Learning doesn’t always have to be inside a classroom, even for education students. Many of the most fruitful learning experiences stem from collaborative, hands-on activities. The St. John’s University Future Educators Club, started in 2022 by students in the School of Education, emphasizes this idea, focusing on professional development, volunteer work and other experiential learning events for aspiring teachers.
President Amber Collazo explained the organization’s strong emphasis on preparing its members for their teaching careers, sharing that the mission of the Future Educators Club is to “help members build strong connections with those in the School of Education and those in the school system already.”
Vice President Emily Florea highlighted the importance of mentorship, specifically mentioning the executive board’s guidance to newer education students.
“We have had the opportunity to provide mentorship to our underclassmen and provide them with any advice from our past experiences to help them succeed,” she said
To motivate new members and build rapport, the first event hosted in the 2024-2025 academic year was a vision board workshop, which inspired attendees to map out their future teaching careers. Treasurer Josh Fox believes it was a huge success because “everyone was able to show their creativity and explore what life as a future teacher could look like.”
Secretary Briana Tola agreed, adding that it allowed members to “showcase their dreams,” in turn motivating them to continue working towards their professional goals.
The club also hosts numerous career-oriented events, which, according to Fox, “give future teachers connections that will give them an advantage as they transition to their career.” Such events included a LinkedIn workshop, which taught students to create profiles that suited the educational field. Headshots were also taken free of charge.
They plan to introduce additional professional development and networking opportunities in the Spring 2025. Tola is especially committed to this goal because she “believes it’s important to develop as many skills as possible before beginning teaching careers.”
Collazo plans to execute this by connecting Future Educators Club members with current teachers since they can give specific advice to students and provide insights on teaching various grade levels. She thinks this is particularly helpful for students who are unsure about the type of school or age they want to teach.
The Future Educators Club also has a philanthropic aspect to their organization. They’ve hosted various service events throughout the semester, such as holiday card-making for hospital and nursing home patients and Halloween candy donations for elementary school students.
This semester, Fox hopes to “get more involved with service, specifically at schools, like with book drives or events for reading month.”
Because the Future Educators Club is a relatively new organization, it’s still growing and working to become more well-known among School of Education students. Florea’s main goal for the Spring 2025 semester is to grow the club further and recruit new members. She specifically aims to “work with the School of Education as a whole to foster a further sense of community throughout the school.”
