Education Student Addresses Seminar

The Males for Alabama Education (M.AL.E.) Initiative, under the leadership of Dr. Lena Walton, dean of Alabama A&M University’s College of Education, Humanities and Behavioral Sciences, hosted a virtual seminar entitled “Effective Teachers Understand that Teaching is Hard Work.”

Education alumnus Juwan Simpson was the seminar speaker.  An educator for five years and currently serving in his third year at Liberty Middle School in the Madison City School district, Simpson attended The University of Alabama on a football scholarship. Upon completion of his college football career, he was signed as a free agent for the Green Bay Packers in 2007. He then went on to play eight years in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Calgary Stampeders.

Simpson reminded seminar participants of the hard work involved in teaching, stressing that successful educators are knowledgeable of their content and are effective in classroom management.  They also build relationships with students and colleagues, and they understand how to adapt based on the needs of learners. Simpson reminded participants of how emotionally taxing the profession can be, as well as how teachers and teachers-in-training could overcome the challenges of teaching.

The Males for Alabama Education (M.AL.E.) Initiative hosts monthly seminars for program participants, faculty, students, and invited guests. M.AL.E. is a scholarship program focused on the recruitment, retention, and preparation of minority males to become PK-12 teachers in Alabama’s public schools. The M.AL.E. Initiative provides tuition and other financial assistance for undergraduate and graduate students.

Persons interested in becoming a participant in the Males for Alabama Education program should e-mail M.AL.E. Program Coordinator, Dr. Larry Collier, at larry.collier@aamu.edu, for more information.