Bluebonnet ACEI: 2006-07 in review.

Members of the Bluebonnet Chapter of ACEI, at Texas A&M University in College Station, were actively engaged during the 2006-07 year through meetings, service projects, and a co-sponsored event with other organizations.

During the monthly meetings, guest speakers provided knowledge and inspiration. A school district "teacher of the year" shared tips for instructional effectiveness, a school superintendent addressed laws related to confidentiality, a personnel director shared wisdom on successful job interviews, and a district Head Start coordinator and trainer on Conscious Discipline demonstrated positive approaches to classroom management. The last program of the year was a successful Make-It-Take-It event, created and led by our own president, who had just finished student teaching. These programs were open to all early childhood and middle school preservice students within the College of Education.

In conjunction with the local chapter of Phi Delta Kappa and the department of TLAC, we cosponsored a College of Education-wide event with Douglas Wood, a noted children's author, artist, and musician from Minnesota, for a two-hour performance. More than 100 people attended. He inspired many preservice teachers to use music and storytelling in their future classrooms.

Community service is always a big part of the chapter's goals for each semester. This year was no exception and found many members engaged in such activities as leading children and families in activities during a country fair at a local elementary school, creating a sunshine box of activities for a 7-year-old who had just lost her sight to cancer, volunteering at the local children's museum, hosting craft tables at a local park during Christmas, and guiding children in art activities during a fund-raising event by the Kiwanis Club for children's organizations within the community.

In all activities and events, the goal was for these ACEI members and future teachers to make a difference within the community, the college, and local schools, as well as in their future classrooms.

--Jennifer McNair and Alondra Bulka,

Co-Presidents; Nancy Self, Adviser