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
NEA Report: Student Debt Hinders Educators
NEA has released a first-of-its-kind report on the impact of a growing mountain of student loan debt among educators. The report, “Student Loan Debt Among Educators: A National Crisis," found that no segment of educators is immune from the burden of student loan debt – not young educators, not older and more experienced educators, and certainly not educators of color.…
Aspiring Educators of Michigan Wins National Award
The Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM) – MEA’s pre-professional wing made up of college and university student members – has taken home a national award of excellence for the second year in a row. Kate Singer, Molly Carlin, and Brittany Perreault AEM leaders were honored with the 2021 NEA Aspiring Educators State Excellence Award at a newly redesigned ceremony in…
Don’t Miss It – Register for Engaging New Peer-Led Summer Webinar Series
MEA member Brian Dalton learned how to survive a difficult endurance event while training to compete in four Ironman races in his 40s, and he discovered it wasn’t much different from strategies he used as an educator to successfully make it through a school year. Just as in a brutal race involving a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile…
Aspiring Educators Find Community in Service
In an annual tradition made difficult by the pandemic, aspiring educators from Michigan State University have again completed a service project at an area school to show appreciation to educators and see firsthand the power of community in education. The group of about 20 future educators spruced up a staff lounge at Waverly Middle School in Lansing, cleaned up the…
Expanded Conference Draws Aspiring and Early Career Educators
MEA member Owen Bondono may have been the keynote speaker at MEA’s Aspiring and Early Career Educator conference in March, but Michigan’s reigning top teacher began his speech by acknowledging he just as easily could have been an attendee. “I have now had the honor and privilege and terrifying responsibility of being Michigan Teacher of the Year for 246 days,…
Education students seek changes in teacher prep program
EAST LANSING — Members of MEA’s aspiring educators program, Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM), have begun an effort to enact changes in the Teacher Preparation Program in the College of Education at Michigan State University. AEM members who are education students at MSU have created the group “Empowering Spartan Educators,” and are working to create a teacher preparation program that…
Conference Appeals to Aspiring and Early Career Educators
MEA member educators in the first 10 years of their careers are invited to join university student members for a newly expanded MEA conference in March that will deliver professional development, networking opportunities, and training sessions. Participants at the free virtual event on Saturday, March 20, will discover classroom tips to put to use the following Monday. But they also…
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…