Teachers & K-12 Certified Educators

MEA member Lindsey Wilson holds a position in Lowell Area Schools that rarely existed in Michigan school districts just five years ago. Wilson is a behavior coach, assigned to address needs of students exhibiting the most challenging classroom behaviors. She doesn’t work directly with children most of the time. Like an instructional coach, she brings an expert perspective to help…

In her three decades as an educator, Hayes Elementary art teacher Christine Lakatos never considered herself an environmentalist. Yet Lakatos and her students at the Westland school for years created art using egg cartons, paper towel tubes and other household items that otherwise get tossed. Under Lakatos’ leadership, Hayes Elementary, part of Livonia Public Schools, achieved Michigan Green School status…

By William Renner Hastings Area Schools William Renner teaches a one‑week summer manufacturing camp that delivers big payoffs for students at Hastings Middle School. We all know one of the greatest joys of teaching is when a light bulb goes on for a student who grasps a new concept for the first time. That’s what I loved about hosting a…

MEA member Kossi Komlassan, a math teacher in Gladwin County’s Beaverton schools, was promoted from captain to major in the Michigan National Guard in a ceremony before the sophomores he teaches. MEA member Kossi Komlassan has led soldiers in combat and teenagers in math class. Both of those identities recently came together in one room at Beaverton Junior/Senior High School…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Always working on new projects, Smith aims to expand artistic expression and opportunities in the city. “When I leave the world, I want to be empty,” he says. Big themes recur throughout the story of Grand Rapids art teacher Stephen Smith. Trauma. Grief. Hopelessness. Then creation, connection, community. Images and ideas return like motifs…

At MEA’s Winter Conference in February, four 2025 MEA Awards for Human Rights and Excellence were presented to exemplary MEA members. Instructional Excellence Award: Nicki Strach Nicki Strach A 10-year paraeducator in Reed City and vice president of her local union, Nicki Strach has worked to implement innovative literacy programs while making sure every one—regardless of behavioral or academic challenges—feels…

 Ed-tech entrepreneur is veteran Utica elementary teacher  This year MEA member Jonathan Marceau is watching the dream he shepherded to reality take on a life of its own out in the world. A veteran elementary teacher in Utica Community Schools, Marceau launched his award-winning app—Spelling Safari—in mid-August from an idea that has stayed with him ever since his student teaching…

Any successful basketball team is made up of players motivated to come to practice every day, set new goals, and achieve personal bests. Getting students excited about coming to school and learning is no different, the staff at Hughes Elementary School in Marshall has found. In 2012 the state flagged Hughes as a Focus School for the gap between its…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Jennifer Sepetys designed and won approval for a Positive Psychology class at West Bloomfield High School in 2021. As a young person right out of college, MEA member Jennifer Sepetys had all she’d imagined for herself, living in Chicago with a friend and working successfully in advertising sales. But something was missing. She decided…

Mici Bos and David Rudzinski are MEA members from different sides of the state, but both are career changers who chose to become educators from deep self awareness and commitment—and both recently completed a virtual MEA book study on Teaching When the World is on Fire. Mici Bos Edited by acclaimed education researcher and MacArthur Fellowship recipient Lisa Delpit, the…