MEA Voice Magazine - December 2020 Issue

EXPLORE TIMELY TOPICS IN MEA BOOK STUDIES Page 20

ESP OF THE YEAR: ‘THIS IS HOME’ Page 23

lovevirtually December 2020—January 2021 | Vol. 98 | Issue 2 | mea.org

LETTER TO MEMBERS

Let’s Move Forward Together Since March, writing this Letter to Members for the front of MEA Voice magazine has been like placing a message in a bottle to a future in great flux. This one is no exception.

As we write this, the 2020 General Election has been over for nearly three weeks and despite the fact that Joe Biden won decisively in both the popular vote and the Electoral College, President Donald Trump has yet to concede.

Republicans at both the state and national levels have been called on to support our democracy by recognizing President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris and rejecting efforts to disenfranchise voters of color in Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere.

It’s why the three of us participated in #CountEveryVote rallies in various Michigan cities in the days after the election as our swing state took the national stage at every step in certifying what experts agree was a remarkably free and fair election with historic turnout amid a pandemic.

As educators, we all know our public schools are the foundation of our democracy. We appreciated voters turning out en masse to speak forcefully in determining our country’s future. Now let’s move forward.

Paula J. Herbart President

We have many pressing issues to address, from a lack of school funding to institutional racism, climate change, a fraying social safety net, an economic recession and more. At the top of the list is the novel coronavirus.

As infection rates began to rise in the early days of November, we commissioned a survey of members two days after the election and turned around the results in less than a week to call attention to the alarm bell that educators were ringing.

With responses from more than 4,700 teachers and support staff the survey revealed: • Eighty-four percent are concerned about the safety of re-opening schools for in-person learning, with 71 percent noting specific concern for student safety along with their own.

• Nearly three-quarters believe virtual learning should be a part of their school district’s instructional plan.

• Ninety-one percent say mask wearing is being observed by school employees, and 78 percent report mask wearing among students all or most of the time.

Perhaps most telling: 68 percent of educators in districts that have not yet fully opened are doubtful schools can return to full in-person learning in January, as some districts are planning.

Our press conference drew coverage across Michigan and in other states. We applauded Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s move to close high schools and colleges, and we urged school districts to do a three-week pause with PK-8 buildings—a safety warning that many heeded.

The December issue of the Voice often lends itself to reflection, which is difficult with the ground still shifting under our feet. However, from the beginning of this crisis, MEA has fought for our members and the students to whom you’ve dedicated your careers.

We continue to advocate for safety first in supporting the tireless work of leaders and staff in the field, and we pledge to be with you in local action if your district refuses to listen.

Many difficult days lie ahead for our state and nation, but we can hold on if we hold strong together.

• Only 18 percent are witnessing social distancing among students at all times.

Chandra A. Madafferi Vice President

Brett R. Smith Secretary-Treasurer

CONTENTS

4 Editor’s Notebook In this together 8 My View Examining Bias 9 What it’s Like Covid Vignettes 18 What it’s Like First Person 26 Member Spotlight Union values

Executive Director �������������������� Michael Shoudy Director of Public Affairs ������������������ Doug Pratt Editor �����������������������������������������������Brenda Ortega Staff Photographer ����������������������� Miriam Garcia Publications Specialist �������������� Shantell Crispin The MEA Voice ISSN 1077-4564 is an official publication of the Michigan Education Association, 1216 Kendale Blvd., East Lansing, MI 48823. Opinions stated in the MEA Voice do not necessarily reflect the official position of the MEA unless so identified. Published by Michigan Education Association, Box 2573, East Lansing, MI 48826-2573. Periodicals postage paid at East Lansing and additional mailing offices. Payment of the active membership fee entitles a member to receive the MEA Voice. Of each annual fee whether for active or affiliate membership, $12.93 is for a year’s subscription. Frequency of issue is October, December, February, April and August. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the MEA Voice, Box 2573, East Lansing, MI 48826-2573 or via email at webmaster@mea.org. Allow at least three weeks for change of address to take effect.

MEA Voice telephone: 517-332-6551 or 800-292-1934. Circulation this issue: 111,344

12— COVID VIGNETTES: A limited series on what it’s like to be where you live and work.

16— ELECTION 2020: This analysis looks at where we stand, postelection and mid-pandemic.

13— COVER STORY: Professionals in the Kalamazoo Behavior Specialists Association help connect students with the tools and resources to succeed. Now they’re doing it virtually. L-R KBSA officers Tiombe Bey-Woodson, Sarah Collins, Tia Whitley.

20— MEMBER BENEFITS: Virtual book studies have been timely, popular and effective.

23— AWARDS & HONORS: The Mi-ESP of the Year is a cook who makes school like home.

MEA VOICE 3

NEWS & NOTES

Editor’s Notebook The other day I was reading about mental health and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nine months in, few of us can say we’ve escaped effects from the stress.

MEA member Karen Moore, president of the clerical unit in Grand Blanc, says that worry about herself or vulnerable loved ones contracting the coronavirus—with the threat it carries of possible death or long-term health effects—is always present.

Combined with ongoing national divisions over a contentious election, “It’s a lot,” said Moore, who’s worked at the district for nearly two decades, including 15 years as high school secretary.

Asked about her job, Moore starts by listing responsibilities and regular tasks—attendance, truancy and discipline; parent phone calls; tasks as assigned by the assistant principal; managing sick kids. Then she sums it up: “I’m like the mom.”

Moore (page 9) is one of several members who spoke with me for a limited series starting in this issue in which I ask union members and leaders to share what it’s like in the places where they live and work to continue advocating for safety while educating and caring for students.

MEA member Todd Bloch writes in first-person for the series (page 18) about why face-to-face learning feels unsustainable this year.

In short: overwhelming workloads, staffing shortages, strangeness.

“Administrators—and I’m talking superintendents—should be walking the buildings, seeing what’s going on, making sure everything is flowing, and seeing the struggles that teachers are going through,” Bloch told me. “If they’re not walking the buildings with their staff, why not?”

No matter how districts are operating across the state, whether fully virtual, in-person, or a mix, educators are having to figure out new ways of reaching, engaging and educating students.

For the MEA member Kalamazoo behavior specialists featured on the cover of this issue, that has meant bringing the tools to students working from home. Kalamazoo Public Schools have been virtual from the start of this school year.

In their work, members of the Kalamazoo Behavior Specialists Association identify resources and strategies to help young people find success in their lives. “I love being able to be the bridge between the classroom and the family, to assist not only the child in the school but the parent in the home,” said Tia Whitley, KBSA president.

