Educators Rising and STEA Support Aspiring Tennessee Teachers

For a high school student in Tennessee weighing a career in teaching, the path from first curiosity to a classroom of one’s own now runs through a single connected pipeline — and alongside it, two other organizations are shaping how the state educates its youngest learners and its homeschooled children. The Tennessee Education Association reported that Educators Rising, its pre-professional organization for aspiring educators, operates a three-tier membership system — local, state, and national — that links future teachers to leadership development, conferences, competitive events, scholarships, service opportunities, networking, and professional learning.

The stakes are practical: as students move from high school into college or an educator preparation program, the Student Tennessee Education Association (STEA) carries them forward, and together the two groups create what TEA describes as a connected pathway — Educators Rising → STEA → TEA & Professional Educator. The association notes that its resources for aspiring educators are currently being updated, and directs inquiries to Tommie Leaders at [email protected].

A Pipeline Built in Three Tiers

The structure matters because each tier does different work. At the local level, students build leadership inside their school chapter. At the state level, they connect and compete with future educators from across Tennessee. At the national level, members can advance to national competitions, conferences, recognition, and leadership opportunities. It is a ladder with rungs at every level, designed so that a student never has to re-enter the profession from scratch when crossing a boundary.

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That design sits inside a broader ecosystem of Tennessee education groups, each serving a different population. The Tennessee Home Education Association, TNHEA, describes itself as providing services for families pursuing homeschool success “from the comfort of your home,” grounding its mission in Deuteronomy 6: “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way.” Meanwhile, the Tennessee Association for Children’s Early Education, TACEE, has spent over 71 years supporting the state’s early childhood educators, with co-presidents Candyee Goode and Kathy Ennis emphasizing that “the foundation of a strong future begins with our youngest children.”

TACEE’s Roots Shape Lasting Member Bonds

TACEE’s account of its own history is a study in institutional longevity: since its establishment, the association says, it has built a community where “learning, leadership, and lifelong connections flourish,” with many members forming lasting friendships through conferences, membership meetings, and service on local, state, and regional boards. Its stated commitment runs from professional development to explicit equity work — TACEE affirms it is an anti-racist organization and says it has identified barriers affecting children, families, and educators across the state.

Educators Rising and STEA Support Aspiring Tennessee Teachers — Photo: tnhea.org

Candyee Goode and Kathy Ennis, Co-Presidents of the Tennessee Association for Children’s Early Education, stated that all children deserve the very best early childhood education, and that starts with having loving, knowledgeable, and well-prepared educators by their side every day.

Read side by side, the three organizations trace the full arc of how Tennesseans encounter education: TACEE at the earliest classroom years, TNHEA for families teaching at home, and TEA’s Educators Rising for those training to enter the profession itself. They differ in whom they serve and how — one through chapters and competitions, one through homeschool support rooted in scripture, one through decades of early-childhood advocacy — but all three converge on the same premise: education works best when the people doing it are supported, connected, and prepared.

Teachers Make Tennessee

Where the Pathway Stands Today

For the aspiring teacher specifically, the immediate news is the pathway’s continuity. TEA presents Educators Rising and STEA as sequential steps rather than separate clubs, which means a student who joins a high school chapter does not lose momentum when they enroll in a preparation program. The association’s note that its resources are “currently being updated” is the one open thread — the pipeline exists, but its supporting materials are in transition as of this report.

What remains unanswered is how these three communities interact, if at all. TNHEA’s homeschool families, TACEE’s early childhood classrooms, and TEA’s future teachers each operate in their own lane, and none of the three reports describes a formal bridge between them. Whether a student raised in a TNHEA-supported home, enrolled in a TACEE-supported preschool, and later joining Educators Rising faces one continuous path or three distinct ones remains unclear.