Category: Public Schools Work

Lansing union launches ‘LSEA Safe’ campaign

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Regina Bluemlein In a time of heightened anxieties across the country, the Lansing Schools Education Association has launched a campaign to routinely remind young people of one core message: educators can be relied upon to protect, nurture and teach them. The “LSEA Safe” campaign followed on the heels of [...]
by Elena Helmer

Behavior? There’s a coach for that  

MEA member Lindsey Wilson holds a position in Lowell Area Schools that rarely existed in Michigan school districts just five years ago. Wilson is a behavior coach, assigned to address needs of students exhibiting the most challenging classroom behaviors. She doesn’t work directly with children most of the time. Like an instructional coach, she brings [...]
by Elena Helmer

Green Team promoting sustainability, science, leadership earns national status

In her three decades as an educator, Hayes Elementary art teacher Christine Lakatos never considered herself an environmentalist. Yet Lakatos and her students at the Westland school for years created art using egg cartons, paper towel tubes and other household items that otherwise get tossed. Under Lakatos’ leadership, Hayes Elementary, part of Livonia Public Schools, [...]
by Elena Helmer

An officer and a math teacher

MEA member Kossi Komlassan has led soldiers in combat and teenagers in math class. Both of those identities recently came together in one room at Beaverton Junior/Senior High School (BJSHS) when the third-year educator received a promotion in the Michigan Army National Guard in a ceremony before his family, school community, and the sophomores he […]

by Elena Helmer

Creativity points to passion, purpose: ‘Art is how I dealt with grief’ 

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Big themes recur throughout the story of Grand Rapids art teacher Stephen Smith. Trauma. Grief. Hopelessness. Then creation, connection, community. Images and ideas return like motifs in Smith’s remarkable personal narrative. A 37-year-old San Francisco native, Smith is a multi-faceted and award-winning artist, innovative entrepreneur, emerging community leader—and a […]

by Elena Helmer

Four exceptional educators honored with MEA Human Rights & Excellence Awards

At MEA’s Winter Conference in February, four 2025 MEA Awards for Human Rights and Excellence were presented to exemplary MEA members. Instructional Excellence Award: Nicki Strach A 10-year paraeducator in Reed City and vice president of her local union, Nicki Strach has worked to implement innovative literacy programs while making sure every one—regardless of behavioral […]

by Elena Helmer