Read more about the group’s efforts to create 400 wellness toolkits for students to use in their homes, and be inspired by their “whole child” approach, because we are all in this together.

—Brenda Ortega, editor

4 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

59

Percentage of Michigan’s non-metropolitan areas with access to broadband internet. In metropolitan areas, that figure jumps to 79 percent. Michigan’s 20-point gap between metro and non-metro children’s access to high-speed internet compares to a 10-point difference nationally. In three different measures of digital access, Michigan ranks behind many other states: 28th in Internet access, 30th in computers, and 33rd in broadband, according to NEA’s Digital Equity report, released in October in collaboration with Public Policy Associates using 2018 U.S. Census data. The report’s findings point to the need for the U.S. Senate to fund investments in digital access.

QUOTABLES “By all accounts, the playing field is certainly not level for students who face racial, economic and academic achievement challenges.”

Report on “Education Equity in Michigan,” released on Sept. 30 by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, which recommends a weighted funding formula to provide greater school resources in communities with more students who live in poverty, have special needs or are learning English.

NEWS & NOTES

Above and Beyond Every spring, Aspiring Educators of Michigan State (AEMS) complete a service project at an area elementary school, but this year the experience had to mesh with new COVID-19 realities. “When the pandemic closed our (MSU) campus in March, we knew we had to change plans quickly,” said Brittany Perreault, AEMS president.

The group had planned to paint classrooms and revamp a garden space at Mt. Hope STEAM School in Lansing, but all buildings in the

district have remained closed since March. Instead, gift baskets were assembled for the school’s teachers and delivered in November, filled with school supplies, personal protective equipment, classroom decorations and more. The AEMS executive board also held a socially distanced painting party to decorate a canvas for every teacher. “We have an appreciation for the work teachers do,” said Chloe VanSickle, AEMS vice president. “We wanted to do something to give to the teachers

who work so hard and constantly rise up to new challenges.” The aspiring educators say the annual service project helps them understand the importance of connecting with the community, developing relationships, and drawing on resources.

“These are eye opening and rewarding experiences that I will remember for the rest of my career,” Perreault said. The project was funded with grants and support from MEA and NEA.

QUOTABLES

ICYMI More than 70,000 essential workers have applied for the Futures for Frontliners program—a first-of- its-kind free community college tuition program for those who continued performing their frontline duties during the first wave of the pandemic last spring.

The deadline for applying is Dec. 31. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used discretionary dollars from federal CARES Act funding to launch the new program last summer, and applicants who qualify may begin their college studies as soon as January if they apply now. “I’m hopeful other states will follow our lead to create pathways to opportunity for people who’ve been on

the frontlines doing their jobs so we can all stay safe,” Whitmer said in a keynote address at the MEA Higher Education Conference in October.

Futures for Frontliners offers Michigan adults without college degrees who provided essential services during the pandemic a tuition-free pathway to gaining an associate’s degree or two-year certificate from a community college. The funding is not only available to those in the medical field, but also essential workers in schools, manufacturing, nursing homes, grocery stores, sanitation, delivery, retail and more.

Learn more at michigan.gov/ frontliners.

“Local union leaders feel the risk of spreading COVID-19 in schools, and having the virus come into the school community from outside of school, is just too great. Therefore, the KCPC urges the local health department to at least push the pause button and have all school districts in Kalamazoo County shut down for the next couple of weeks.”

The Kalamazoo County Presidents Council, in a mid-November open letter to health officials, school leaders and the news media. The council is made up of various union presidents from across the county, working together to raise awareness and press for safety steps as COVID-19 test positivity rates and deaths per million continued a steady climb.

MEA VOICE 5

NEWS & NOTES

UPCOMING EVENTS FEBRUARY 1-6 MEA Winter Conference VIRTUAL MEA’s 2021 Winter Conference will be a virtual event. Sessions will take place Monday through Thursday evenings from 6-8 p.m. and Saturday morning from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Save the dates and join us!

Every day we face new challenges in our profession, at the bargaining table, in the political arena and in the classroom. The MEA Winter Conference offers training in knowledge, skills and strategies to equip us to protect public education today and in the future.

FEBRUARY 22—MARCH 11 Art Exhibition Entries VIRTUAL This year artists can submit art entries online for the 57th Annual MEA/MAEA Art Acquisitions Purchase Exhibition, which also will be held virtually. Any member in good standing of MEA, MEA‑Retired or MAEA is eligible to submit artwork. No entry fee is required.

The annual purchase exhibit provides an opportunity to showcase the artwork of our members and to acquire artwork to enhance MEA offices across the state. Go to mea.org/art for an entry form and information on how to submit a digital entry between Feb. 22-March 11.

MARCH 2 Read Across America Nationwide Find high-quality digital resources for observing Read Across America virtually or socially distanced this year at nea.org/readacross.

There you will also find a wealth of diverse book recommendations and activities for “Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers.”

6 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

MEA Releases Statewide Survey Results On Nov. 17, MEA held a virtual press conference to release a statewide online survey of more than 4,700 educators which found a vast majority of educators are concerned about a full return to in-person learning as cases spike statewide.

The teleconference call with media garnered print and broadcast coverage of the survey’s results throughout Michigan and in other states.

“The health and safety of our public school students, educators and families has never been more important as we continue to see COVID-19 cases skyrocket across the state,” Herbart said. “This survey shows us Michigan’s public school employees are concerned about the safety of re-opening for full in-person learning, with their personal safety and that of their students and colleagues as their top priorities.

“With COVID-19 cases on the rise it has never been more important for our front-line educators to be involved in any decisions about a safe return to school,” she added. “We will bring the findings of our survey to policymakers and decision-makers so they understand what front-line educators are feeling and doing regarding this pandemic.”

Read more about the survey results at mea.org/ members-concerned-in-person-learning.

MEA Scholarships—Apply Now The MEA Scholarship application is now open. Interested applicants can find it online at mea.org/mea-scholarship. The application deadline is Feb. 18, 2021. Questions can be directed to Barb Hitchcock at bhitchcock@mea.org or 517-333-6276.

To be eligible for the MEA Scholarship, applicants must be a dependent of an MEA member or MEA-Retired member in good standing. The criteria for awarding the scholarships include academic achievement, extra-curricular activities, and school and community service.

The MEA Scholarship Fund is financed through voluntary contributions of members, staff and friends of the Michigan Education Association.

Since 1997, the MEA Scholarship Fund has provided more than $750,000 in scholarships.

