Aspiring & Early Career Educators
MEA has two groups dedicated to supporting educators as they enter the profession: Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM) and Michigan New Educators (MiNE).
About AEM
The Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM) is a preprofessional organization for people preparing for the teaching profession in any of the higher education institutions in Michigan and who are not regularly employed as educators by an educational institution or agency. Local chapters at Michigan campuses improve networking amongst aspiring educators and expose members to professional learning opportunities and service projects that help prepare college students for fulfilling careers in education. Learn more at www.mea.org/aem.
About MiNE
Early career educators need connection and support to thrive in the job—which is the basis of a new MEA initiative starting a three-year rollout. The Michigan New Educators program, known as MiNE, aims to build community around new educators across the state to reduce attrition and empower the next generation of union leaders. The group facilitates networking among early career educators, including a podcast, a series of “2 Minute Teacher Tips, and more. Learn more at www.mea.org/mine.
Aspiring & Early Career Educators News
Member Spotlight: Kat Sibalwa
Last March Kat Sibalwa, Byron Center High School teacher and BCEA co-president, was set to talk about MEA with soon‑to‑graduate aspiring educators at Grand Valley State University. Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly she was teaching from home with two small children and a husband working in health care. Kat Sibalwa Had you presented to aspiring educators before? No. I’ve been…
Above and Beyond: Aspiring Educators Complete Adapted Service Project
Every spring, Aspiring Educators of Michigan State (AEMS) complete a service project at an area elementary school, but this year – like everything – the experience had to be adapted to mesh with new COVID-19 realities. “When the pandemic closed our (MSU) campus in March, we knew we had to change plans quickly,” said Brittany Perreault, AEMS president. The group…
Aspiring Educators host “Educators for Racial Justice”
MEA’s leadership is committed to exploring and addressing systemic racism, including how it has existed in unionism and public schools, said MEA President Paula Herbart, who participated in a recent MEA webinar on the subject organized by Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM). “We are committed to working hard and to asking people of color what they need from us and…
MDE Issues Remote Teaching Guidance
New distance learning guidelines have been issued by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), taking into account that 500,000 of the state’s 1.5 million students – one-third of the K-12 school population – do not have home internet access. Mostly teacher written, the document is designed to help district administrators and local union leaders who are required to negotiate and…
This is MiNE!
Early career educators band together to strengthen colleagues and the union By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor For fourth-year educator Danielle Werner, the stress of phoning parents about their child’s misbehavior or lackluster effort is one of the hardest parts of being a new teacher. (Left to right) Skye Kapinus, Danielle Werner, Brittney Maczala, Amanda Henderson “In general, I still…
Future Educators Give Service to Schools
Even though they haven’t yet started their teaching careers, the Aspiring Educators of MEA understand the importance of a nice staff lounge in bringing school employees together and combatting classroom isolation. Michigan State University AEM Chapter Future educators from AEM chapters at Ferris and Michigan State Universities spruced up dreary spaces to create comfortable and functional break rooms for employees…