Cypress Ranch saw another unbelievable advancement as 15 Texas Association of Future Education (TAFE) students placed at the regional competition and will move on to state competition, which will be held Jan. 30 at the University of Houston Downtown.

Students Natalie Chavarria, Jessica Cortez, Araceli DeLosReyes, Sam Badeaux, Kayliegh Buckley, Megan Graham, Zoe Miller, Autumn Novosad, Shay Nicholson, Alayna Nunn, Brittney Robinson, Taylor Seibel, Lexi Sharp, Erica Shepherd, and James Sowell will be heading to state in January.

At the regional competition, Cy Ranch students advanced in a variety of events. Three students scored high enough on Education Learning and Fundamentals Test to advance, and many others placed in events such as Teacher Created Materials, Differentiated Lesson Plan, and Chapter Scrapbook.

“I learned what it takes to be a teacher and what goes into the whole process,” senior Jessica Cortez said. “I learned a lot about how different classrooms work.”

TAFE’s importance to the students allows them to get a taste of what it feels like to be and do what they want as their career in life. It lets them know if its what they want to do for sure or not.

“TAFE is important especially for people who want to be teachers and don’t know what they want to do yet,” Cortez said. “It’s a really good way to see if that’s really what you want to do with your life.”

Winning this competition impacts all of their futures easily by giving colleges an excuse to look at them and see that they have more than just potential to become teachers.

“I think it was a great experience to get exposure to teaching,” Cortez said. “It’s a fun experience, being in TAFE,” Cortez said. “I’m really glad this class is something offered to us.”