By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor One of Karen Moore’s proudest accomplishments as Grand Blanc West High School secretary is the “zen room” she created a few years ago—outfitted with soft lights, gentle white noise, a lilac-scented diffuser, and coloring books, crayons, and puzzles. It’s a testament to her powers that she convinced the building principal to give […]
By Robyne Muray In a recent professional development that I attended in my district, the presenter discussed how our biases can distort our intentions and lead to inequity. I had a flashback of a time when I was an offender—when my unconscious bias directed my interaction with a student. Many educators have been facing up to similar uncomfortable truths this year amid […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor During college, MEA member Anthony Pennock worried about whether he could ever be accepted as a gay man in the classroom. Now the sixth-year special education teacher is co-chair of MEA’s new LGBTQ Caucus. Pennock believes in “the power of one.” One teacher. One counselor. One bus driver. One […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Eric Curtiss thought he had a high number of students in his English classes last year when his numbers topped out at 144. This year he has 168, although the number fluctuates. Last year he had five preps, the most in his 22-year career. Now he has […]
More than 450 educators from Capitol‑area school districts stretching from St. Johns to Holt, Okemos and Lansing returned to their school duties armed with some health and safety essentials courtesy of their local unions. Every year, several MEA units combine their efforts in a late August back-to-school bash that draws hundreds to a family cookout […]
About 625,000 essential workers who continued performing their frontline duties during the height of the pandemic in Michigan are eligible for free college tuition, under a program announced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “This initiative is Michigan’s way of expressing gratitude to essential workers for protecting public health and keeping our state running,” Whitmer said at […]
By Robyne Muray As an historian, I never thought I would witness the life-altering experience of a pandemic. I believed our medical advances made us far more sophisticated than those living through the 1918 flu pandemic. However, persevering through COVID-19 has changed my perspective about who I am and what my professional future holds. Teaching […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Michigan last March, MEA member Chris Thomas found himself in a unique position to help other educators in the district where he worked – Ann Arbor – get up to speed in figuring out how to deliver remote learning. Now he’s doing the same […]
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Owen Bondono quickly got down to work as the new Michigan Teacher of the Year (MTOY). Just a few weeks into the role as advocate and voice for the state’s educators, the Oak Park language arts teacher began surveying school employees on their thoughts about returning to […]
A fanciful watercolor painting titled, “Even Cows Deserve a Vacation, Bovine Beach” won the Best in Show Award at the 56th Annual MEA MAEA Art Acquisitions Purchase Exhibition. The piece was one of two accepted into the show from MEA-Retired member Thomas Thiery, a retired art teacher from Adrian. The painting features a dreamy depiction […]
