Raleigh Hightower
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
Murray State welcomed the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (IECE) club back to campus this fall.
The IECE club, which was founded in 2019, helps students interested in early childhood education find resources and provides a support group to ensure their success.
The IECE club is primarily dedicated to students who are part of the interdisciplinary early childhood education program.
Murray State’s IECE program is a CAEP-accredited program which prepares students to provide early intervention, care, and education for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten children with and without disabilities and their families.
The IECE program has recently been ranked #54 in the nation by University HQ for the best and most affordable IECE degree.
The IECE club is led by faculty advisor Mi-Hwa Park and president Alexis Fortner. The IECE club is also led by Freshman IECE majors Payton Howard and Carly Oglive, as well as juniors IECE majors Toni Marshall and Anna Higgins.
“I wanted to make sure that the program is doing something this year and to help get more students into the major because early childhood education is such a high-need field right now. I want to see the program succeed and get to the same size as, for example, agriculture,” Fortner said.
Fortner joined the IECE club in March of 2020, only a few days prior to Murray State’s transition to virtual learning.
Another goal of the IECE club is to connect students across the study of early childhood education and give them a community of other like-minded individuals.
“I personally decided to join so that I could surround myself with people who are just as passionate about helping kids as I am,” Carly Oglive said.
IECE members said they have found the ability to make friends within their major and the connection the IECE club provides to students studying IECE on other campuses valuable.
The IECE club bolsters a wide, diverse membership. Members of the IECE club include students from several Murray State campuses and current teachers. In order to make attendance and information convenient for all members, the IECE club hosts monthly Zoom meetings and sends out a newsletter to members.
This semester, the IECE club will host an event called the “Work of Children Gallery.” The event will feature works of art from local preschools. The art work will feature descriptions about the change in developmental domains children experience.
The gallery will launch on Nov. 16. at 5 p.m. and will remain open for viewing until Nov. 19 at 12 p.m. Assistant professor Jessica Branch is the main organizer of the event.
This event will not only feature the work teachers do in the classroom, but it also will serve as a fundraiser for the IECE club. A photographer will be present on launch night to take family portraits, which will cost $5, with the proceeds going to the IECE club.
Prospective students who wish to connect with the IECE club can do so by following the IECE club Instagram page, msu_iece.club, or by contacting a member of the executive board.
To support the IECE club and learn more about the development preschool age children experience, visit the Work of Children Gallery at the Alexander Hall Atrium from Nov. 16-19.
