This fall MEA member Arshen Baldwin was honored by the NAACP Saginaw Branch with its 2023 Young Professionals Award for playing multiple roles to improve her community – nearly 20 years after she took one of the hardest routes toward becoming a teacher. Baldwin started out as an untrained substitute in a classroom where her […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: We are saddened to share news of the passing of Juwan Willis on Jan. 2, and we send deepest condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and students. View Juwan’s obituary where you can also share a tribute or memory with the family. By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Juwan Willis is a man […]
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of its school librarian, Allen Park High School’s library was recently recognized as Michigan’s 2023-24 “Model 21st Century School Library.” The Library of Michigan’s “Model SL 21” designation, awarded to one school library each year, recognizes “high-quality school libraries and library media specialists” and aims to replicate their […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor At eight years old, Sid Halley learned his great-grandfather had mentored a young James Earl Jones to overcome a debilitating stutter and develop into a world-renowned and beloved actor – and he marveled that his mom’s grandpa taught Darth Vader of “Star Wars” fame. As he grew up, Halley […]
Federal leaders must fix an antiquated exemption that prevents teachers from receiving overtime pay, writes MEA member Audra DeRidder, a special education and fifth-grade teacher in Iron Mountain Public Schools, in a recent essay for the National Employment Law Project. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1935 (FLSA) is a landmark law that provides critical […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor When MEA member Megan Ake changed school districts from Farmington to Fenton five years ago, the first teaching tasks she felt pressured to master involved massive classroom-practice checklists and student-growth data mandates in the state’s evolving educator evaluation system. Instead of learning her students’ names, delving into a new […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor As a third-year school psychologist in the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (EUPISD), MEA member Cinthia Mendoza-Medina most certainly has not seen it all. But so far one thing has surprised the early-career educator in her role leading multi-disciplinary teams conducting risk assessments for students feared to be […]
The first time MEA member Fred McFadden attended Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) training 27 years ago, he was newly employed as a technician at an inpatient mental health facility in Auburn Hills, Havenwyck Hospital, and he didn’t believe the techniques would work. Nearly three decades later McFadden still works nights at Havenwyck, plus he’s a […]
By Debbie Carew In my wildest imagination I never expected to be harassed and defamed for being an educator, especially one who defends literature and intellectual freedom. But that is what I’m facing for standing up to protect students’ access to a variety of reading and educational materials. In Brandywine Community Schools where I teach […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor NEA President Becky Pringle and MEA President Chandra Madafferi serve free breakfast to students at Dublin Elementary in Walled Lake, the first stop of a two-day, four-district tour. NEA President Becky Pringle visited four school districts in Michigan last week to see what change looks like when a governor [...]
