Kailee Sanchez and Ava Gonzales (FCHS) advance to State in TAFE Competition (courtesy photo)
LUBBOCK, TX – Two aspiring future teachers from Floydada Collegiate High School are advancing to the state competition for the Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE).
Senior Kailee Sanchez qualified for a trip to the state competition based upon her original children’s book, “Jake the Jack o’lantern” and Freshman Ava Gonzales will advance after qualifying in the Public Speaking category at Texas Tech University over the weekend.
Sanchez’s inspiration for the book was her hometown of Floydada – also known as Punkin Capital, USA – that she wrote and illustrated, teaching pre-K kids about shapes.
Gonzales presented a 5-minute speech on how school systems are compensating for lost instruction time due to COVID-19 to make up any deficit in the learning process.
Floydada TAFE sponsor Pam Ricketts explains that TAFE is “an opportunity for future educators to compete in real world educational situations they will encounter”.
Competing is one thing, but winning is another especially since the Whirlwinds compete against every other school – regardless of size or classification – in Region 8.
The pressure to compete against larger schools (Midland High and Amarillo Tascosa) is something they don’t find intimidating based upon the team’s success in 2020-2021. Last March, Floydada won state in the “Professional Development” team category (consisting of Sanchez and recent graduate Kaylea Britt) defeating teams from the Metroplex and Houston.
The state TAFE competition will be held March 3-5, 2022 in Dallas.
