeting One, student members will be given the
opportunity to run for the various leadership positions available. If you’re a
local leader, an active member, and/or someone who would like to get more
involved, you should consider running for a leadership position. What are the
positions you might run for?
State
Executive Board:
President
Vice
President
Secretary
PACE
(Political Action Committee for Education) Liaison
Student
Executive Committee:
All
those listed above
&
Region Presidents
Student
PSEA Representative to the PSEA Committees:
The
PSEA Committees with student representation are,
· Special Education
Committee
· Minority Affairs
Committee
· Resolutions Committee
· Communications Committee
· Intergroup Relations Commission
· Professional Rights
& Responsibilities
You
can also run to be a Student Delegate at the PSEA House of Delegates, which
take place twice a year, once in December and again in May.
Lastly, you can run to be a Student Delegate at the National Education Association’s Student Leadership Conference and Representative Assembly. This is occurring this summer in Orlando, Florida from June 26 to July 6, 2015. You can read more about this moving experience in the first Shout Out included in this blog!
During
Business Meeting One, the floor will be open to everyone for nominations for
each of the listed positions above. Your nominator must head to the microphone
nearby and nominate you. Voting will take place on Saturday morning for the
State Executive Committee (Board and Region Presidents). Election results will
be shared at the second business meeting Saturday afternoon. Positions on the
PSEA Committees and Delegates to the NEA-RA will be announced at a later date.
On
behalf of the entire executive committee, we look forward to seeing everyone in
Grantville on April 9th!
Lauren
Williams
Student
PSEA President
Still
have questions?
Contact
Lauren Williams at LWilliams@psea.org
Or
Chris
Clayton at CClayton@psea.org
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