by Augustus Macholl, NJAEA Diversity & Justice Chair
Kean University has officially established its chapter of the New Jersey Aspiring Educators’ Association! We are excited to announce that we have a long list of events and meetings planned for the semester, and hope to see a large turnout. Our main priorities for this semester are to grow membership and to expand our presence on campus and in our community. All students who are interested in making a difference are encouraged to join, regardless of major. All meetings are educational, explaining the benefits of being in the union, being a leader and sharing opportunities with as many students as possible.
Our executive board is made up of three members; our president, secretary and treasurer. Our president, Augustus Macholl, is a Junior Early Childhood Education major with a minor in American Sign Language. He is excited to introduce new students to the union and plan trips to new events this semester! Our secretary and treasurer, Aiden Wagner and Yuka Bertram, are both STEM – Math Education majors in the 5-year BA/MA program. They have just begun getting involved on the state level and have been essential to our planning and growth this year. With them, we have two new ambassadors, Abigail and Kelley, who have been very active, between meetings and convention, and have been doing an amazing job connecting our organization to the NJ Aspiring Ed as a whole.
We are kicking the semester off with a long list of events and meetings for students to take part in! We want to do everything we can to engage and connect with students and future educators within Kean University. Between general body meetings, study sessions and general events, we plan on engaging a bigger demographic of students, inviting more than just education majors to join us. We will be doing classroom visits throughout the year, recruiting new members who want to get involved and make a difference.
We started off the year with our general body meetings, and jumped straight into events. We had a Back-to-School event in September, and have planned a ‘Friendsgiving’ and educational event for November, a game night and a study session for our Finals in December! Our biggest event of the year will be kicking off the NJAEA Service Week on Dec. 7. We are excited to host the first of the series on our campus and connect with local chapters! Our General Body meetings are every Monday from 5:15 – 6p.m. in the Center for Academic Success, Room 341. We are looking forward to hosting more large events in the spring semester, and cannot wait to share those plans!
This year is looking ahead for the chapter. If you want to get involved or partner with us, please feel free to reach out and we will be happy to connect. You can reach out to us via email at kunjaea@kean.edu or at any of our social media accounts, @keanunionaea!