Student club anticipates scholarships, electing officers.
By Zachary-Taylor Wright
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
The Future Teachers’ Organization described the benefits of membership, discussed scholarship opportunities and planned for its next guest speaker Wednesday in Gonzales Hall.
Co-sponsors Norma Cruz-Gonzales, Bill Shute and Mary Anne Bernal, all English professors, described the process for selecting a foundation scholarship nominee.
The organization elects a student scholarship committee member who will rank five scholarship candidates; then, the co-sponsors will compare their own list of five with the student committee members’ and select two scholarship recipients.
“The first person we select will get the fall scholarship and the second person will get the spring,” Shute said.
The organization has helped students pursuing careers in education since 1999. Bernal, Cruz-Gonzales and Shute began co-sponsoring the organization after students in Cruz-Gonzales’ Children’s Literature class expressed interest in education degrees. All students interested in developmental learning and mentorship are welcome to join the group, Bernal said.
The organization connects students with successful educators from schools such as Schreiner University. The organization also encourages the development of professional connections in education by taking field trips to the education departments of the University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University-San Antonio. Bernal said many students develop successful careers in education through these introductions.
“We had a student apply for a job where she was mentoring, as part of our club, who was hired. So, part of the club is getting to make connections with the schools,” Bernal said.
Several students in the meeting described their interest in educational professions. History sophomore Robert Frost expressed his passion for education as he explained why he joined the organization.
“Growing up, finding teachers that really cared about the students was something that was hard to find and that was really a shock to me. I’m looking, honestly, for network opportunities, meeting new people, getting new resources, stuff like that,” Frost said.
The three co-sponsors suggest that interested students join the Future Teachers’ Organization’s OrgSync page, which is accessible through ACES.
“On our website, we’re always posting about events coming up for FTO so you want to get on as soon as possible,” Bernal said.
The next meeting will be at 1:40 p.m. Sept. 7 in Room 108 of Gonzales Hall. Joseph Liedecke, student success coordinator, will speak about service learning and community outreach opportunities.
Official positions will be elected during the meeting.
For more information, email mbernal@alamo.edu or visit FTO’s OrgSync page.
