Upcoming professional development opportunities through the Michigan Department of Education will provide ways to improve school climate and safety for all youth, but especially those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning. Two workshops will be offered, designed for school administrators, school board members, Title IX Coordinators, teachers, GSA advisors, school counselors, school…
Something was missing from opening day in Grand Blanc Community Schools this year. For the first time in more than a half century, MEA member Vickie Weiss was not in attendance. In June she completed an astounding 55th year teaching elementary school in the district, and in August she passed away at the age of 79…
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Pardon the cliché, but MEA member Mallory Rivard is living her dream—and not only because she’s on her way to compete in the Miss America pageant representing Michigan in December. “My dream has always been to be Miss Rivard,” she says. “It’s always to be a first-grade teacher. It’s…
My View is a special series taking a ground-level look at big issues My preparation for a new school year follows a similar routine: buy new classroom supplies, organize and set-up the classroom, look over and revise lesson plans, and my favorite part—get to know my newest third graders. I can’t wait to meet the…
MEA member Nicole Haney has been heart-broken by images of immigrant children in detention. The news has forced her to imagine being separated from her one-year-old son, Liam. A Waverly schools instructional coach, Haney found inspiration to act in her own front yard. Two years ago, she and husband Dustin bought a Lansing home previously…
Skye Kapinus grade 4-5 teacher second year Lansing Public Schools “I appreciate the support that you get from being part of a union. You don’t feel so alone. I have this community with me; they’ve been through this before, and they know what I’m going through.” Brittney Maczala grade 2-3 teacher fourth…
Matt Cottone, a sixth-grade World Studies teacher at Van Hoosen Middle School in Rochester, has been selected as a 2020 NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellow. As a fellow, Cottone will spend a year in a peer learning network of 44 educators from across the country building their comprehension of issues of global significance and their…
It’s not about perfection, and it doesn’t move in a straight line. But it’s what we do as educators—always developing new ways to reach and teach our students. Given the freedom to try a different approach, we learn what works and what doesn’t and constantly hone our practice to prepare the kids we serve to…
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Robert Lurie feels a special connection to Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager whose diary became a classic of world literature after she perished in the Holocaust. Lurie’s father was a Jewish American soldier who fought in World War II to liberate Anne and others, and his 90-year-old…
Center Line math teacher Robert Boccomino retired on June 14 after a 25-year career in education, but that didn’t stop him from showing up at the Michigan Capitol four days later to fight for the future of new and aspiring educators coming up behind him. “I’m doing this for the younger teachers, because now by…
