Events at the McKay School: EE Ball and the Benjamin Cluff Lecture

Rachel O'Malley

McKay Student Ambassador

Elementary Education

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The EE Ball!

An old tradition, the EE ball is a dance with the BYU Engineering College and the BYU McKay School. They welcomed all majors to come and enjoy the dance. The dance took place March 6th, at 7-10 pm in the Wilk East Ballroom. Students dressed up in formal attire and danced their hearts out with glow wands. There was corn hole, and a variety of refreshments for students to enjoy. I had such a blast dancing with my friends and enjoyed meeting different people from a variety of majors. Sharing laughter, dancing together, and enjoying wholesome fun helped us feel more connected to each other and reminded us of the joy and light that comes from living Christlike principles.

Benjamin Cluff Jr. Lecture

This year, Norma González spoke on "Engaging with Funds of Knowledge." González is a professor at the College of Education at the University of Arizona.

I attended the Cluff lecture and hearing from Norma González was a privilege and an honor. She began by tracing historical theories and ended with providing hindsight into her teaching experience. She emphasized her beliefs in the power of stories as they are our theories of life. I enjoyed hearing how she saw the sociocultural theory approach by having students interact together. I also agree with how she described establishing relations of trust to learn about families and documenting these experiences which is something I want to do as a teacher. I want to also make sure to engage with and embrace complexity and practice making the familiar strange in my classroom to become a more reflective teacher. I appreciated how she described that engaging with students' lives is not always unproblematic or neat and we may have to reflect on issues that are difficult and complex. When she describes that teachers should be researchers, I was inspired to want to include research in my future experiences as a teacher. Overall, I enjoyed going to the lecture because I left filling more uplifted about teaching and excited to apply the ideas in my future classroom.

If you want to read more about her work, her books include I am my language: Discourses of women and children in the borderlands and was co-editor of Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities and classrooms.

Sip n Study

Every Thursday, I look forward to stopping by the McKay Commons to grab a soda! I love getting Dr. Pepper Zero with Peach and Raspberry flavorings. It's a great pick-me-up that helps me get through my long day of classes, work, and homework. I especially love seeing so many McKay students loving and serving each other.

Walk and Talk

Every week when there is a devotional, students meet in the McKay Commons and walk down together to the Marriott Center to watch the devotional. This is a great way to meet friends and find other education students to sit with at the devotional. It's always fun discussing afterwards how what was taught applies to being a teacher. Last week, Elder Cook discussed the importance of truth in eternal principals in our world today. I reflected on how as a future teacher, I need to be able to receive revelation and understand truth to best help strengthen my students and help them reach their divine potential. As I ponder in the Temple each week and study the scriptures, I look for truth that will help me become a more loving and Christlike teacher.

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Schedule an appointment with a student ambassador here to learn more about the McKay School and how to get involved.