Aspiring Educators of Wisconsin (AEW) is where you can design your career as a future educator and receive support. As part of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), students can join the organization through Connect2. Alternatively, you can participate by attending the organization’s regular meetings. To become a paid member of the organization, you simply submit the membership fee.

While students from any major can join, the organization primarily focuses on education majors and those aspiring to enter the field. These programs are hosted mainly to help education majors feel prepared to enter the teaching profession. Therefore, simply participating in events hosted by WEAC allows students to encounter diverse topics through interactions with numerous speakers. This allows students to understand what to expect and show the resources and connections that exist to support them. The organization’s continuity provides students with professional development opportunities. It broadens their knowledge about diverse classroom matters, helps them bring many skills into the classroom, and fosters a sense of preparedness.

Consequently, members receive opportunities to attend conferences for professional development within the organization. They can gain field-related knowledge from educators currently working in the education sector.

This support isn’t limited to pre-service educators. Even after becoming actual educators, they can still receive support through the various stages existing within WEAC. Accordingly, AEW strives to recruit members to share as much of this information with students as possible.

“We’re here to support educators, and there’s so much support built in around. So, just building up that knowledge about it to every education major alike,” president Amber Henschel said.

At the organization’s meetings, they invite guest speakers to discuss behavioral interventions and how to apply these concepts in the classroom, and they also hold activities like bingo games. Additionally, they participate in conferences and collaborate with organizations across various campuses, providing opportunities to meet other educators throughout Wisconsin.

“My ultimate goal I want to achieve through this is to learn more about the NEA and the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and how the organization can support my teaching as a pre-service teacher and as a teacher when I have my own classroom,” said Elizabeth Toffel, a member of AEW. “A part of this goal is meeting educators, learning from them, and establishing connections that can support my teaching career.”

As Henschel put it, “like the connection that you make, connecting with other future educators,” members of AEW will be able to form connections with many educators and gain a broader perspective.