Here to help:

MESSA case management nurses A diagnosis of a chronic condition or serious health issue can feel overwhelming. For MESSA members, our case management nurses provide support and guidance during difficult times.

MESSA’s case management programs are available at no cost to members and their covered dependents. In each program, participants work directly with a MESSA case management nurse, who helps coordinate communication with health care providers, set health goals and make a plan for attaining them.

Diabetes Case Management MESSA’s diabetes nurse educator, Rachelle Twichell, R.N., provides essential information, encouragement and guidance for individuals with Type 1, Type 2 or gestational diabetes to help reduce the risk of more serious complications.

“I do an assessment for each member I work with, and at the end of it we talk about goals,” Twichell says.

“We get into a lot of education, and talk about how to manage diabetes, but I also provide a supportive environment. Usually people want

to be heard, and want to talk through what’s going on.”

their doctor and implement the plan effectively.

Cardiovascular Case Management MESSA nurse educator Cathy Scott-Lynch, R.N., works with members with cardiovascular issues to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke and to control high blood pressure. She provides education on understanding key numbers that affect cardiovascular health, as well as how to recognize complications.

Participants receive asthma education materials that help explain the chronic nature of asthma, guidelines for treatment and information about MESSA’s asthma benefits.

For those who are recovering from a heart attack or stroke, Scott-Lynch can help them access specific benefits such as cardiac rehabilitation that can dramatically reduce the risk of another attack. She also helps develop a customized heart health action plan.

Asthma Case Management Asthma nurse educator Susan Jahn, R.N., helps participants learn how to monitor asthma and understand triggers. Members learn how to obtain a written asthma plan from

Learn more  Asthma Case Management: messa.org/asthma  Cardiovascular Case Management: messa.org/heart  Diabetes Case Management: messa.org/diabetes  Medical Case Management: messa.org/mcm

Medical Case Management Members with serious illnesses or injuries get personal support from a registered nurse to ensure they access the right care at the right time.

MESSA nurses assist members in navigating the health care system, identifying local resources and serving as a liaison with medical teams as necessary.

“We have cases where members have cancer, or a member’s child has a new diagnosis of a brain tumor, or parents have a sick child and they don’t yet have a diagnosis,” says Heidi Berridge, manager of MESSA health care relations. “Our medical case management program is meant to guide members, hold their hand during a time when they need help more than ever, and to help them access all the benefits available through their MESSA plan.”

Get started  For asthma, cardiovascular or diabetes case management, call 800.336.0022, prompt 3.  For Medical Case Management, call 800.441.4626.

MEA VOICE 7

Eyes Wide Shut

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 a societal reckoning around race and a global pandemic that has shone a spotlight on inequities. That’s why I wanted to address the subject in this series on teaching during the time of coronavirus.

A couple of the many requirements of being a teacher is to present best instructional practices and innovative ways of thinking. I have always believed that my instruction was driven by cultural responsiveness and the student voice.

Before the shutdown, I was tasked with teaching a seminar to English Language Learners at Lansing Eastern High School. It was very interesting getting to know the make-up of the building’s ELL student population. More than 40 languages were spoken by students from diverse parts of the world— including many Africans.

8 DEC 2020—JAN 2021

My first misconception was in believing I would automatically identify with African students because I was African-American. I believed that I could understand my students because I grew up in a country that considered me as the cultural other based upon the color of my skin, but of course that is an American Peculiar-Institution perspective. I did not know my students’ culture, customs or practices before their arrival into my classroom.

My bias appeared during a Socratic round when it was time to present probing questions. I called upon a student to respond. As he began to answer, I asked him, “Why are you not giving me eye contact when talking to me?” The young man glanced as if I had confused him. Of course, he stopped responding. When the bell rang, students left the room and I sat in my chair to review what took place. All I could think of was my cultural upbringing.

My parents told me to always look someone in the eye when speaking: “Our ancestors could not, but you are not a slave; be proud of your being.”

The next day, I asked the young man to privately address what caused the disconnect between us.

He told me about his cultural customs and practices. In his country you showed respect to your elders, and you did not look them in the eye because you were not on their level.

I apologized and said that in my culture, eye contact was important as a subtle symbol of equality.

Afterward I pondered my own “blind spot” and the importance of anticipating circumstances in which our bias can skew behavior.

I put new systems in place in my classroom. The first was having a conversation with students about unconscious bias and asking them to please make me aware if I have offended or caused a breakdown in communication. In return, we made the conscious effort to learn about each other as individuals through the practice of collaboration for perspective.

As educators we have so much to think about in trying to do our jobs in these strange and difficult times. Simply taking attendance has become time-consuming and complex.

It’s challenging to attend to our biases when the workload is heavy and the students are literally more distanced from us, but it’s as important now—if not more so—for us to prioritize this work. Young people’s access to educational opportunity depends in part on our willingness to continue discovering and confronting our own shortcomings.

Does identity influence how we respond to students? Deconstructing my unconscious bias required me to expose myself and review my educational practices so my actions are aligned with my intention.

Robyne Muray is a Lansing high school teacher participating this year in the district’s Aspiring Leaders program. She was the 2018-19 Michigan Region 6 Teacher of the Year.

COVID

What it’s Like

Vignettes

Karen Moore: secretary with a purpose

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 up his office to help her create the safe space for students who “need a minute.”

“It’s a calming place where kids know they can come if they need a place to breathe,” the MEA member said. “That’s just what you do.

You take care of the kids. It’s my job.”

Today, however, the zen room sits unused, and taking care of the kids feels unsettling. Months into the global COVID-19 pandemic, Moore is the person tasked with isolating high school students who fall ill during the school day while parents are contacted to pick them up.

“I’m almost 60 years old, and I have a father who is almost 83, and it’s scary,” Moore said. “We’ve had training on how to protect ourselves.

We have the gowns and the gloves and the masks—all of the PPE—but it is still very scary.”

The district’s two school nurses—“true heroes” in Moore’s eyes—worked with administration to develop safety protocols to try

to prevent the spread of infection, she said. If a student presents to the office, Moore knows to direct them to an isolation room equipped with beds.

The room has a separate exit to the outdoors, and if she needs to enter for some reason, Moore will don a gown, face shield, gloves, and second mask. “We have tape on the floor that’s six feet away from the beds, so we know the safe distance to stand.”

This fall, the clerical staff endured rotating unpaid furloughs for a time, a strategy that avoided layoffs and prevented the loss of health care and other benefits—a move she helped to negotiate as president of the local clerical union.

