McNeese to Host Geaux Teach Event for Area High School Students

The McNeese State University Department of Education Professions is hosting its first “Geaux Teach” event for area high school juniors and seniors who are interested in the teaching profession Friday, Jan. 19.

Sixty students from 10 area high schools in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes will get a first-hand look at what it takes to be a teacher from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in Farrar Hall.

The students will tour the facilities, rotate through sessions that will illustrate how to make teaching hands-on and engaging in a classroom, participate in creative contests and participate in a Q&A with McNeese faculty and students, according to event coordinator Dr. Katie Williams, assistant professor of education in the Burton College of Education.

This event is funded by a Pinnacle Excellence Award received by Williams in fall 2017. These awards were established by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. – the parent company of L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles – to recognize outstanding faculty achievement in each of McNeese’s six colleges. Faculty members from the colleges present proposals and the selected recipients each receive a $5,000 stipend to help with their project.

“I am grateful to receive the Pinnacle Excellence Award, which helped the department fund this innovative event that promotes education professions as a career,” she said.

The focus of her proposal – Geaux Teach – is on recruiting 11^th and 12^th grade students from area high schools in the five-parish area of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jeff Davis who are considering education professions.

“With Geaux Teach, we want these interested students to come to our campus to experience what teaching is all about and what McNeese’s Education Professions Department has to offer,” says Williams. Area school board members and school board personnel have been invited to the event.

She is excited to see the student response to the Geaux Teach event. “We want to interact with these students who share an interest in the teaching profession and have a passion to teach in the classroom.”