Southeast Tech Students Attend Educators Rising Conference

Four Southeast Tech Early Childhood students and one instructor made way to Madison last week to participate in the 2020 Educators Rising conference at Dakota State University. The conference is the second annual conference in South Dakota. The inaugural conference in 2019 was held at Southeast Tech.

Educators Rising provides passionate young people with hands-on teaching experience, sustain their interest in the profession, and help them cultivate the skills they need to be successful educators. The conference also includes competitive events such as Lesson Plan Delivery, Creative Lecture, and Children’s Literature.

Corina Arnett, Nadine Hegge, Destinee Roth and Audra Shelton, who are all fourth-semester students, were each assigned a leadership task.

Arnett assisted instructor Loretta Leloux in presenting a session called “Play is the Cornerstone of Early Education.” There were 30 students that attended that session.

Hegge and Roth set up and worked a vendor booth, visiting with interested high school students.

Shelton assisted Leloux as a competition judge in the lesson planning competition.

“The conference was a great opportunity for both myself and the students,” Leloux said. “It is wonderful to see the students doing such a great job taking an active role in these events.”

In South Dakota, there are 14 Educators Rising chapters with more than 200 total members.

The Southeast Tech delegation also accepted a plaque in acknowledgment of hosting the 2019 event.