By Nicole Droscha Third-grade teacher Mason Public Schools “We are a team, we stick together. We are here to help everyone learn and grow in our classroom.” I can still hear those words being spoken by my second-grade teacher, Mrs. Frank, nearly 34 years ago. She had no idea how powerful her words would be…
It was nearing the last day of school in June, and second graders in MEA member Sally Howell’s Saginaw-area classroom patiently awaited a special unveiling. With their classroom full of dignitaries and unfamiliar visitors, the youngsters listened patiently as various speakers talked excitedly of what was about to happen and why. Bridgeport-Spaulding Superintendent Mark Whelton…
By Cara Lougheed Michigan Teacher of the Year 2019-20 “I know there’s been a lot of advice against going into education these days, but I have to say I feel a little sorry for people who don’t get to hang out with teenagers on a regular basis. They are lovely & funny & life‑renewing &…
Center Line math teacher Robert Boccomino retired on June 14 after a 25-year career in education, but that didn’t stop him from showing up at the Michigan Capitol four days later to fight for the future of new and aspiring educators coming up behind him. “I’m doing this for the younger teachers, because now by…
Yvonne Williams wants MEA’s Education Support Professionals to banish a word from their vocabulary: “Justa.” “It would not be unusual to hear one of our colleagues say I am justa bus driver, I’m justa secretary or I’m justa custodian,” the recently retired MEA Northern Zone Director told attendees at the ESP Statewide Conference in Port…
Three MEA members—a bus driver and two teachers were honored with association awards during the MEA Winter Conference in February and the MEA ESP Statewide Conference in March. Marti Alvarez won the Leon A. Brunner Award for her work on behalf of students and union members in her roles as a bus driver and union…
MEA member Chris Erickson remembers early in his teaching career when he was easily discouraged by defeat, because he didn’t realize change takes time and persistence is a skill. A shift in his thinking happened when he attended NEA’s Teacher Leadership Institute (TLI), a fellowship program creating a national network of teachers to mobilize, advocate, and lead on…
By Jessica Lumbreras MEA Political Action Organizer When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pitched her budget plan to lawmakers last month, proposing the biggest increase in public education funding in a generation, I know that many of you felt something you hadn’t experienced in a long time. Hope. It might have been just a glimmer. Maybe you worried about letting it…
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor One morning last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sat in a rocking chair to speak with a classroom of fifth graders in Jackson after reading to them from a picture book, What Do You Do with a Chance? The students had conducted research on the governor before her visit, and they asked her questions…
Incoming third graders next fall will be the first group whose spring test scores will be used to determine if they move on to fourth grade or not, under requirements of the third grade reading law passed by state lawmakers in 2016. Many questions remain about how the law’s mandates will work in practice. One…