She might have retired if she weren’t carrying health insurance for her family. Instead she buys disinfectant wipes and uses them daily: “First thing I do is wipe down surfaces—my phone, keyboard, pens, light fixtures, bathroom handles. Mentally it’s that extra layer of protection.”

Over the summer she coped by working on her backyard garden after her son decided to replace his planned wedding with an intimate gathering of five guests in the yard.

Her husband also got her involved in running five-kilometer races in the area.

“I think you have to do something on purpose,” she said. “Whether you read or garden or cook, work

Karen Moore

on cars or run. Something that’s only for you. It’s not selfish; it’s self-preservation.”

Still she worries about what’s to come. When we spoke, only a fraction of high school students in Grand Blanc were coming for in-person learning. More are scheduled to return in January.

“You do what you have to do. You take the precautions, you go by the guidelines, and I pray for protection of the staff and students and administration and nurses. It’s my prayer every day.”

MEA VOICE 9

COVID

What it’s Like

Vignettes

Karen Christian: COVID ICU survivor MEA member Karen Christian can recall a few moments of panic from her COVID-19 diagnosis in late September, starting with the shock of hearing a nurse on the phone saying the test was positive. That was on a Monday.

The president of United Teachers of Flint, Christian thought she’d been battling a sinus infection—head congestion—since the previous Monday.

She worked in her building all week, although students were remote, only taking off Friday when a fever began.

The cough arrived on Saturday.

Her first worries upon hearing the news were for others. Her family and co-workers. She retraced steps in her mind and tried to remember if she wore her mask at all times.

No one at school caught the coronavirus from her, nor did her 76-year-old mother, but Christian’s immediate family did come down with the airborne disease. Her 20-year-old daughter had mild symptoms, while her 15-year-old son and husband had more serious cases.

Her next moment of worry came two days after the positive test. Her husband took her to the Emergency Room for breathing difficulty but couldn’t come inside. “We know of people who’ve lost family members who never came out of the ER, so that was scary saying goodbye.”

Christian soon learned she was the sixth COVID patient to arrive in two hours that day. A vitals check

10 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

revealed her blood oxygen level to be dangerously low at 82 percent; normal is 95-100.

She was placed on oxygen and spent three days in the emergency department before a bed opened in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she spent another six days. She received plasma from a COVID survivor. Doctors said she came within hours of being placed on a ventilator.

Those moments were not as scary, she says. Five years ago in the aftermath of the Flint Water Crisis, Christian was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she survived after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. She knew to focus on healing, not fear.

“The nurses were optimistic when they came in my room, so that lifted my spirits, and my mom called every day and sent up massive chains of prayers everywhere. I relied on that.”

Now what frightens her is the fact that she doesn’t have any idea where she picked up the virus. “I do know when I went shopping a couple of times, there were people not wearing masks. Did I enter an aisle after they coughed or sneezed and just walk through it?”

Her takeaways from the experience are simple. Wear a mask. Wash hands. Sanitize after being out— before getting in the car or entering the house. “And if you get it, don’t assume later that you’re immune.

Karen Christian

There’s no science that proves that, so listen to the health experts.”

She hopes the public understands that school employees are doing their best under difficult circumstances to continue educating children while trying to avoid bringing the virus home to loved ones.

“As long as we do what we need to do to keep everyone safe and healthy, we’re moving in the right direction,” she said. “It’s when we start to make decisions because we’re tired of it being not normal that we get ourselves into trouble.”

COVID

What it’s Like

Vignettes

Jacob Oaster: leader, teacher, innovator MEA member Jacob Oaster is a mid-career vocal music teacher who knows how to manage a teaching load of 150 sixth through twelfth graders split into five different choirs, but 2020 has taken him back to a less certain time in his career.

“I’ve worked harder this year than I ever have,” Oaster said. “It doesn’t feel like my 16th year of teaching.

Every day I’m a first year teacher all over again, who’s had to learn everything from scratch.”

“Innovation” has been the name of the game for Oaster in two roles he plays in Allegan County’s Hopkins Public Schools—both as choir teacher and union president.

As a local association leader, Oaster helped to work out the district’s hybrid plan with A-B cohorts of students in face-to-face learning alternating two days per week, with remote Wednesdays for all, and a fully virtual option staffed by Hopkins teachers at the secondary level.

The plan has meant he never sees more than 20 students at once in his in-person classes, which allows for physical distancing, which then permits him to conduct “short stints of singing” with masked students in a large, well-ventilated choir room.

To improve indoor air flow, Oaster got help from the district’s maintenance crew to build stands for box fans to reach windows and connect them to one power switch. He also

sought donations of tall buckets that could be easily sanitized and used for student outdoor seating on nice days.

Because secondary-level teachers must teach both in-person and virtual students (asynchronously), as union president he pushed for in-house educators to be allowed to lead a nuts-and-bolts professional development day on how to use technology for remote teaching.

The Zoom training was led by a union colleague with staff in their classrooms testing strategies and Oaster roaming around to help on topics ranging from using a document camera with a recording device, publishing to Google Classroom, and troubleshooting microphone issues.

“We had teachers from age 22 to 65 learning how to do stuff for the very first time, and it was offered by our union,” Oaster said. “All but three said they had learned something immensely different than what they knew, and they were able to progress and feel some confidence.”

Along with MEA UniServ Director Christine Anderson, Oaster also negotiated an “outside the box” accommodation through the Americans with Disabilities Act for a member math teacher whose serious health condition makes him susceptible to the worst effects of COVID-19.

Jacob Oaster

In that case, the teacher was able to work from home and teach via live video feed, with the students in the classroom being monitored by a substitute teacher. “I believe he’s happy to have been granted this unique opportunity and to feel so supported by his union,” Oaster said.

“It’s a crazy different world, but we’re trying our absolute best as a union and as a staff to really make safety our number-one priority for everyone involved.”

MEA VOICE 11

COVID

What it’s Like

Vignettes

Amy Quiñones: Charting New Waters Lots of people say it in these unusual days of our lives, but for MEA member Amy Quiñones it’s literally true: She did not sign up for this. The job she’s doing in Rockford Public Schools—COVID Response paraprofessional—didn’t exist before this year.

Since she’s calling parents of sick and quarantining students, she also makes a point to ask how they’re doing with the switch to remote learning: How is your child doing in class? Getting online OK? Are they connecting with teachers? How can we assist you?

“I jokingly say that the brochure lied,” Quiñones said. “Never before has a position like this existed. There is no map. There is no example.

There is no amount of training that could have prepared us for what this school year has been bringing.”

