By Eliza Khan (‘26)
As students come and go, SBHS supports clubs not only for their student interests but for developing future career paths. However, most students are drawn towards clubs that are well-known, leaving many underrated ones to go unheard of. Future Educators Association (FEA) is one of those clubs and is for students interested in pursuing a career in education. FEA offers the opportunity to develop teaching skills, explore the field of education, be a part of community service, and much more.
President of FEA senior Nidhi Gandhi shared her experience from being a part of the club for three years.
“I [love] this club because we made it our goal to be a part of the community by organizing events for children in the SB school district and working with non-profit organizations in New Jersey. As someone looking to go into the field of education, being a part of a club where I could practice my teaching skills and work with children helped me tremendously in figuring out whether teaching was something I was interested in,” she said.
FEA holds service projects, activities such as Saturday Morning Mania, storytimes, Staff Tea, and guest speaker events. This year, their events are strictly based on cooking, art, music, and science.
For their three-time event, Saturday Morning Mania, they first begin planning recipes for the children to make, which is not only a fun activity for them but will also educate them on the importance of good nutrition. This took place on November 19, 2022.
Their second event for this Morning Mania is based on art and music. They plan on teaching them different types of music and how to make instruments. This is scheduled for February 25, 2023. The third and last event they hold revolves around their science aspects. The club plans on creating hands-on experiments for children to simply enjoy and engage in. It will take place on April 29, 2023.
The advisor for FEA Mrs. Meryl Orlando shared the reason behind her 15-year career of teaching.
She said, “I became the advisor of this club because I love my job and working with children. Anything that I can do to support students, who also love working with children, is a valuable use of my time.”
In addition to helping her own students, the club takes on a year-long project helping other non-profit organizations including Homefront, Color-A-Smile, and Brunswick Acres.
From their most recent project with Homefront, they helped donate care packages. These packages included homemade blankets, books, and stuffed animals. Their project with Color-A-Smile, an organization that donates goods to children, included making artwork for children's hospitals and gifting them to young patients. The Brunswick Acres project involved creating mini-gardens for students to become educated about healthy food options and how to properly take care of the environment.
FEA encourages their club to come together as peers and work towards their goals. They provide lots of opportunities for participation hours and for new experiences. FEA is the perfect club for anyone interested in the field of education or interested in learning more about teaching and handling students. Not to mention how friendly and respectful they are to new club members. FEA deserves to be recognized, so if interested, students should try joining them! “We are a "small but mighty” club at SBHS,” states the club advisor.