SNEA Information
How SNEA at UCF works throughout the semester
SNEA's goal is to provide opportunities and support for UCF student teachers in the form of conferences, volunteer events, professional development, experience, networking, political action, social justice, resources, and practice.
Florida is experiencing an education crisis. Investing in public education is at an all time low and retaining and recruiting teachers is a challenge. The hard truth is that less and less college students are choosing to become teachers. NEA realized this and created the Aspiring Educators program to provide student teachers with the confidence, experience, and resources to 1) become a teacher 2) enjoy teaching 3) make a long-lasting, positive impact in the field.
Partnership with Nemours Children's Hospital
Host the Scholastic Book Fair
Member Resource Drive
Baskets/Book giveaways at every meeting
Online ZOOM webinars and professional development
How to become a substitute teacher
Updates on all UCF Education-related events/scholarships/ec.
Read for the Record UCF + Early Childhood reading in schools
FTCE/Internship help
Guest speakers
Workshops
Fully-funded conferences
Community projects
All NEA resources
$250 Scholarship
The Little Free Library
Volunteer in classrooms
KnightEd Talks
Education rallies
Volunteer at school events
Professional Development
Resources
Community Volunteer
Political Advocacy
Experience
Donations to schools
Conferences
Leadership
Networking
Social media
Officers (5)
President, Vice President, Historian, Treasurer, Secretary
Officers plan all meeting activities/dates/presentations.
Officers invite guest speakers and create professional development opportunities.
Officers coordinate with the national and state committee for conferences & events.
Officers keep up to date with members, social media, calendar, and updates.
Officers handle all funding and finances for the club.
Officers create and actively search for all events the organization participates in.
Officers are in charge of every aspect of SNEA and only seek advice or pitch major changes to the faculty advisor.
UCF Faculty Advisors: Dr. Spalding, Michelle Kelley
Meetings
General (2-3 per semester)
General meetings are face to face and usually occur 2-3 times a semester. Each meeting has a guest speaker or professional development presentation with activities and resources to use in your future classroom.
Free basket prizes and book giveaways are drawn at every meeting. Come build your classroom library with SNEA!
PD Zoom (2-4 per semester)
To include more members – especially those who cannot travel long distances for meetings – SNEA invites speakers to engage with our members on ZOOM through professional development meetings with first year teachers, union leaders, principals, paraprofessionals, seasoned teachers, and more.
Members have the ability to participate in ZOOM meetings from the comfort of their own homes. All resources/notes are saved and shared. Zoom meetings are recorded and posted on our Youtube.
Points
SNEA $250 Scholarship
We offer so many opportunities and completely understand that members can't attend all of them (seriously, check out the Calendar. There's a lot), but SNEA also encourages participation through participation points. Each event is assigned a certain number of points and when members tag us on social media or sign up on our TeamUp Calendar to show they attended, they earn points.
The top three active participants compete for a $250 check by writing an essay and explaining how SNEA opportunities have impacted them.
Anyone who earns 50+ points receives a free prize for their classroom!
Graduation Cords
Want to graduate with a full resume AND a neat chord to showcase your dedication to teaching? Participate in a minimum of 5 events per semester to be eligible for graduation honors.
Communication
Email Updates
After each meeting, SNEA sends out an email covering what we discussed, sharing resources, and updating members on upcoming events/opportunities. If there is ever an important messages to get out, or a long week to cover, we will send out a comprehensive update.
Calendar (–)
Anyone can view our past and upcoming opportunities on our TeamUp Calendar. Want to know everything we offer each semester? New events are added almost every day!
Members sign up for events to receive scholarship points and keep track of attendance. All information regarding time, date, type of opportunity, and links to more information are included on our Calendar. You don't have to sign up prior to an event, but it helps officers gauge interest.
GroupMe (–)
SNEA members interact on GroupMe to engage in professional and personal advice. Do you like making friends with other aspiring educators? Sharing advice/resources? Being the first to hear new opportunities and updates? Feel free to join and mute the chat whenever you need it.
Remind (–)
Want to be updated about events the day of? Sign up for our Remind!
Member Resource Drive
All resources including webinar recordings and notes, FTCE books, conference session resources, activities and lesson plans, pedagogy and classroom strategy, resume samples, and helpful tips/websites can be found in our resources drive.
