Over the weekend, Cumby ISD students qualified for the state TAFE (Texas Association of Future Educators) Contest in three different areas.
The Cumby students participated in the 2021 TAFFE Area 6 Conference, hosted at Region 8 Education Service Center on Dec. 3, 2021. At lease five of those students are state qualifiers.
Madison Carson and Shelby Saragosa were recognized for participation in professional development events, Macie Morales in teacher created materials-middle/high school, and Neely Hammond and Savannah Kurn in interactive bulletin board-elementary. These students are all state qualifiers.
The Cumby future educators program was started in a previous school year thanks to a Texas Education Agency Grow Your Own grant, which helps districts “grow their own educators” to keep in the district.
TAFE Area 6 includes school districts in Rains, Wood, Upshur, Harrison, Van Zandt, Smith, Gregg, Rusk, Panola, Henderson, Anderson, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Shelby, Angelina, San Augustine, Sabine, Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, and Marion counties.
The Texas Association of Future Educators or TAFE (pronounced “taffy”) is a co-curricular statewide non-profit (501c3) student organization created to allow young men and women an opportunity to explore the teaching profession. The organization was created in 1984 to provide the best and brightest high school and middle school students in Texas with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions about pursuing careers in education.
TAFE is sponsored by the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals and is governed by a board of directors comprised of teachers, students and principals.
TAFE is one of the nine Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) recognized by the Texas Education Agency. TAFE is the newest CTSO recognized in Texas. This recognition has not been granted to a student organization in Texas in the past 20 years, according to the TAFE website.
