School of Education

Get Involved

education student

Showcase Your Talents

There are many ways to support activities across campus and the Decatur community as a student in the School of Education. A few ideas include:
 

  • Be inducted in to the national education honor society of Pi Lambda Theta, for teacher candidates whose GPA is 3.2 or higher.
     
  • Enroll in ED172 and travel to Chicago for a week long cultural exploration and school internship during the spring semester.
     
  • Volunteer at the Dennis Lab School and Millikin Community Garden.
     
  • Travel abroad for a semester, summer, or January term for a global experience that may lead to student teaching or international teaching after graduation.
     
  • Volunteer for Not Forgotten, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to developing awareness, resources, and partnerships throughout the Central Illinois communities for children and adults with special needs, their families and their educators. 

Local Travel

    Chicago Center Education Internship (ED 172)

    This weeklong Education Internship is designed in collaboration with the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture.  Students spend a week in Chicago and earn 40 clock hours toward the required 100 hours for the ESL or bilingual endorsement.  Students will have the opportunity to learn about bilingual program models and earn some of their clock hours as they observe and assist in bilingual classrooms.  Other hours are earned as students participate in community and cultural activities in some of Chicago鈥檚 diverse neighborhoods in order to raise awareness regarding multiculturalism for educators.  The Chicago Center Education Internship provides students with direct experiences in bilingual programs and diverse communities, important experiences for teacher candidates who will be working with bilingual children and students from diverse families in their future classrooms. (You can also observe Special Education classrooms based on your desired endorsement.)

    鈥淭he world has never been so densely diverse than I experienced it to be during the Chicago internship. I could see much of this reflected at the Allesandro Volta Public School, however none of the students, their cultures, or their languages were discriminated against, but encouraged by the school staff in a way to make a stronger and more unified and diverse population of students that are inclusive, open-minded, and who strive for their highest potential.鈥 (Sierra Cowan, Jan. 2017)

    鈥淭hough the immersion was short, it was meaningful because of the actual hands on experiences and the readings involved with the ED 172. Through it all, I gained so much knowledge and am very thankful for the opportunity of being able to see what it is like to teach in the Chicago Public Schools. I gained on my thoughts on multicultural appreciation, bilingual program systems, classroom settings, teacher perspectives, lifestyles of different communities, and so much more. With no doubt, everything that I learned will help shape me into a more round, well aware, and well prepared teacher candidate for the near future.鈥 (Heidy Perales, Jan. 2017)