Wendy Winston, a middle school math teacher in Grand Rapids Public Schools, has been named the winner of MEA’s 2026 Maurine Wyatt Feminist and Gender Equity Award. Winston’s lengthy and impressive resume includes advocating for students — including girls seeking futures in STEM — as chair of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI-STEM Advisory Council. She was […]
Retired Ann Arbor special education teacher Kathy Kosobud has been named the winner of MEA’s 2026 David McMahon Human Rights Award. Initially, Kosobud set out toward a career in theater design, but after college, she shifted to education and applied her manual arts skills in pre-vocational settings for children with disabilities, spending many years as […]
A longtime advocate for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ students and educators, Carman-Ainsworth teacher Frank Burger has been named the first recipient of MEA’s new Gerry Crane Human and Civil Rights Award. A 28-year educator in the Flint-area Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools, Burger advises Carman-Ainsworth’s Prism Club, a place for LGBTQ students to come together […]
Clarkston Community Schools teacher Daniel Clason has received the 2026 MEA Educational Excellence Award for his instructional leadership and creativity as an eighth and ninth-grade history teacher at Clarkston Junior High School. A Michigan native who taught in Mississippi and Texas before coming to Clarkston in 2022, Clason embraces project-based learning, helping to run projects […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (May 20, 2026) Contact: Matt Hamilton • matthamilton@ejps.org • 616-916-6569 For 18 years, Shoe Club Nation lived in a single Michigan middle school classroom. This past school year, it lived in four. Today, founder Matt Hamilton announced that the program will expand to ten additional Michigan schools for the 2026-27 academic year, […]
The Michigan Education Association announced the recipients of the 2026 MEA Scholarship on Monday, honoring exemplary public school students from across the state who will be attending a Michigan public university in the fall. The MEA Scholarship Fund Trustees selected 24 new award recipients, each receiving $2,000. In addition, 22 already enrolled in college will […]
MEA’s Statewide Screening and Recommendation Committee, comprised of everyday educators from across Michigan, met on Saturday, May 9 to interview candidates for governor and then discuss potentially recommending a candidate for the gubernatorial election. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson accepted MEA’s invitation to participate […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor For MEA member Brian Dalton, everything he’s learned about life — and teaching middle school kids — can be summed up in a project that he’s worked on since January and will culminate in a sold-out public performance on June 2 at The Roxy Rochester. Preparations inside his classroom [...]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Erik Meerschaert, a special education teacher at Lake Orion High School known for his positivity and leadership in providing inclusive opportunities for all students, was named the 2026-27 Michigan Teacher of the Year on Wednesday. “I’m without words… Being a part of this community and watching the […]
Chedrick Greene won big in Tuesday’s special election in Senate District 35 in Saginaw, Bay and Midland counties, thanks to support from local educators who recommended his candidacy to fellow MEA members. When Greene takes office shortly, the Senate majority will return to a 20-18 advantage for the Democratic caucus. As an MEA recommended candidate, Greene […]
