Educators Rising members meet during Beartime.

By Akil Brathwaite

Co-Managing and In-Depth Editor

Coming from the teacher academy, Educators Rising’s chapter at Hammond has big plans for the school year. Being a national organization, Educators Rising is a community-based movement aimed at helping students develop leadership skills that an educator needs in the workforce through service opportunities that promote these skills for the students in a way that gives back to the communities around them.

While stemming from the teacher academy at Hammond with the goal of building leadership  and other skills for future educators, the club and chapter at Hammond is open for anyone who wants to get involved, in the teacher academy or not, open for all. President of the club Julia Neidermyer describes it as, “a club that likes to help other people.” Although the club has experienced struggles with membership in the past, they’re hoping to foster more student participation this year to do more things and get more involved in the communities and schools they hope to help.

Hammond’s chapter of Educators Rising has various diaper and food drives as well as activities for American Education Week and Teacher Appreciation Week in November and May respectively. Looking more into the future, as a group the club is looking into doing other drives like books, old clothing, and playground equipment drives. They’re currently looking into working with Guilford Elementary once or twice a month, “to go volunteer at that school and go into the classrooms and help the kids,” Julia describes. 

Educators Rising is open for any student interested. There’s no official induction, being open to new members year round, and there’s no dues that members are required to pay. The meetings are held to brainstorm ideas and aren’t required for all members to be at, “but we just always like to have as many people as possible,” Julia explains. For anyone looking to rack up some service hours, whether for the 75 hour graduation requirement or for honor societies here at Hammond that require them, Educators Rising is just up their alley. There are a ton of service hours a student can acquire just by getting involved in their activities. The club itself is a fun time for everyone involved, so if you’re looking for a fun way to get involved in the community while also building up service hours in an enjoyable and stimulating way, Educators Rising is for you. Hammond as a school promotes getting involved in activities and your community; this is just another way to do so, and they would be happy to have you.