MEA Resources for Census 2020

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor An image out of Dr. Seuss: Educators and their families — including the littlest ones — were joined by friends and community members in a Day of Action along Woodward Avenue in Oakland County last Thursday. In Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss, only the kindly elephant with his enormous ears can hear…

Reading the cover story about this year’s NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence winner prompts two thoughts: First – East Jordan’s Matt Hamilton is a truly exceptional educator. And – every student, no matter where they live, deserves a Matt Hamilton in their life. Matt’s work both in and outside of the classroom is more than worthy of the prestigious…

By Brenda Ortega and Heather Palo MEA Staff Matt Hamilton started the Shoe Club in 2008 to build students’ empathy, self‑confidence, and leadership skills. It was mid-August, the dog days of last summer, and MEA member Matt Hamilton looked like a mayor on parade walking down Main Street in East Jordan, a small town along the Jordan River in northern…

By Chris Curtis Chris Curtis is an award‑winning professor of psychology and former president of the faculty association at Delta College in the Great Lakes Bay Region. Like most professors, I’ve accumulated small gifts from students over my career: a Sigmund Freud pencil sketch, copies of Psychology for Dummies and The Journal of Irreproducible Results, a collection of Peanuts cartoons…

AEM President Aryana Jharia poses with student winners of the contest, who each received a gift card and book. The Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM) wrapped up their latest reading/writing competition with an awards ceremony for students who were asked to analyze which voices were missing from their school’s book collections. The “Growing Libraries with Representation” project, funded by a…

“We will use all the tools at our disposal—congressional action, legal action, and collective action—to stop the politicians and billionaires who want to defund our public schools.” —NEA President Becky Pringle, calling on members to get involved in pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on public education. NEA is signed on to two federal lawsuits: one challenging the executive…

Over a long career—first in the U.S. Army and now as a teacher in the career and technical education (CTE) field—MEA member Mike Cook has always used education and training to reinvent himself and build a resume of marketable skills. This year Cook began creating a new CTE program in Redford Union Schools, a western suburb of Detroit, to teach…

The MEA awards for Human Rights & Excellence are awarded at the MEA Winter Conference, MEA Summer Conference, and MEA Representative Assembly.  Nominations are accepted October 1 – December 31 of the previous year. Nominating individuals or groups must be MEA members in good standing. If the nominee to be considered is an MEA member, the person must be in good…

Nicki Strach A veteran paraeducator in Reed City and vice president of her local union, Nicki Strach has worked to implement innovative literacy programs while making sure everyone — regardless of behavioral or academic challenges — feels understood, valued and nurtured. For the last five years, Strach’s primary focus has been on emerging students at G.T. Norman Elementary School, helping…

Kaitie Paynich Spanish teacher Kaitie Paynich has helped students at Portage Northern High School feel safe and nurtured through her efforts to strengthen the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club and create a gender-affirming closet and free store open to all. Paynich was chosen to lead the program when it re-started in 2016. “It was super-heartwarming to see our students advocate…