For the second year in a row, Michigan State University will receive the NCTE Student Affiliate Excellence Award in recognition of meeting high standards of performance. MSU’s student group for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is one of three student affiliates from across the nation to be honored with this award.
“I think the group was successful because they immersed themselves in the community of English teachers in Michigan in a few ways,” said Associate Professor Emery Petchauer, who is the group’s faculty advisor and holds appointments in both the Colleges of Arts & Letters and Education. “The group was intentional to network themselves with educators from whom they could learn and grow — both in person and digitally. The group also committed to meeting regularly and collaborating through all of their programing.”
Among their commitments for the year — from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018 — the group participated in the Michigan Council of Teachers of English conference as attendees and participants. They also hosted an event to share their experiences and the knowledge they gained from the conference. In addition, they continued the “Teacher Speaker” series where they invited Arthur Chiaravalli, M.A. ’11 (K-12 Educational Administration), from Haslett Public Schools, who talked about going gradeless in the classroom.
The group was recognized for following varying program requirements from NCTE, including promoting professional development opportunities and becoming involved in local, state, or national initiatives dedicated to curriculum development, literacy, and English language arts.
“Our biggest goal has always been to make connections with other current and future educators, whether that be on an individual, communal, or national level,” said Sarah Welc, who served as the group’s vice president and now is in her Teacher Preparation Program internship year teaching English language arts for grades 10 and 12 at Clarkston High School in Michigan. “These past two years have shown us that making the effort to collaborate with others under the same goal of improving ourselves and our teaching strategies allows everyone — new and experienced teachers alike — to benefit. We hope that our efforts to solidify our community will only continue to flourish.”
The group, which was led this past academic year by College of Education student Rachel Tuller, will receive their honors at the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, November 18.
Current students who wish to become involved in NCTE can email ncte.msu@gmail.com for more information. The group meets the first and third Wednesday of each month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Wells C607.
