Clubs and Organizations

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.