“It’s never a burden to ease someone’s mind,” Quiñones said. “If that lightens the load a little bit, knowing someone’s got your back if you need it, why not do that?”

For five years, her job as a paraprofessional involved working in the media center at the Freshman Center and on the playground at an elementary school. Now she monitors kids who fall ill at school and conducts contact tracing when students test positive for COVID-19.

She works in a conference room with spaced-out seating for five students. She screens them using health department guidelines; calls parents to pick up those with COVID symptoms; and tracks quarantine requirements, allowable student return dates, and documentation of everything.

“I’m basically a liaison between the parents and the staff, so I’m in constant contact with parents to follow up: ‘Hey, have you heard any results?

Did you talk to your doctor? Did you get a release from quarantine? Do you have that proof of a negative test result?’”

12 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

When a student receives a positive test result, Quiñones has 24 hours to do the school-related contact tracing and send a report to the Kent County Health Department.

She looks at how they got to school—by bus? Where they sat in classes—who was within six-feet?

Then the extras—sports, music, clubs? And social—any sleepovers or movie outings?

In the old days she had free personal time to take home and read new books arriving in the library (so she could recommend) or indulge her love of baking. Now she barely finds time to use the restroom or eat lunch because there is always more to do.

With safety equipment—gown, masks, shield, gloves, air filtration— she’s not afraid for herself. She goes the extra mile for others. “I worry about missing something and someone else getting sick. That’s the stress for me, that it’s going to be my fault if something doesn’t get done.”

Amy Quiñones

With three kids of her own in the district—a sixth, eighth and tenth grader—and a husband working split second and third shifts, she is busy keeping everyone moving in the right direction. She also grocery shops for her parents and serves as treasurer of her local union.

“I couldn’t do this job if I didn’t care so much and if I didn’t have such a great team to work with. We are all juggling our personal lives and our families with work. I feel like I’m on a merry-go-round; I guess I can’t get off the ride.”

COVER STORY

lovevirtually (and actually, too)

MEA Members Create Wellness Toolboxes for Students

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor As a behavior specialist in Kalamazoo Public Schools, MEA member Tia Whitley describes her job as advocating for students’ academic success by providing them additional supports, resources and services.

But what happens when school is closed?

How can Whitley and other behavior specialists intervene meaningfully when they can’t see or physically reach students every day for most intents and purposes— when a deadly pandemic forces buildings to close and children to learn from home?

That was the question Whitley and her colleagues in the Kalamazoo Behavior Specialists Association (KBSA)—a 14-member MEA unit she leads—were wrestling with this

fall. KPS began the school year fully virtual and in November the school board voted to continue remote learning through mid-March.

“We were discussing issues that we are seeing and areas of concern throughout our buildings, and the question was asked: How do we do what we do for our buildings virtually?” the KBSA president said.

“That is where the idea for our wellness toolbox project came from.”

MEA VOICE 13

Many students may be hard hit by the disruption of schooling in the COVID-19 era, so if the students can’t come to the helping tools—which are meant to aid them in settling and refocusing—then the union would bring tools to the students, Whitley said.

Tiombe Bey-Woodson

The KBSA members raised $3,500, purchased items, and assembled 400 toolboxes for distribution to the homes of all K-12 students identified by each building’s behavior team.

Students are allowed to keep the toolboxes containing fidget spinners, blue light blocker glasses, putty, stress balls, Rubik’s cubes, pencil toppers, and more. An instruction card in each kit explains how to use the items and offers directions for other calming and focusing strategies.

Judy Morin

“This is about providing familiarity for the students, because these are tools that we would have used with students in the classroom as well,” Whitley said. “It’s bringing the classroom supports to the home.”

Secondary students will also receive tri-fold display boards to use during live conference calls for blocking out distracting background activity or displaying positive quotes and affirmations.

Students who struggle to focus or have sensory issues can be helped by using materials or devices which allow them to satisfy a desire for movement and release excess energy, said Tiombe Bey-Woodson, a behavior specialist at Hillside Middle School and vice president of KBSA.

Tia Whitley

14 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

“The fidgets and things like that give students who are easily distracted something to tangibly be touching and moving—so they have that sensory experience

going—while they’re watching the teacher and learning,” Bey‑Woodson said.

The toolkits will be a “fantastic help” to address student needs that have been exacerbated during the health crisis, said Lisa Dewey, principal of Spring Valley Center for Exploration, a magnet school in the district.

“Finding ways to provide our students some comfort, finding ways to help them analyze their own emotions or to be able to get the wiggle out is going to be really helpful,” Dewey said.

District behavior specialists have been visiting virtual classrooms to observe student engagement, but they also make contact through emails, phone calls and physically distanced home visits to assess issues and problems that families might need help addressing.

In those ways, behavior specialists remain a key player in connecting families to resources in the community and delivering/connecting/ troubleshooting technology to keep students plugged in to digital classrooms.

“Our students deal with so much more than I had to deal with when I was a student,” Bey-Woodson said.

“There’s so much need in schools, more than the general population understands. Students need interaction with adults. They need people they can trust, and I like being that adult.”

While students are missing the daily routines and structures of school, their caregivers are sometimes overwhelmed by simultaneous demands of work and children needing help with online lessons, those interviewed agreed.

“These are tools—they’re not going to solve the world’s

problems—but these are tools the parents can easily use by reading those instruction cards to help their kids stay engaged in learning,” said behavior specialist Sarah Collins, treasurer of KBSA. For students experiencing negative emotions—anger and frustration—the toolboxes contain directions for calming strategies and tools for redirecting their attention and energy, said KBSA member Carey Gardner.

“When they’re angry, using a stress ball or the expanding ball gives them something else to do, somewhere else to direct that energy to, something to keep their hands occupied.”

Even working with students remotely, the change in their stress level is observable when they engage in deliberate calming activities that are familiar to them and return a sense of normalcy, Gardner said.

“As you talk to them, and they start working an object with their hand or maybe chewing gum or sucking on a sucker, you can see them go, “Ahhh. This is what I needed to calm down. I was at 10; now I’m at eight and going to five.’”

Caregivers in the home can also benefit from learning about ways to settle, gather, and refocus—for themselves and their children—and improving the health of families is a goal worth banding together and fighting for, Whitley said.

“I love being able to assist and advocate for youth,” she said. “We are a community. We have a strong belief that it takes a village to raise a child, and so we all work together for the benefit of the whole child.”

MEA VOICE 15

ELECTION 2020

Analysis: Where We Stand,

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor

local health departments began issuing orders under their own separate authorities.

