Public Schools Work
MEA is committed to serving our members and sharing their triumphs and stories of dedication to their students and communities. Amazing educators are doing extraordinary things in the classroom and beyond – and we want to ensure communities know it!
Have a positive story about Michigan public education to share? Let us know at publicaffairs@mea.org (include any pictures or links when you email us).
Learn more about MEA’s efforts to spread the good news about public education at WeLovePublicEd.org.
Updates
MEA art exhibition celebrates 62nd annual purchase awards
From WILX News 10: https://www.wilx.com/2026/07/29/mea-art-exhibition-celebrates-62nd-annual-purchase-awards Andrew Monroe, 2026 Art Show award winner. The Michigan Education Association and the Michigan Art Education Association hosted the 62nd annual Art Acquisitions Purchase Awards exhibition, showcasing the artistic work of MEA teachers. The exhibit featured a variety of media, including paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and jewelry. Andrew Monroe, an art teacher from Fraser, won…
MEA member, ‘The Professor,’ worked Colbert show ‘Only in Monroe’
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor From left: Stephen Colbert, Maggie Robinson, former MCCC Agora editor; Jerry Gysin, MCM radio operations manager; Genevieve Benson, MCM creative director; Brian Burchette, MCM media coordinator; Karin Koek, MCM finance and development coordinator; and Matthew Bird-Meyer, Agora adviser. (Photo courtesy of Matt Bird-Meyer) Never as a journalist in metropolitan Kansas City, nor an assistant…
46 outstanding Michigan public school students awarded 2026 MEA Scholarship
The Michigan Education Association announced the recipients of the 2026 MEA Scholarship on Monday, honoring exemplary public school students from across the state who will be attending a Michigan public university in the fall. The MEA Scholarship Fund Trustees selected 24 new award recipients, each receiving $2,000. In addition, 22 already enrolled in college will each receive $1,000. “We are…
Rochester educator leads students in ‘School of Rock’-style benefit concert
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor For MEA member Brian Dalton, everything he’s learned about life — and teaching middle school kids — can be summed up in a project that he’s worked on since January and will culminate in a sold-out public performance on June 2 at The Roxy Rochester. Preparations inside his classroom at West Middle School in…
Special educator chosen as Michigan Teacher of the Year
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Erik Meerschaert, a special education teacher at Lake Orion High School, was named 2026-27 Michigan Teacher of the Year on Wednesday. MEA member Erik Meerschaert, a special education teacher at Lake Orion High School known for his positivity and leadership in providing inclusive opportunities for all students, was named the 2026-27 Michigan Teacher of…
As Artemis II heads to moon, a small town Michigan teacher is headed to NASA
From the Lansing State Journal: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/education/2026/04/06/as-artemis-ii-heads-to-moon-a-small-town-michigan-teacher-is-headed-to-nasa/89401671007/ Dee Smith In a few months, Dee Smith will make her way from Ashley - a small village of about 500 people located north of Lansing, traveling some 1,300 miles south to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas. Smith will be part of NASA's LiftOff Summer institute, which provides teachers with information and experiences…
Longtime champion for LGBTQ+ rights wins MEA award
Frank Burger A longtime advocate for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ staff and students, Frank Burger became the first recipient of MEA’s new Gerry Crane Human and Civil Rights Award, named after a west Michigan teacher whose tragic story inspired others to action. A 28-year educator in the Flint-area Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools, Burger advises the high school’s Prism Club,…
Grand Rapids math teacher wins MEA gender equity award
Wendy Winston As a union leader in Grand Rapids, when she discovered male and female teachers with identical resumes being paid differently, Wendy Winston worked to resolve the disparity. She cites the example for why the intersectional fight for gender equity and human rights must go on. In accepting MEA’s 2026 Maurine Wyatt Feminist and Gender Equity Award, Winston called…
Retired educator wins MEA human rights award for lifelong commitment
Kathy Kosobud Initially Kathy Kosobud set out toward a career in theater design, but she shifted to education after college and applied her manual arts skills to pre-vocational settings for children with disabilities, spending many years as a special education teacher in Ann Arbor. Following a long career advocating for fairness and creating access to opportunities for marginalized children, after…
Creative history teacher wins MEA Educational Excellence award
Daniel Clason Daniel Clason drew inspiration from a Mississippi blues museum for the centerpiece of his project-based approach in Clarkston: traveling trunks filled with American Revolution artifacts created by eighth graders as hands-on learning tools for fifth graders. Clason is the recipient of the 2026 MEA Educational Excellence Award for his instructional leadership and creativity as an eighth and ninth-grade…