After becoming the first student in FTI to advance to the national competition, senior Tiffani Jones brought home second place in her e-portfolio and also placed in the top 10 with her speech over why she wanted to be a teacher and how involvement in Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE) and Future Educators Association (FEA) have impacted her.
“I knew that I wanted to do the best I could do and it’s really hard for me to talk in front of people,” Jones said. “I get really shy, but what drove me was my relationship with God and knowing that I wasn’t doing it for myself but for the glory of God. It really helped me push and know that whether I made it or not, everything was gonna be okay.”
FTI is an organization that allows students to travel to elementary and middle schools where they observe classrooms and direct student instruction. Every student in FTI has to complete a portfolio over the course of their time in the program.
After advancing and placing second at state with her e-portfolio and fifth place with her speech, she traveled to the national competition in Minnesota with her father and FTI sponsor Sandra Thompson.
“It was really cool,” Jones said. “We went to Mall of America, which was amazing. I walked the whole thing. The Minnesota area is really pretty. You walk everywhere and everyone’s walking. It’s kind of like New York, but a lot slower.”
During the competition, she also attended workshops where she learned about different ice breakers and teaching methods to use in the classroom. She specifically remembers how shocked she was at the awards ceremony.
“The way it worked, you saw your name on the screen and if you see your name, you know you were in top 10 and then after that, they called the top three,” Jones said. “Seeing my name already I was super excited to hear my name being called. I was shaking and everything.”
Jones says she will encourage the other FTI members to keep going by letting them know how rewarding it has been to see her hard work lead her somewhere.
“At the beginning of the year when we were asked what we wanted to compete for in regionals, I was not thinking ‘I want to do my e-portfolio so I can make it to nationals,’” Jones said. “[Other members should] start off and know that your hard work will pay off at the end. And I know that everyone can do it.”