A mid-career math teacher at Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores, Jamie Hitt co-created and leads the school’s peer-to-peer program — an elective course that brings together general education students and students with special needs to build leadership, empathy and collaboration. Winning a statewide award of excellence brought out many feelings, she said in […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Kelley Cusmano is the 2024-25 Michigan Teacher of the Year. In February, the Michigan Department of Education announced the 10 Regional Teachers of the Year who are finalists for the 2025-26 MTOY to be announced in May. Important work has been done in Michigan to attract new teachers into […]
Delegates to the 2025 MEA Representative Assembly (RA) on May 9-10 will elect one member to represent Michigan on the NEA Board of Directors. One member has declared candidacy for NEA state director. MEA Voice magazine publishes biographies and statements of candidates for statewide positions announced in advance of the annual RA where the election […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor If you follow the news, you might recall a huge budget crisis that burst on the scene in the Wayne-Westland School District as winter holidays approached 18 months ago, suddenly prompting threats to privatize busing and lay off dozens of employees. You may remember the local union mobilizing resistance […]
Click to view online. In this issue: LETTER TO MEMBERS: Celebrating Excellence for our students NEWS & NOTES: ICYMI — Educators define issues : You can help QUOTABLES AEM/MiNE: Growing Libraries with Representation MEMBER VOICES: Tuition-free community college changes lives COVER STORY: Michigan educator known for ‘shoe club’ wins NEA Award for Teaching Excellence AWARDS […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Nearly 30 years from the start of his labor activism as a graduate student organizer, MEA member Alec Thomson returned to his union origins on the campus of Wayne State University on Tuesday to protest the Trump administration’s draconian cuts to higher education and medical research. Now a union […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA members were joined by parents, students and other community allies in conducting Walk-Ins to Protect Public Schools across the state on Wednesday as part of a nationwide collective action organized by NEA and AFT to spotlight a powerful—and empowering—sense of unity. The morning events held outside school buildings […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Over a long career—first in the U.S. Army and now as a teacher in the career and technical education (CTE) field—MEA member Mike Cook has always used education and training to reinvent himself and build a resume of marketable skills. This year Cook began creating a new CTE program […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Under gray skies and cold wet weather—at the end of a long day in the classroom—first-year teacher Alexandra McCloskey stood in a puddle on a pedestrian overpass spanning Interstate-696 in Farmington Hills last week. She held a sign asking drivers to honk if they love public schools. McCloskey absorbed […]