MEA members’ hard work to elect friends of public education up and down the November 3 General Election ballot paid off in many ways, but one of the most significant and least ballyhooed wins came in the state Supreme Court race.

However, the high court’s decision sowed confusion and stirred backlash by mask opponents, and many observers have said the change in authorizing of public health rules and requirements deepened partisan divides over common-sense tools for slowing the spread of the virus.

With much of the post-election news focused on President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede in his decisive loss to former Vice President Joe Biden, wins by two MEA-recommended Supreme Court candidates drew little media attention.

The re-election of Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack and the first-time election of Grand Rapidsarea employment law attorney Elizabeth Welch swung control of the court for the first time in a decade.

As of press time for this issue, the Legislature had done little to bridge the divide or step into the breach in public opinion regarding masking and social distancing rules.

The current-events context is important to note.

The failure of lawmakers to act continued even as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in Michigan began a precipitous rise in early to mid-November, as health officials had long warned could happen with the arrival of colder weather if public health measures were not followed.

One month before the election, a 4-3 conservative majority on the state’s highest court ruled in favor of Republican lawmakers who sought to strip Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of emergency powers to issue orders related to the coronavirus crisis.

In late October, MEA President Paula Herbart issued a statement and appeared in newspaper, radio and television interviews on the subject—joining a chorus of education, health, and business leaders calling for state lawmakers to take action.

The narrow ruling struck down Whitmer’s executive orders protecting public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including requirements for mask-wearing in public places. Within a week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and

“It is now a matter of life and death for the leaders of this state to work together to promote the use of masks and physical distancing, which we know reduce exposure and save thousands of lives,” Herbart said.

16 DEC 2020—JAN 2021

Sen. Dayna Polehanki called out GOP leaders in the Legislature for failing to act in the COVID-19 crisis after they sued to take away powers from the governor.

When the leadership of the House and Senate left for an extended hunting break on Nov. 12 without acting on a mask bill, Sen. Dayna Polehanki, (D-Livonia)—an English teacher and MEA member who first won her seat in 2018—called them out in a pointed floor speech.

“There appears to be no effort by the majority party to consider mask legislation or any other COVID legislation, for that matter,” Polehanki said. “To my colleagues across the aisle, you wanted this responsibility,

Post‑Election and Mid‑Pandemic so do something. Michiganders deserve better than this.”

Three days later, the Detroit Free Press editorial board similarly called for legislative action, noting in a Sunday, Nov. 15 commentary that “Whitmer’s proactive leadership kept Michigan’s pandemic numbers well below the national average throughout the summer, and GOP legislators who rejoiced at undercutting her authority have done precious little to exercise their own.”

That evening, with case and hospital numbers soaring to daily records in Michigan, Whitmer announced a return of COVID-related restrictions for high schools, athletics, and bars and restaurants, among other changes stemming from a new MDHHS order.

In response, as this issue went to press, MEA was advocating for temporary suspension of in-person learning for all grades. Herbart wrote in an open letter to members: “We will redouble efforts to ensure everyone’s safety—including alerting MIOSHA (Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and public health authorities of issues as they are identified. We also call on districts to immediately cease requiring educators to show up in-person in schools to teach virtual classes, in light of the clearly stated goal of conducting work remotely if feasible.”

There is one other contextual backdrop that should be noted relative to schools, COVID‑19, public safety and the Legislature’s

failure to act—especially given consistent polling that shows the vast majority of Michiganders approve of Whitmer’s handling of the crisis.

In early October, following months of extremist vitriol and armed protests at the Capitol, the FBI arrested 14 right-wing terrorists accused of a detailed plot to kidnap the governor over pandemic mitigation measures she took in line with many other governors and big-city mayors.

We all know elections have consequences, but few have seemed as consequential as Election 2020, which not only shifts the makeup of our state’s high court but next month brings an NEA member to the White House in Dr. Jill Biden and ends the federal reign of Betsy DeVos. MEA members did the work of creating change even amid the pandemic—making 339 state and local candidate recommendations and doing the texting, phone calling, postcard writing and door knocking to win 61 percent of those races.

Huge numbers voted from home and turned out to polling places to re-elect Sen. Gary Peters and swing our state blue for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Herbart told Michigan Advance she hoped a professional will replace DeVos at the Department of Education who is “deep in the work of education,” because after four years of emphasis on voucher

MEA President Paula Herbart poses with member paraeducators from Mason, April Switerberg and Maurene Barker, at a #CountEveryVote rally in Lansing.

schemes, charter schools and private schools, “There’s a lot of undoing to do.”

Although Herbart acknowledged the end of the DeVos era at the federal level will likely bring her failed policies back to Michigan, “we will work to defeat her every step of the way, because we know here in Michigan, that that’s not right for our students.”

MEA VOICE 17

COVID

What it’s Like

Vignettes

In First Person: By Todd Bloch I teach science, so I’ve been trained to make observations. From what I observed in the fall, I’ve drawn some conclusions about why in-person teaching and learning in a pandemic is difficult to sustain— and not necessarily for the most obvious reasons.

Our staff is stretched incredibly thin to make what we’re doing work.

I don’t know where we will place virtual students if they want to come back to in-person learning in coming months because every room is full and every teacher maxed out to accomplish distancing.

In Warren Woods Public Schools in Macomb County, where I teach middle school science, we developed and implemented some reasonable safety rules and procedures to return students who chose it for face-to-face learning in late September following a remote start.

Educator burn-out is a big concern.

Worry about students, colleagues, friends, and family becoming infected with a potentially fatal airborne virus is stressful—especially when community spread is rampant.

There is risk involved in gathering people indoors for several hours a day, even with safety procedures in place.

Nothing looks or feels like it did before.

From the outset we offered a virtual academy, and half of our students chose that mode of learning. Our reopening involved K-12 students five days a week. The high school did an A-day and a B-day, so three classes daily.

Our middle school ran a full schedule every day for the students who returned with about 20 kids per in-person class, so distancing was possible. In normal times our lunchroom tables sat 30 people, which changed to eight with restrictions.

All of our virtual academy teachers were required to teach from school buildings except for people with health conditions. When students came back, I was teaching virtual classes to start and end my day with in-person classes in between.

18 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

Within that challenging context, teachers are struggling to manage their workload. It’s hard to hear while teaching in a room with 20 spaced-apart kids while wearing a mask and face shield. It’s awkward, and the students are reluctant to participate.

Todd Bloch

active learning, group work and collaboration is not possible to do right now.

