Competitive Events

The Job Interview Competition is an opportunity for FEA members to develop and practice their interview skills, as well as cover letter and résumé writing skills. In this competition, entrants apply for a position as a paraprofessional (position description can be found below). This includes submitting a cover letter explaining why the entrant is a good candidate for the position, as well as a résumé that details relevant work, volunteer, and educational experiences. The cover letter should complement, not duplicate, the entrant’s resume. The cover letter should explain the reasons for the entrant’s interest in the position and school and identify his or her own most relevant skills or experiences. The letter should express a high level of interest and knowledge about the position.

Judges will review the cover letters and résumés and — just like any job application/interview process — candidates will be interviewed for a paraprofessional position. Interviews will take place on-site at the FEA Regional Conference at FIU. The judges will act as the school district’s hiring committee and will ask questions of the job candidates one at a time. Since high school graduates are eligible to be employed as paraprofessionals in many districts, this competition offers an immediate opportunity for a real-world application of the work entailed in participation.

Click here to download the guidelines for the 2019 Job Interview competition.

Self-composure, confidence, and the ability to clearly articulate and communicate information are valuable skills for all educators. The Public Speaking Competition is designed to highlight students who demonstrate these qualities by combining thoughtful preparation and confident delivery into an interesting presentation on a current education topic.

Students participating in this competition will compose and deliver a speech of approximately 400 to 600 words (three to five minutes when spoken aloud) on the assigned topic. Contestants will be delivering their speech in front of on-site judges.

Twelve (12) entries total will be accepted for this competition. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Click here to dowload the guidlines for the 2019 Public Speaking competition

This competition offers students the opportunity to shadow and learn from highly skilled educators whose work takes place outside the core subjects. The purpose of this competition is to promote the impact that these instructional-support professionals play in the lives of students. Instructional-support specialists include but are not limited to:

Students will select one specialized instructional-support specialist and will shadow and interview him/her. Students will receive permission from the professional to job shadow him/her for a total of four hours. The four hours are not expected to be consecutive; rather they are accumulated over a period of several days or weeks and occur when the professional is actively engaged in his/her work.

Contestants will complete and submit the following two career-exploration documents by the given deadline:

A. Host educator’s verification form
B. Interview form

Students participating in this competition will create a trifold poster display that includes research on the profession and their experience during the job shadow and interview. Poster sessions are a common way to share educational research and developments at professional conferences. Judges and other FEA students will view poster boards during breakout sessions I and II at the conference. All competitors must stand next to their posters to answer questions and share their experiences.

Only two entries per chapter will be considered for this competition. Twenty-four (24) entries total will be accepted for this competition. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and will be limited to the number of participants.

Click here to download the guidelines for the 2019 Spotlight on Education Competition

The purpose of this competition is to promote original creative writing and illustrations, to develop presentation skills and to focus on the importance of using informative/explanatory writing to increase the understanding of the reader about a certain topic.

Creating an informational book will give you the opportunity to develop and learn key elements and vocabulary about a science or social studies topic and to share this information with an audience. This experience will also allow you to gain a deep understanding of the topic.

The first step is to decide what topic you would like to learn about. A list of topics is provided for you to choose from, however, you are not limited to those topics. If you are studying a topic of interest to you in science or social studies, then by all means pursue it!

The second step is to research and read about the topic, you will have a lot to write about. Suggestions for references would be 3 – 4 books on the topic and 3 – 4 websites.

The third step is to read, read, read the books and websites you have found on your topic. While reading write down important and interesting facts about what you are learning about your topic. From your notes, begin to organize the information in a way that you want to present it in your book. The content of your book must clearly reflect researched information that is accurate and informative.

Some suggested topics for informational books:

Click here to download the guidelines for the 2019 Writing Creative Non-Fiction competition

This is an individual competition. The purpose of the Essay Competition is to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their critical thinking and creative writing skills, as well as to explore teacher leadership and the wide range of roles teachers assume to support school and student success.

Twenty-four (24) entries will be accepted for this competition. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and will be limited to the number of participants.

Click here to download the guidelines for the 2019 Leadership in Education Essay competition

This is a team event. In this competition, the chapter must debate an ethical education-related dilemma. This competition requires members to think deeply about an ethical issue, employ critical-thinking skills, and use persuasive communication techniques to collaboratively debate an ethical dilemma.

To participate, each member of the chapter must first thoroughly consider the ethical issue and begin to form an individual position on the topic. Then the chapter members must debate the topic together, listening carefully to each other’s opinions. Through the discussion, the chapter members must come to a consensus on the topic and then prepare a ten-minute live presentation stating their chapter’s view.

The chapter must work as a team to develop the live, ten-minute presentation and then select at least four and no more than eight students from the chapter to present the chapter’s opinion and how it was reached to a panel of judges.

Four (4) entries will be accepted for this competition. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and will be limited to the number of participants.

Click here to download the guidelines for the 2019 Ethical Dilemma competition

The purpose of this competition is to work collaboratively to learn more about this specific learning
challenge and to produce a research-supported presentation to explain and to advocate for positive
practices in schools to support the education of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD). Based on 2017 data from the journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
that shows approximately 1.1 million students in the United States are misdiagnosed with ADHD and
over 800,000 are receiving medication due only to relative immaturity, how would you address
supporting students who have been diagnosed and are receiving medication for ADHD?

Team members should research intellectual disabilities and best practices to support the education of
students with intellectual disabilities. You are encouraged to embark on this research using traditional
sources as well as primary sources (ex. conducting interviews with individuals impacted by this
disability or professionals who support individuals with this disability, etc.). Then team members should
discuss the research in order to determine recommendations for their presentation.

Four (4) entries will be accepted for this competition. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, firstserved basis and will be limited to the amount of participants.

Click here to download the guidelines for the 2019 Researching Learning Challenges competition

Chapters will develop a display to feature the chapter’s mission and activities. The display is intended to highlight the chapter and school. Entries should also incorporate the conference theme, “Building the Future… One Mind at a Time”

The Chapter Display will be exhibited throughout the conference. All chapters attending the conference are eligible to participate.

Click here to download the guidelines for the 2019 Chapter Display competition