Axe ’Em, Jacks!
Getting involved
Joining a professional society, club, organization or honor society is a great way to make friends, get to know your professors, connect with professionals in the field and become a more successful student. SFA is home to more than 200 student clubs and organizations, including clubs for students interested in education and education studies.
For more information about education-related groups, you can contact your faculty advisor or view SFA clubs and organizations to find the best fit for your interests.
Education Studies organizations
Education is about so much more than classroom experience. As a student in the Department of Education Studies, you will have the opportunity to enhance your time here on campus by participating in a variety of student organizations.
Bilingual Education Student Organization
Join your bilingual education community at SFA to teach people about the importance of bilingualism and diversity in education and in the workforce. As a member, you’ll have the opportunity to attend professional development events and continuing education specific to bilingual education. We also partner with community groups to provide service opportunities that promote bilingual education and the study of the Spanish language and Latin culture.
For more details about the Bilingual Education Student Organization, please contact faculty advisor Dr. Sarah M. Straub.
Collegiate Middle Level Association
SFA’s collegiate level chapter of the Texas Middle School Association and the National Middle School Association is for students seeking to become professional educators in the middle level grades (grades 4-8). The Collegiate Middle Level Association offers many wonderful opportunities to interact with other students at SFA with the same goals.
As a future middle school teacher, you’ll benefit from leadership development, relaxation and thoughtful discourse, a place for friendship, a network of positive support and lots of fun. Each year, our members attend annual conferences, sponsor a middle school dance and join in SFA Homecoming festivities as well as winter and spring socials.
Students interested in joining the Collegiate Middle Level Association can reach out to faculty advisors Dr. Michelle Williams or Dr. Elizabeth Gound.
Early Childhood Organization
SFA’s Early Childhood Organization promotes unity among those studying early childhood by sharing materials and ideas to foster our professional development. Our organization is designed primarily for students who are EC-6 majors, but we welcome other majors who are interested in working with or on behalf of young children.
The organization serves children in the community through various service projects. We also hold monthly meetings featuring a program or speaker, usually a professional in the field of early childhood education. The meetings usually last about one hour. Training certificates are issued to all students who attend.
For more information about SFA’s Early Childhood Organization, please contact faculty advisors Dr. Tracey Hasbun and Dr. Yuan He.
Braille and Cane Club
Looking for a way to meet other SFA students in the Department of Education Studies learning to serve individuals with vision impairment? You’ll find like-minded Lumberjacks in the SFA Braille and Cane Club. The club was established in 1999 to promote advocacy, encourage empowerment and provide education to the surrounding community.
Club-sponsored events, such as the annual Christmas and Easter celebrations, White Cane Day awareness, Dining in the Dark, Disability Pride Parade and more, have become important resources for the community and families of individuals with visual impairments.
Learn more about the Braille and Cane Club from faculty advisor D.J. Dean.
Talking Hands
This club is for anyone interested in sign language. We welcome education majors in the deaf and hard of hearing program as well as non-majors, and a range of members’ signing skills (from barely knowing the manual alphabet to fluent, native signers) creates a diverse and nurturing signing environment.
In addition to regular meetings allowing for opportunities to “turn off” the voice and “turn on” the hands, Talking Hands is involved in a variety of special events. Silent weekends, variety shows and annually singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the SFA Homecoming game are a few of the fun ways Talking Hands gets students involved.
Learn more about Talking Hands by contacting faculty advisor Dr. Lindsey Kennon.
Deaf Education Club
This is a great way for our deaf education students (majors and minors alike) to connect. As a service-oriented club, we seek to provide students with opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom to “real world” issues in the community, especially within the local deaf education public school setting and deaf community.
Our goal is to bring opportunities to students that allow them to relate what they are learning in their coursework to serving the deaf education populations in our community. Special projects, fundraising for local deaf education classrooms/programs and gathering together as a collaborative group to share ideas and thoughts make this a great organization to be a part of.
If you’re interested in joining the Deaf Education Club, please contact faculty advisor Dr. Lindsey Kennon.
Student Council for Exceptional Children
Become more involved during your time at SFA serving and learning about individuals with exceptionalities, as well as the professional field of special education, by joining the Student Council for Exceptional Children. We are a division of the international organization of Council for Exceptional Children, a nonprofit association that supports special education professionals and others working on behalf of individuals with exceptionalities.
The council serves the association’s mission by:
- Advocating for appropriate governmental policies
- Setting professional standards
- Providing continuing professional development
- Advocating for newly and historically underserved individuals with exceptionalities
- Helping professionals achieve the conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice
For details about the Student Council for Exceptional Children, please contact faculty advisor Dr. Summer Koltonski.
Honor societies
The Iota Gamma chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education, was formed at Stephen F. Austin State University in 1959. Our members – including such renowned teachers as Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington Carver and Howard Gardner – embody our motto: “So to Teach, So to Serve, So to Live.”
If you’re an undergraduate and graduate education major with 12 completed hours of education courses and an overall grade point average of 3.25 or above, you may be eligible to join. Members are inducted once a semester.
As a pre-service teacher candidate, you’ll network with other like-minded students internationally through conferences and webinars. Monthly programs include professional development topics and community service projects designed to develop your leadership skills, enhance overall teacher candidate knowledge and enhance your resume prior to graduation.
To learn more, see the requirements for The School of Honors.
Study abroad
To broaden your educational horizons, get out of the SFA classroom – all the way out of the country, in fact! Learn how other cultures teach their children by participating in a study abroad program through SFA’s Department of Education Studies.
The department typically organizes one study abroad trip per year. The one- to two-week trip includes time in China and a European country for the following educational opportunities:
- China: This segment of the trip provides hands-on experience teaching English to Chinese students
- Europe: The experience rotates to a different country each trip (Finland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain or France) to look at diverse models of education in other countries
Educator preparation students also have the chance to complete 3 credit hours of clinical practice in Costa Rica or Great Britain.
To learn more about the study abroad opportunities for Education Studies students, please contact Dr. Sarah M. Straub.