The kids have been pretty good but not perfect with the masks. They want to hang out with their friends and pull the mask down below their nose, which may be understandable but all of us in the school setting must continually push back on it.

In addition, we don’t have enough staff to maintain a reduced-capacity face-to-face school and a virtual school, so educators are doing double-duty. Most teachers were not trained to teach virtually, and students aren’t used to it either, so the learning curve is large. And technology issues are a regular struggle.

Meanwhile, it’s difficult to engage kids when we are asking them to sit still and apart, wearing a mask, behind a plastic shield. The ways we’ve transformed our teaching over the past many years to encourage

This winter as regular cold and flu season melds with COVID-19 and more school employees get sick, we simply won’t have the staff to move forward. Not enough substitutes are available in jobs that require them.

Let’s Use Our Outside Voices Throughout the pandemic, MEA has been helping to lift member voices with the media and public, including just a few examples listed below. If you are interested in sharing your story or viewpoint with a wider audience, contact Voice Editor Brenda Ortega at bortega@mea.org.  Schools Must Require Masks for All Grades by Kathleen Dillon-Dowd, Montrose Community Schools teacher: MEA Voice Online, August 14, 2020  Give me the resources to get back into the classroom by Dawn Levey, Ovid-Elsie Area Schools teacher: Detroit Free Press, Aug. 25, 2020  As others try and fail, are Lansing schools ready for in-person learning?

by Randi Trumble, Lansing School District nurse: Lansing State Journal, Oct. 3, 2020  Dear Betsy DeVos and Michigan lawmakers: Here’s what educators need

by Chris Thomas, Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher: Bridge Magazine, Oct. 24, 2020 Read these member opinion pieces and more at mea.org/member-voices-for-safety.

There is a limit to the extra duties that educators can take on.

With everything else going on, state- and federal-mandated test requirements hang over us.

Some kids learn well virtually.

Some need face-to-face but can’t physically go to school because of family health concerns. Some learning translates easily in a digital realm, and some gets tossed out when students can’t be in a room with their educators.

It’s clear we will need to continue with masks and physical distancing through the rest of this school year, and we will likely be moving back and forth between face-to-face and remote teaching as COVID-19 infection rates dictate.

Yet we continue to shift time and resources toward mandated testing and away from our best efforts to help students learn and cope. In

the balance are high-stakes teacher evaluations, which last we heard are moving forward as if nothing has changed.

the same situation: They go home at night paralyzed by a combination of fatigue and anxiety from all that is on their plate.

I wonder how an administrator who’s never before taught online can evaluate a teacher who’s also never taught online. How can they evaluate a teacher who’s doing online and face-to-face at the same time?

I worry about a brain drain if we start losing educators who can retire anytime but so far have chosen not to.

What about the added stress of performing duties during a pandemic? I worry about getting sick or bringing the virus home to a vulnerable family member who’s had a heart bypass and liver transplant. We have all suffered different traumas as this pandemic has played out.

We need support to get through this the best that we can.

I’ve taught for 20 years, and this is hands down the hardest stretch of my career. I talk with educators all over the country, and everyone is in

I miss what used to be. One in-person eighth-grade class of mine that began with our delayed reopening was a group of kids I taught last year. When I walked in and saw them—even behind their masks and plexiglass shields—I felt a moment of relief, though they couldn’t see my smile.

We all miss normalcy, but what we need to focus on developing right now is consistency, compassion, and cooperation.

We need our communities to mask up and our leaders to listen to us on the frontlines.

MEA VOICE 19

MEMBER BENEFITS

MEA Book Studies Tackle Timely Yet Difficult Topics: Racism, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor When Dawn Weaver facilitates trainings or discussions around race, she talks with educators about the importance of creating “windows and mirrors” in their classroom practice.

“I’ve always tried to have representation—not just for African-American students but any marginalized individuals—and make sure that everybody in my class is seeing themselves and seeing others,” the MEA member said.

Despite the stresses of being an educator in a pandemic, this fall the veteran upper elementary teacher in Romulus Public Schools took on the added role of co-leading two virtual MEA book studies for members through the Center for Leadership & Learning.

Through two books studied in separate five-week sessions, participants explored systemic racism and ways to become more actively involved in dismantling systems of oppression: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and How to be an Antiracist

by Ibram X. Kendi.

“Even when I come home so exhausted from working and everything, I am recharged doing these 20 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

book studies,” she said. “It’s very energizing that this work is being done and that people are eager to do this work.”

They were so eager, in fact, that in the last session folks were asking if the study could extend into one more meeting. “They were saying, ‘I don’t know when I’m going to talk with you again about this,” she said.

The SCECH-eligible teleconference sessions were not done lecture-style. “We were sharing and having discussions. The majority of it is in this magic of the breakout rooms. I get way too excited about breakout rooms, because that’s where you are able to have the most impact.”

Weaver uses supplemental videos, articles, and materials to break down the books’ messages for easier understanding and to show how to bring antiracist action to life in classrooms of all ages.

For example, to prepare participants to talk about sensitive subjects, Weaver discusses the concept of socialization through a short video describing “the ladder of imprint.”

The lesson reveals that it is not negative or a critique to say someone holds “biases.” It’s just fact.

“When we use that word, people want to say, ‘Nope. I don’t have

Dawn Weaver

biases.’ But the truth is we’re all socialized; we all have biases. The goal is becoming more aware of those biases and thinking about how does my bias work within the systems, policies and procedures in this world? And being aware enough to say, ‘OK how can I use my influence to impact this?’”

Last year, Weaver completed phase 1 and 2 of the AfricanAmerican Student Initiative, a cultural proficiency training through the

Michigan Department of Education promoting cultural diversity, equity and inclusion. Previously she has been a trainer in a grant-funded position in her district.

“I love doing this kind of facilitation and teacher development, just being able to look at curriculum and pair it with these kinds of experiences and knowledge, because our curriculum is so lacking in alternate views and reflections,” she said.

In one book study session, Weaver shared video of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black child from Chicago who was lynched in Mississippi after being accused of offending a white woman. Many were unfamiliar with Till’s story, although it happened in 1955—not long ago.

Weaver knew that history as she grew up, and now she also must teach it to keep her own children safe—a 10-year-old son and sevenyear-old daughter—especially in light of the continued killing of Black people by police and white supremacists.

“So in the book study I shared the fact that my own great-grandfather was lynched and how that affects families and opportunities through the generations,” Weaver said.

Four high-profile killings of Black people happened just in the first half of 2020 and reverberated throughout the turmoil of last summer— Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks.

