April 17, 2017
K-State hosts KNEA-SP spring 2017 Representative Assembly
Kansas State University recently hosted the Kansas National Education Association Student Program, or KNEA-SP, Representative Assembly April 7 in the K-State Student Union Ballroom.
The assembly highlighted the accomplishments of eight university programs: Kansas State University, Emporia State University, Emporia State University El Dorado campus, Fort Hays State University, Haskell Nations Indian University, Hutchinson Community College and the University of Kansas.
Makinzie Alamo, junior in elementary education, president; and Eileen Sieck, senior in elementary education, secretary, were two of four KNEA-SP state-level officers who led the event. Lori Goodson and Suzanne Porath, K-State advisors, helped welcomed students.
The guest speaker for the event was K-State alumna Jennifer Farr. Farr, a fifth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Geary County USD 475 and a 2017 Kansas Teacher of the Year finalist, shared tips on the first year of teaching and classroom management.
Awards and scholarships also were presented. K-State's student organization received the Local Chapter of Excellence award.
Sherri Schwanz, KNEA vice president, awarded two scholarships to K-State students: the George Frey Scholarship to Brianna Zweimiller, senior in education; and the Bruce and Diana Goeden Scholarship to Megan Mellring, junior in elementary education. Mark Farr, KNEA president, presented the KNEA President’s Scholarship to Alamo.
Nominations for next year's state-level officer positions of president-elect, secretary, and underclassman representative were also submitted, as well as nominations for the Student Leadership Conference and NEA Representative Assembly in Boston in summer 2017. The voting will be held electronically, with results released at a later date.
On April 8, 42 KNEA-SP members volunteered their time at the Outreach to Teach event. Students spent four hours working on various projects at Ogden Elementary School, and many helped prepare the Ogden Community Garden, founded in 2010 by David Atchinson, elementary music teacher. Atchinson's main goal for the garden is to provide fresh vegetables and fruit for the Ogden Community. One group prepared flower beds around the school and planted an oak tree on the west side of the school. Other students painted a shed at the community garden, ramps outside of classrooms, and walls within the school.
K-State's team leaders for Outreach to Teach projects were Mellring; Natalie Smith, junior in elementary education; Joey Paz, junior in education; and Haley Hamilton, junior in elementary education.