Explore Today, Teach Tomorrow: SMEA

     To better understand the club that I had recently joined, I interviewed Elaine Brewster, a current member of the Michigan State University club, SMEA.  SMEA stands for Student Michigan Education Association.  This club is all about Exploring today, and Teaching tomorrow, a club for future teachers.  This club is involved in many events including: Outreach to Teach, Professional Development, Homework Help Room, and donating to local schools.  Outreach to teach, Brewster's favorite event she participated in last year, is an activity that gives a local Lansing school a makeover.  Brewster said this is the most fulfilling event they participate in.  "Instead of just giving the school money, we could actually see the difference we were making," Brewster says.  Painting classrooms, doors and hallways are just a few of the things they did for Forest Acres Elementary school last year.  
     Besides the Outreach to Teach event, SMEA does many other events.  Homework Help Room is hosted at the local library on Monday for 2 hours.  Kids with homework can come in and SMEA members help them with it.  Donating school items and books to local schools is something else the SMEA group does.  On top of volunteering, SMEA also has an event called Professional Development.  Professors and fifth year seniors with internships speak to them, sharing information about what is to come down the road for them in their teaching career.

    Working with the local community is not only fulfilling, but it also gives you a chance to meet new people, gain local references, teach children, and see exactly what you will be involved in after you graduate.  That list of things is exactly what every future teacher should able to experience.  
    SMEA is a group of only 50 students, a number that I believe needs to grow.  What future teacher wouldn't want the opportunity to work and teach children, gain references of local teachers who you come in contact with and help makeover a school at the end of the school year?  These are opportunities that make teachers better at what they do.

Reference:
Elaine Brewster: MSU Sophomore with an Elementary Education Major.