2018 has been a year of change, and this year’s state
conference will be just that. It’s time for aspiring educators of Pennsylvania
to come together in State College and be the change we wish to see. However,
this is a lot easier said than done, which is why we have planned a conference
to help you become the best educator and leader you can be, and registration is
officially open NOW!
Starting with Michael Soskil, the 2017 PA Teacher of the
Year and our keynote speaker, conference attendees will have the opportunity to
learn about the distance service projects he created to help connect his
students with more than 70 countries around the world. When it comes to being the
change, Soskil believes that “every problem that our world faces has a solution
locked inside the passions of our students.”
In addition to our keynote speaker, a variety of breakout
sessions will range from topics on innovative teaching strategies to social
justice. For the first time ever, some of our breakout sessions will be
instructed by our very own Student PSEA alumni, and conference attendees will
finally have the opportunity to attend sessions on what Student PSEA really is,
and how they can be effective leaders on campus and in their classrooms.
Beginning Thursday night with an ice cream social,
conference attendees will have the opportunity to chow down on Penn State
Creamery ice cream while networking with members from across the state. Chapters
are encouraged to come sporting their chapter T-shirts, and members who are
interested in running for leadership positions or simply have questions on how
they can get more involved are encouraged to chat with our current Student PSEA
leaders during our first-ever “Meet-And-Greet.” We are certainly no
celebrities, but we want the opportunity to answer your questions directly so
that you feel prepared and excited to run for positions you may or may not have
even known you wanted to run for!
In order to be the change, we must elect champions of public
education into office. Through donations to PACE, the Political Action
Committee for Education, you can help ensure that pro-public education
candidates get elected by helping to fund their campaigns. Opportunities to
donate to PACE will be provided all throughout conference, from photo booths
during the ice cream social, to professional headshots throughout Friday and
Saturday, to a silent auction for region and chapter raffle baskets. Or, you
can simply just make a donation! Please don’t miss this opportunity to ensure
that political leaders in Harrisburg and Washington D.C. are making decisions
for the benefit of children and educators.
After a day of educating ourselves on how to be the change,
on Friday night we can take our passion and put it into action during our
annual Outreach to Teach service project. This year it will be held at the
Tyrone Area School District and will serve students in the elementary, middle,
and high school. By painting murals, building Little Free Libraries, and
spreading positive messages around the school, we will ensure that we are
leaving a positive mark on a deserving community before we leave conference
Saturday afternoon.
Maybe you already know an aspiring educator in your chapter
who is actively inspiring change on your campus. This is the perfect
opportunity for you to nominate deserving leaders for our Student PSEA awards,
including, Exceptional Underclassman, Outstanding Chapter Faculty Adviser, and
Outstanding Servant Leader. We want to highlight the incredible work our
Student PSEA members are doing at the chapter and region level, because they
deserve to be celebrated.
And, of course, no Student PSEA conference would be complete
without our APEX (Achieving Professional Excellence) showcase and awards. As
chapters compete to have the strongest APEX submissions, they are ensuring that
they are providing their members with meaningful opportunities to grow in each
of our four pillars: professional development, leadership & membership
development, political action & advocacy, and community service &
outreach. APEX provides us the perfect opportunities as members to share our
successes and our failures with each other, so that we all can grow to be the
best organization we can be.
Likewise, the Learning Center Competition allows you the
opportunity to showcase your hard work and share your ideas with hundreds of
other aspiring educators, who just may take it into their own classrooms. Think
of all of the future children you could reach with just this one small act!
Congratulations to last year’s winners!
APEX
1st place: Slippery Rock University
2nd place: West Chester University
3rd place: University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Learning Centers
1st place:
Taylor Ochmanowicz and Nicole Bachman, Millersville University
2nd place:
Dave Zielewski
3rd place:
Sarah Derfler, Millersville University
I believe that the best educators in this country are the
ones who practice servant leadership and work to serve their members and their
students to the best of their abilities. I believe that some of our state’s
finest aspiring educators are the ones who actively involve themselves in organizations
such as Student PSEA, and it is our duty as a union to spread our knowledge as
far as we can, with as many aspiring educators as we can, so together, we can
change the world.
We are Student PSEA,
and WE ARE…The Change.
I look forward to seeing you on April 5-7 in State College.
In Solidarity,
Marie Hutchings
Student PSEA President