Participation
It's REALLY easy to participate in events. We have so many every semester – with several online ones for easy access – that when creating your resume, you will need to pick and choose what to put! Can you imagine having too much experience on your resume?
Requirements
Have fun
Learn something new
Try and attend events
Feel better prepared for your first year
Make friends (yes, this is required!)
Officer of SNEA | University Board
Officer of SFEA | State Board
Officer of NEA AE | National Board
Social Media | Political Advocacy | Union Leaders | Guest Speakers | Interviews
How do we get so many events each semester?
Officers receive emails from schools/districts/teachers asking for volunteers
Annual events and agreements with companies like Scholastic
Officers actively search for new opportunities
UCF offers several on-campus opportunities
NEA/FEA want Aspiring Educators to be involved in everything they do
Annual SNEA Events
Scholastic Book Fair
Group KnightEd Talks
Read for the Record
Nemours Children's Hospital
Social Media Challenges
Community Project
Each semester, SNEA hosts a community outreach/political action/social justice/teacher quality project to coincide with our core values.
Volunteer (200+ hours/semester)
District Science Fair Judges
UCF Tour Guides
Education Day Escape Room
Oviedo High School Fall Festival
World Read Aloud Day at Nemours
Tuskawilla Literacy Night
.....and so much more!
Conferences
FEA Fall Delegate Assembly
Student FEA Spring Conference
NEA/FEA Training Summits
Minority/Women's Leadership
NEA Leadership Conference
FEA Summer Training Academy
NEA Aspiring Educators Conference
NEA Representative Assembly
Scholastic Summit
UCF-Hosted Conferences
SOURCES | Using Primary Sources in the Classroom
ISSS | International Society for the Social Sciences Conference
KnightEd Student Showcase | Student-Presented Conference
Literacy Symposium | Literature Primary–Secondary
Undergraduate and Graduate Research Showcase
Funding
Fundraisers
SNEA hosts fundraisers each semester to raise money for our organization. Almost all opportunities, events, and conferences are fully funded – we want members to experience these opportunities without the worry of money – so our organization needs to fundraise!
T-Shirts
SNEA also offers t-shirts for $15. Members and non members can purchase a shirt using PayPal or cash from any officer at most events.
NEA Grants
NEA provides chapters funding for projects as needed.
Scholastic
Because SNEA hosts the UCF Scholastic Book Fair, we receive scholastic points for free books (to giveaway during meetings and events!), scholastic resources, and fully-funded attendance at their summer conference.
Guest Speakers
Every F2F meeting is either a workshop or a guest speaker-led professional development session. We invite leaders in the education profession from all over to speak with UCF aspiring educators.
UCF Opportunities
KnightEd Talks (15+/semester)
UCF-hosted Conferences
Honors in the Major
Education Scholarships
Webinars
NEA-hosted (5+/semester)
Student Leadership (5+/semester)
Subscribed through SNEA (20+/semester)
Resources
NEA Resources
Access to all NEA resources for aspiring educators including lessons, activities, discounts, websites, research, and so much more.
SNEA Member Resource Drive
Pedagogy, lesson plans, conference notes, classroom management, assessments, strategy and data, resume examples, FTCE/GKT books, internship, substitute teacher help, and SO MUCH MORE.
FAQ's
Q. How often do I have to participate?
We encourage members to participate in 3-4 events each semester to remain active and eligible for graduation cords – but don't worry if you join us and then can't attend events your first semester – volunteer whenever you get the chance. We'll be here :) We encourage active participation – especially to earn scholarship points! – but we understand that members have work/school.
Q. Is my membership renewable?
Membership is $31 / year (12 months) and should be renewed each year that you want to be a part of our organization. Renew online when the time comes. If you continue your union membership when you're hired as a full-time teacher, you get all your aspiring educator dues back! If you decide you don't want to be a member anymore, just don't renew.
Q. Really? Only $31 for all this? What's the catch?
Our nation – and Florida specifically – is experiencing an education crisis. NEA realized that in order to retain and recruit aspiring educators and revive a dying profession, student teachers need to feel 1) supported 2) prepared 3) motivated. NEA and FEA set aside money and grants to support student programs to prepare aspiring educators across the nation for their first year of teaching. Some state program – including Florida – also have Early Educator Support programs from anyone within their first 5 years of teaching.