EAST LANSING — The following statement can be attributed to MEA President Paula Herbart regarding the ongoing efforts by Oakland University’s faculty union to settle a fair contract: “From Pre-K through Higher Education, nothing is more important to student success than having quality educators. To attract and retain exceptional people in our profession, educators deserve […]
State Superintendent Michael Rice added his voice to the growing chorus of educators pushing back against Republican-led efforts to ban teachers from discussing issues of race and racism in the classroom. “To choose to ignore race and racism in our teaching is to efface or erase history, implicitly or explicitly, and to shortchange our children, […]
Every school community has numerous dedicated employees who spend their day in support of educators and students. Michigan’s Education Support Staff Professional of the Year program exists to honor these outstanding staff members, and nominations for the 2021 award are now open. Those working in educational support staff roles such as transportation workers, cafeteria workers, […]
Click to view online. In this issue: Above and Beyond: MEA Member Gary Cooper Aspiring Educators from Michigan Win National Award It’s our job to help students become more tolerant, inclusive Focus on Recovery Wellness Academics Family and Community Engagement’ School Climate and Post Secondary Opportunities Education Policy Celebrating #MiEDChamp Stories Pushed by COVID, Trailblazing […]
MEA member Leah Porter knows the power she holds as an early childhood educator to spark a love of learning in students that will stay with them forever. She remembers one who lit hers. She still gets choked up thinking of her second grade teacher at North Elementary School in Lansing, Mrs. Henderson, who simply […]
It won’t be easy for MEA member Becky Lesh to retire at the end of this summer from the Waterford district where she’s lived for 27 years and worked for two decades. But she finds consolation in wins that her education support professionals unit has secured under her leadership. In her five years as local president, […]
For MEA member Henry Stallings, systemic racism and bias is nothing new in the U.S. “As a Black man, I live this every day,” he says. But one thing is changing, he believes: public awareness of issues surrounding marginalized communities in America. With the May 25 one-year anniversary of the brutal police killing of George Floyd, which sparked worldwide […]
Utica second grade teacher Casey Joss will start her 18th year in the classroom this fall, but the MEA member hasn’t forgotten the struggles and uncertainties of being brand new to the profession. In fact, it’s become her passion to remember those early days with clarity—so she can develop meaningful ways to directly help today’s […]
by Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Jacob Blanton used to have trouble focusing in school. The soon-to-be Lincoln Park sixth grader remembers a few years ago when he would “get mad and stuff and keep on getting distracted,” but now he knows how to calm his anger and reset his brain so it doesn’t feel impossible […]
by Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Two years ago, in October 2019, MEA member Audrey Debri took a step toward a long-dreamed-of goal to spend more learning time outdoors with her Young Fives students. In a clearing underneath tall conifer trees on property next to the K-1 building where she works in Cedar Springs, Debri and her husband […]
