The Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE) chapter at Carter is dealing with the uncertainty of this year’s state competition due to COVID-19. Schools around the state are currently closed down, and classes being hosted remotely, which leads to whether there will be any competitions.
Regional Secretary Vanessa Brown and the regional committee are planning to host the regional conference.
“Just based on where we are in the region, we have seven counties in our region with very high numbers, our goal is for us to do it online,” Brown said. “But because the state hasn’t given us any guidance, we have to plan for both cases.”
During the regional conference, members can run and campaign for a regional officer to represent the whole region and have the opportunity to run for State Officer.
“The campaigning is really what we see in our national election, some ads and some emails going out,” Brown said. “It really does give our officers more of an opportunity to campaign because before they could only campaign the day of the regional conference.”
Current TAFE Regional Vice-president Susan Silva is willing to keep everyone safe and plan accordingly.
“Plans can change. I can assure you we are working for everybody’s best interest, and that we are ensuring that through all the panic and unknown, we are hoping to achieve everybody’s comfort and satisfaction,” Silva said.
The regional committee will follow the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines if the events are hosted in-person to keep every individual safe.
“Some of the things we talked about, this leadership team I’m very impressed with, the group we have running the region, we are very much believers in science,” Brown said. “We very much believe if the CDC has proposed these guidelines, then those are the guidelines we are going to follow.
TAFE will continue to recruit members and hoping to expand the organization. Both current and new members are still expecting this year to be as equally as productive as last year.
“As a new TAFE member, I would like to have the same experience as other students. I would like to have an insight into how future teachers are learning new skills,” Joselyn Ibarra said.
TAFE does expect to receive more updates on regional events and hopes to hear from the state committee for the 37th Annual Teach Tomorrow Summit hosted in Round Rock, Texas. As well as keep up with the COVID-19 situation throughout the state.
