Student educator organization to partner with music educators

The Student Oklahoma Education Association provides opportunities to learn beyond the classroom.

The student organization is a version of the public school system’s teachers union, The Oklahoma Education Association.

Dr. Lisa Delgado Brown, associate professor of education and SOEA advisor, said the club tries to maintain relevance in the education field and host events that will be of student interest.

“As a professor, it’s fun to help scaffold for my students ways they can take a more active role in education,” Delgado Brown said. 

Elizabeth Sughrue, English education senior and SOEA Chapter President, said the primary purpose of the organization is professional development.

“We want to make sure the students who go into the classroom when they leave OCU are well-equipped to handle a variety of different scenarios they might encounter as a teacher,” Sughrue said. “We will often cover topics in our meetings that we don’t necessarily get to talk about in the classroom.”

Although SOEA does not have a regular meeting time, they meet about three times each semester.

Sierra Paul, theatre and performance/education senior, said the meetings vary in format and content. 

“Sometimes we’ll have guest speakers, and other times we’ll have presentations from upperclassmen and professors on topics relating to education,” Paul said. “Last year, I remember presentations about teaching students that speak English as their second language. Another time, we had a lawyer speak to us about how to protect ourselves legally when interacting with students.”

This semester, Delgado Brown said the organization will be partnering with music education students and the Collegiate National Association for Music Education on campus.

The two student organizations will collaborate at SOEA’s second meeting of the year where a speaker from the state division of OEA will give a presentation. The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 in room BL01 of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music.

“We’re trying to build a community between the two organizations,” Delgado Brown said. “We want to combine forces and allow the students to feel more connected beyond the classroom.”

Paul said being a part of SOEA is beneficial for all students, not only education majors.

“Anyone whose major potentially deals with children should consider attending an SOEA meeting because we talk about a wide variety of topics, and it’s very helpful,” Paul said.

To get involved with SOEA, email Delgado Brown at lcdelgadobrown@okcu.edu for more information.