Blog
Webinar on School Drinking Water Safety
A recording is now available of a webinar held on Friday, Feb. 12, discussing important state guidance on how to restore drinking water safely in school buildings that are reopening. The webinar was offered to educators by the Whitmer administration, including the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Department of […]
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 […]
Tell Lawmakers to Send ALL Federal COVID Relief to Students, Schools Today!
Lawmakers in both the State House and State Senate are delaying release of bipartisan federal education funding meant to help schools address the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing political maneuvering instead of distributing taxpayer dollars the way Congress intended. Michigan House Republicans passed a proposal that made distribution of these critical funds to schools contingent on the […]
Launch Michigan: Michigan must boost funding for students with special learning needs
MEA President Paula Herbart and Small Business Association of Michigan CEO Rob Fowler – who both serve as co-chairs for Launch Michigan – teamed up for an op-ed in Bridge Magazine calling on the state to boost funding for students with special needs: The COVID-19 pandemic has taught our state many things. The biggest lesson is this: Michigan’s most […]
Member Spotlight: Mat Brown
Mat Brown, an MEA member who teaches engineering technology in Birmingham Public Schools, recently joined a panel discussion on issues surrounding Native Peoples in Michigan. A member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Brown was one of four panelists in the talk, moderated and livestreamed by former Michigan Teacher of the Year […]
Gary Mishica: His Work is Hobby, Joy, Passion
When he was a high school sophomore, MEA member Gary Mishica already had a collection of old cars and buggies to work on, so his parents shouldn’t have been surprised to find another vehicle when they returned to their Copper Country home from a (rare) vacation. They “flipped out” to see an orange 1942 Ford […]
Shana Barnum: ‘It’s heart-wrenching’
Shana Barnum is known as a principal with “one foot in the classroom” since she taught K-6 for 20 years before becoming an administrator in Mason in 2017. From that vantage point, Barnum is worried by what she sees. She knows her staff is overtaxed and overstressed—just like educators across the state. Two early career […]
Danya Stump: Building Preschool Potential
MEA member Danya Stump knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher, but she didn’t figure out until college that she wanted to be a preschool special education teacher. The impetus for her direction was a little boy she was assigned to work with at the early child development center where […]
A Year for the History Books
Among the first educators in Michigan to receive a COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 11, MEA member Mark Carlson thought back on the past and society’s liberation from smallpox and polio, terrors vanquished by vaccines long ago in the U.S. The Armada math teacher also dared to look forward for hope. The mix of feelings was […]