November 21, 2024

By Shaniya Golden-Riddle

Kappa Delta Pi is an International Honor Society for educators that focuses on leadership, scholarship, and community service among those who aspire to teach. The organization is for undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Education who are committed to teaching and growth. Undergraduate students who have attained a 3.5 GPA and graduate students who have a 3.4 GPA are welcome to join this group. Learn more from David Nguyen, a second-year education student who is president of the organization.

Q: What is the purpose of Kappa Delta Pi?

Nguyen: The purpose of Kappa Delta Pi is to foster excellence in education and promote fellowship among those dedicated to teaching. Of course, this definition is pulled right from our charter, but in a less formal definition, Kappa Delta Pi is meant to build a network of educators who are working together to better the lives of their students through community work and partnerships.

Q: What kinds of events do you host and organize?

Nguyen: We work alongside FEDs (Future Educators of Drexel) quite frequently and collaborate to run events like Game Nights, Movie Nights, and informational sessions for many of our Drexel undergraduate colleges at the SoE. We also have assisted faculty in this year’s Science of Reading Day event, as well as running school drives and fundraisers for local schools in the Philly area.

Q: How do students benefit from joining this organization?

Nguyen: I think students who join KDP benefit from joining a network of committed and dedicated educators. KDP holds great prestige in terms of its legacy, so having that membership stays with students. I think another great benefit is being able to interact and meet different and new types of educators, allowing us to expand our mindsets. Of course, we benefit from being able to help our community the SoE as well.

Q: What is the recruitment process like? What are the requirements for joining this organization?

Nguyen: Students will be invited to apply to KDP based on their GPA with a formal email going out to them sometime during the late-Winter/early-Spring terms. Once invited students complete their application and return it to the KDP board for review, a formal induction ceremony is held at the end of Spring Term for new inductees alongside our Senior Send-Off.

Q: What are your goals for Kappa Delta Pi for the academic year?

Nguyen: For this academic year, we are hoping to collaborate further with FEDs and do more events for all of the new students in the SoE. We believe that the kinship that we all share is so

important to our educational careers and want to guarantee that all new and incoming students for the SoE are a part of that as well. Another goal we have is to plan trips for KDP to get us more involved in the educational discussion at a government level. One such trip would be to go to Harrisburg and meet with education officials and better understand the hardships the system is facing today.

Q: Is there anything else you want people to know about the organization?

Nguyen: I would want people to know that we are still growing, and membership and the application process is not as daunting as it might seem. We are hoping to plan a trip to Harrisburg and meet with statewide officials sometime in the future to discuss the future of education and what we as the future educators can look forward to from our lawmakers. Trips like this are just the start of the experiences that KDP can give to students.