MNEA taps tomorrow’s teachers
with first annual FEA-Missouri conference

Missouri NEA partnered with Phi Delta Kappa and Lincoln University to host the first conference of the Missouri affiliate of Future Educators of America in October. Students who aspire to be teachers elected officers and attended workshops to help them understand the teaching profession and make the transition to college.

“I am very concerned about the future of the teaching profession,” says MNEA Vice President Chris Guinther. “We need to encourage our students to consider teaching. FEA provides middle and high school students with opportunities to explore teaching as a career option.”

MNEA received a grant from NEA to help promote FEA chapters across the state and provide financial assistance to the newly elected president and her advisor to attend the national FEA conference in Chicago this February.

Currently eight FEA chapters are active in Missouri. MNEA was instrumental in starting three of those charters.

“I’d like Missouri to have at least 20 FEA chapters by the beginning of the next school year,” Guinther says.

According to the FEA Web site, the future will hold a high demand for teachers from diverse backgrounds who are sensitive to the diversity in classrooms. As the only national pre-collegiate program for prospective teachers, FEA has the mission to provide students with opportunities to explore careers in education. Through participation in an FEA chapter, students gain a realistic understanding of the nature of education and the role of the teacher.

For more information, contact the FEA staff at fea@pdkintl.org. The national FEA office at Phi Delta Kappa International in Bloomington, IN, coordinates information about teaching as a profession, employment opportunities, financial assistance options for teacher education, and career issues, such as professional mobility, diversity, job security and other matters.

How to start an FEA chapter
It takes only one committed individual—a student, a teacher, a business leader, a school administrator, a parent—to light the spark. That individual contacts others who see a need for a Future Educators of America chapter. As a group, these individuals examine their local needs, discuss how they believe a chapter can help them meet those needs, and begin to involve students in initial planning and organization.

The next step is to contact Phi Delta Kappa and request an organizational manual. The cost to charter an FEA local chapter is $100, which includes the charter, FEA manual, advisor’s pin and five student pins. Organizers may write or call: Phi Delta Kappa, 408 North Union, P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789. Phone (812) 339–1156 or (800) 766–1156.