For future educators on campus there is a well-known class that will teach them how to teach students successfully – Ready, Set, Teach. And though many know about the class, few know about the national organization that students in the class are required to join – Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE).

TAFE is a competitive team in which students participate in teaching competitions all around the world. Some examples of competitions include lesson plans, improvisation lessons, etc. TAFE, like Ready, Set, Teach, helps students who are considering the field of teaching get an idea of what it takes to be a teacher, and what kind of work they’ll have to do.

“I joined Ready, Set, Teach, first because I was interested in becoming a teacher,” senior Phoebe Maldonado, TAFE president, said. “I wanted the experience with children, and to get a feel for what it’s like to be in the school as an authority figure rather than a student, but then I was introduced to TAFE afterwards, and TAFE was more of the competition side of Ready, Set, Teach.”

So what exactly is the connection between Ready, Set, Teach and TAFE? And how do they differ?

“TAFE is separate from Ready, Set, Teach, but they go in hand,” Maldonado said. “Ready, Set, Teach is more for hands-on work with actual students and kids, but TAFE is more about learning the techniques about teaching.”

TAFE is a lot like academic UIL in a way, due to how students compete in various competitions and contests to represent their team, but it is different in some ways.

“In the contests, you’re competing against yourself in a sense, there’s going to be a rubric that you have to follow,” Cathy Hoch, TAFE sponsor, said. “In the competitions you would be competing against other people in your region, then if you rank in the top five, you’re allowed to go on to state, some of those competitions then can proceed to nationals.”

Competing in TAFE competitions is all about preparedness, just like any competition.

“I encourage all the members to compete,” Hoch said. “But sometimes they spread themselves too thinly or they don’t complete what is required for the competition, so we meet a couple of times before we actually leave to see if you’re ready, because if you’re ready, that’s great, you compete; but if you’re not ready, then you’re not allowed to go.”

Exactly like Ready, Set, Teach, the TAFE team is an incredibly open and supporting family, who always welcomes new members with open arms, even if they have just met them.

“My experience in TAFE has been really great,” junior Airam Soto, 1st year RST and TAFE member, said. “Everybody in the program has treated me like we’re a family, we all get along really well, and we try to help each other out as much as we can.”

But can students join TAFE without being in Ready, Set, Teach?

“We do open it up to newcomers every year but not a lot of people like to join if they’re not in Ready, Set, Teach,” Maldonado said. “They don’t have the advantage of being with other Ready, Set, Teach students and learning from what they do and getting advice every day.”

Learning about how the schooling practice works is the method to being successful in TAFE and/or Ready, Set, Teach.

“The general goal [of TAFE] is to learn more about the education system, and to be involved in all its facets and that’s why we have the T.R.A.F.L.E.S. (Teaching, Recreation, Appreciation, Fundraising, Leadership, Educational Awareness, Service),” Hoch said. “All of those parts combined create a good leader, a good citizen, plus as a teacher, you’re involved in all of those aspects.

At the end of the day, TAFE is about increasing one’s passion for teaching, and helping any future educator learn what it truly takes to be an amazing teacher.

“I hope to basically gain teaching experience, I hope to learn new things,” Soto said.

Those interested in joining TAFE or Ready, Set, Teach in the 2016-2017 school year, should talk to Cathy Hoch in A108 during the spring semester. Students must be juniors or seniors in the 2016-2017 school year to qualify.