The Future Educators Club strives to support American River College students who are working towards degrees and careers in the education field, according to Robyn Borcz, faculty advisor for the FEC and professor at ARC.

The club was started by Borcz and her co-advisor Marie Jones with the goal to offer support and assistance to students and faculty as they progress through complicated academic and career paths.

“We want to support all those who want to work with students: teachers of students of all ages, instructional assistants, special educators, speech and language pathologists, and school counselors,” Borcz said in an email to The Current.

According to Borcz, the FEC holds monthly meetings to discuss the process of becoming a teacher or educator. All of the members share their personal experiences to help inform students of what they can expect during their time in school.

“We explore topics that are important to future educators,” Borcz said. “For example, we have had meetings about self-care, transferring to four-year universities, and getting jobs and experience in the field of education.”

The meetings allow students to develop their leadership, organization, and communication skills. Borcz says club leaders play a huge part in helping club members build confidence and a sense of community for students working to join the education field.

“Club members have the opportunity to gain useful information for their academic and career paths, and they can build community with other students who are interested in similar paths,” Borcz said. “They also get the chance to network with professionals in the field and faculty and counselors in their disciplines.”

Borcz says the club is developing a Canvas site because of the importance of sharing academic and career information. The club hopes to post important information about workshops for applying for preschool teaching certificates, deadlines for transfer students, and any other important information that students should know.

The FEC is currently working on a children’s book donation project to add a number of children’s books to the ARC library. Borcz says the addition of books would allow for ARC students to read with their children as they work on their Early Childhood Education and education classes.

“We got recommendations from students and ARC faculty for books that had themes of diversity, inclusion, and a positive sense of identity,” Borcz said. “In collaboration with Sarah Lehmann of the ARC Library, we came up with a list of 46 books for children and young readers and delivered these to the ARC library.”

The FEC will be holding monthly meetings on Feb. 28, March 28, and April 25 at 6 p.m. on Zoom. Students interested in participating in our meetings can reach out to Borcz ([email protected]) or Jones (j[email protected]) for more information.