FLOYDADA, TX — The Floydada chapter of the Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE) continues to make its mark as 14 students have officially qualified for the 2025 TAFE State Competition after an impressive showing at the Area event in Levelland last weekend.
Sixteen Floydada students traveled to compete, showcasing projects ranging from instructional lessons to public speaking, bulletin board designs, and creative teaching materials. Their hard work and preparation paid off, earning them multiple qualifying spots across a variety of categories.
Below are the Floydada students advancing to State, along with the events in which they qualified:
• Wesley Crowe – STEM Lesson, Project Visualize, Inside Our Schools
• Tavianne Bullock – Ethical Dilemma, Creative Lecture, Impromptu Speaking
• Jessica Alaniz – Teacher-Created Materials, Interactive Bulletin Board
• Serillo Deleon – Children’s Literature Pre-K
• Paola Sotelo – Educators Rising Moment
• Toby Zepeda – Impromptu Speaking
• Natalie Garza – Instructional Bulletin Board
• Siann Salazar – Project Visualize
• Marissa Lopez – Educators Rising Moment
• Heidi Paz – Project Visualize
• Marisol Delafuente – Inside Our Schools
• Sofia Salas – Instructional Bulletin Board
• Amberlyn Martinez – Inside Our Schools
November 14th, 2025
This column is written by students and teacher leaders from TAFE (Texas Association of Future Educators).
Competition is over, for now.
We did so well at the Area competition in Levelland last Saturday. We took 16 students and 14 of them qualified for State competition.
From instructional bulletin boards to interactive STEM lessons that we had to write and deliver… we all put our best foot forward. We planned our lessons, backed them with TEKS and research, and delivered with all the confidence we had.
As the teacher leader of our TAFE chapter, I am BEYOND proud of every TAFE student for pushing their fear, anxiety, and their nervousness into their project, and coming out on top. It is hard for students to do this. We see it in sports as well. “Leave it all on the court/field”… easy in theory, but hard to practice.
I had many talks with students outside competition rooms who had shaky hands and even anxious tears. “This… the shaking… THIS is energy! Push it into the right place. Repeat after me… My name is —— and I am representing Floydada Collegiate High School, this is my project”, followed by deep breaths and reassurance that they were ready. They WERE ready! But, they needed to believe that too.
These kids prove to me every day that WE CAN do hard things and we can push barriers down. They impress me every day. Watching their confidence grow is the best thing I get to experience!
So, now we fine tune what we do, and get ready for State in February! In the meantime… If you see a TAFE student, tell them how amazing they are, and how proud we are of their hard work.
