Education Support Professionals (ESP)

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 and state Legislature prioritize public…

MEA member Darrin Watkins has been a paraeducator in Pontiac for longer than he can remember – somewhere around 30 years – and he has a few ideas about how special education could be restructured and resourced to improve services and keep people in the field. Darrin Watkins of Pontiac of Reed City discusses whatparaeducators need to be successful and…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor As Chandra Madafferi begins her tenure as president of MEA, anyone wondering what she will prioritize in the new role can look to her stewardship of the Local Presidents’ Academy (LPA) to understand what she values most in leadership. Systems thinking. Empathic listening. Transformative change. Chandra Madafferi A longtime teacher and union leader in…

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's team convened a conversation in July with food service professionals and MEA members from across the state to begin discussing the logistics around the universal free school meal program included in the recent state education budget. Veteran food service professionals, who nurture deep bonds with students, voiced their excitement about ensuring no kid goes hungry in Michigan…

Her unit was on the verge of decertification from MEA a little over one year ago when Nikki Clear took over as president of her local union representing transportation employees, food service workers, paraeducators, and secretaries. Now she’s won MEA’s Leon A. Brunner Award. Nikki Clear, a bus driver and local union president in Stockbridge, is this year’s winner of…

Paraeducator and union president Jessica Davenport and son Xavier, 13, moved into a Habitat home in Kalkaska over the holidays. (Photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity, Grand Traverse Region) In just over three years since she became co-president of her local support staff union in Kalkaska, Jessica Davenport has worked hard to rebuild membership numbers that had dropped low enough…

A few years ago MEA member Sarah Garrett set her hopes on nominating longtime Battle Creek Public Schools secretary Bernadette Gordier for an NEA award — believing her friend deserved national recognition for tremendous service to the school district and community. Sarah Garrett (above), a Battle Creek administrative assistant and union leader, is in the running for NEA’s ESP of…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor As a sign language interpreter, MEA member Heather Dew was taught to think of herself as the unseen part of a communication triangle: A speaks to B and B speaks to A, while she serves as “the invisible C” facilitating the exchange. Heather Dew and MEA President Paula Herbart after last week’s surprise ceremony.…

EAST LANSING – On Jan. 4, 2004, lifelong school bus driver Bob Hanchek made a stop on his afternoon route along U.S. 41 in the North Central Area Schools district in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula. With red lights flashing and two of his 15 riders coming up the aisle to exit, Hanchek recognized a big and fast moving railroad repair…

Over his 50 years of driving a school bus in North Central Area Schools in the western Upper Peninsula, MEA member Bob Hanchek says one day clearly stands out from all the rest. Bob Hanchek On Jan. 4, 2004, Hanchek made a stop on his afternoon route along U.S. 41. With red lights flashing and two of his 15 young…