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 […]
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 […]
Ed-tech entrepreneur is veteran Utica elementary teacher This year MEA member Jonathan Marceau is watching the dream he shepherded to reality take on a life of its own out in the world. A veteran elementary teacher in Utica Community Schools, Marceau launched his award-winning app—Spelling Safari—in mid-August from an idea that has stayed with him [...]
Any successful basketball team is made up of players motivated to come to practice every day, set new goals, and achieve personal bests. Getting students excited about coming to school and learning is no different, the staff at Hughes Elementary School in Marshall has found. In 2012 the state flagged Hughes as a Focus School […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor As a young person right out of college, MEA member Jennifer Sepetys had all she’d imagined for herself, living in Chicago with a friend and working successfully in advertising sales. But something was missing. She decided to do volunteer work tutoring kids at Cabrini-Green, a public housing project in […]
Mici Bos and David Rudzinski are MEA members from different sides of the state, but both are career changers who chose to become educators from deep self awareness and commitment—and both recently completed a virtual MEA book study on Teaching When the World is on Fire. Edited by acclaimed education researcher and MacArthur Fellowship recipient […]
East Jordan teacher Matt Hamilton has been selected as one of only five teachers nationwide to receive this year’s Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence, one of the highest honors in public education. Hamilton, a teacher at East Jordan Middle/High School in Charlevoix County, is the founder and leader of the school’s renowned “Shoe Club.” […]
By Jessyca Mathews Carman-Ainsworth High School “Ms. Mathews, why don’t we have Black History courses here?” I’ve heard this question often over two decades of teaching. In fact I asked the same question as a student at the same building – Carman-Ainsworth High School (C-AHS) in Flint – where I now work. For many years, […]
MEA member Jessyca Mathews teaches her students to find their passions and bring individual strengths to bear in shaping their world. Like all great educators, she lives her values and continually stretches her talents toward achieving big goals. Mathews is widely recognized for the senior English class she teaches at Carman-Ainsworth High School (C-AHS) in […]
It was a tragic event during Becky Halamka’s high school counseling career — a student suicide — that profoundly impacted her and brought to light the need for better mental health support within the educational community. “It was very clear to me in that moment that I wanted to provide mental health support for others,” […]