“These are not distant things. This is part of our history, but some people have the privilege—again, not saying that negatively because we all have privilege in different ways—but some people have the privilege not

Rick Jackson

to think about these things because it’s not going to impact them.”

Now she sees hope in nationwide engagement around systemic racism.

“People are showing up willingly to learn, and they can’t un-see it now.

They’re ready to interrupt it and be an advocate or call for change. If this work keeps growing, what impact will we have on the world?”

MEA member Rick Jackson participated in an MEA book study on How to be an Antiracist even though he felt as if he had lived by those principles since high school when his friendship with a Vietmanese immigrant exposed him to racism second-hand.

Now 17 years into teaching math and history at an alternative high school in Kelloggsville, Jackson said the book study has inspired him to facilitate more conversation around the subject in his U.S. History class and in current events discussions with other students at his school.

The biggest takeaway for him was the idea that racism and antiracism are policy decisions. Individuals who are antiracist are actively working

toward policies that help promote equity for people of color or those from marginalized communities.

“The book is so clear that it gives me a firmer foundation to stand on in the work,” Jackson said.

Because the subject can be potentially very difficult to talk about, the facilitators of the MEA book study addressed the sensitivity early on, explaining that there is a risk of meaning well but saying something poorly and offending someone, Jackson said.

“If someone did say something that was maybe reflective of older thinking, then it was further discussed but with the idea of let’s be forgiving of each other. Let’s really work to have these tough discussions, because that is how we grow.”

With all that is drawing attention to issues of race in the U.S., students are hungry to discuss it, Jackson said. This fall he has successfully navigated difficult conversations with groups of students even when uncomfortable questions arose around the Black Lives Matter movement.

MEA VOICE 21

MEMBER BENEFITS

“We did have one student who said, ‘It should be All Lives Matter,’ and that started to escalate, but we discussed and everyone calmed down.

By the end he got it—that we say black lives matter because statistically and traditionally in this country they haven’t. It’s not that only black lives matter. It’s that black lives do matter, and we need to recognize it.”

Things didn’t go so well when Jackson tried to have a conversation about LGBTQ rights, he added. That led him to sign up for another book study which started in November— delving into the book Safe is Not Enough: Better Schools for LGBTQ Students by Michael Sadowski. The course is led by teacher-leaders from the MEA LGBTQ Caucus.

Like several other MEA book studies in recent months, the Safe is Not Enough offering filled up within hours.

People are eager to understand better and do better when it comes to this topic, said Dan Slagter, a Grand Rapids art teacher and one of the session leaders.

“Somehow we are striking gold with these virtual book studies in the middle of the dumpster fire that is 2020,” Slagter said. “The coolest part

is seeing educators connecting from all around Michigan—east to west, north to south, urban to rural. That has been incredibly powerful.”

The book is a tremendous resource, because it includes lists of resources and examples of individuals changing their classroom practice to be more inclusive to the benefit of all kids—not just those LGBTQ individuals who may have felt unheard and unseen before.

up out of their chair and dancing. Because we try every week to hit on one simple hashtag: Representation matters.”

The book study explores the history and effects of discrimination against LGBTQ people and how to make change. More than 70 percent of LGBTQ youth report experiencing discrimination. They are five times more likely to try suicide than heterosexual youth.

Slagter said there are good materials for use with all age levels. He uses a picture book, Red: A Crayon’s Story to encourage self-acceptance and belonging with kindergarteners and a book of works by queer writers, The Letter Q, works well in high school.

“This book study is definitely an emotional roller coaster,” Slagter said. “We’ve had people crying.

We’ve had people literally getting

“In my room, in the most urban of urban diverse schools, I have a policy of we love each other, and we respect and encourage each other,” Slagter said.

The MEA Center for Leadership & Learning is continuing to add new SCECH-eligible book studies to its calendar, including sessions on building a classroom library of diverse and inclusive children’s literature­—aimed at aspiring educators—and a study of pedagogy using the book Creating Cultures of Thinking by Ron Ritchhart—aimed at early career educators. Join the Facebook group to keep in touch: the Michigan Education Association Center for Leadership & Learning.

To sign up for upcoming book studies, visit mea.org/book-studies.

22 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

Dan Slagter

One particularly inspiring case study follows the example of an English teacher who fought to get approval for a class curriculum that would study the works of LGBTQ writers. The good problem she has now is the class is so popular it has to turn away students, Slagter said.

The book study includes curricular supplements for each age level, along with resources for dealing with adults aligned against inclusion.

“Sometimes thinking of small ways to incorporate different things, which then build on each other, can make a more lasting impact,” Slagter said.

“Maybe you don’t need a big splash when a lot of little ripples will get the job done.”

AWARDS & HONORS

Loving Head Cook, ‘Miss Dawn,’ Wins ESP of the Year:

‘This is home to me’

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor

Director Jenny Lucas. She remembers their food preferences and special needs.

At Parma Elementary School in Jackson County’s Western School District, students coming through Miss Dawn’s cafeteria line enjoy a generous serving of love along with their chicken nuggets, buttered corn and apple slices.

“And then they share their lives, whether it’s ‘I’m going on a camping trip this weekend,’ or ‘I’m getting a new baby brother,’ or it’s just sharing something from their day or what happened over the weekend.

They’re excited to see Dawn, and she always remembers and comments on things.”

“The kids absolutely love her because they know she cares,” said Principal Sue Haney. “She jokes with them, talks with them, laughs with them, knows what’s going on in their lives. They’re family for her.”

Last week, MEA member Dawn Hendges was named one of two Michigan Education Support Professionals of the Year for 2020.

The school’s head cook for the past decade, Hendges says she likes to make students feel special so coming to school feels like home.

“We hug and sing have a good time, and they know they can come talk to me,” said Hendges, who started 20 years ago when her own children were little and stayed. “They like to know someone is listening. I don’t know—it’s hard to explain how good they are. They’re amazing.”

About 250 students pass through her food line every day, and Hendges notices if one is wearing a new outfit or another is celebrating a birthday, said Food Service

Hendges encourages students who enjoy performing to stand up at the front of the lunchroom and sing once they finish eating. She hands out suckers to students and sings happy birthday on their special day. She decorates the cafeteria for every holiday.

The pandemic has presented new challenges this year. Instead of hugs, she gives elbow bumps. And instead of feeding students in the cafeteria, she and others bring the food to classrooms. “It’s very hard right now because they like to hug, and we can’t, but we still have fun,” she said.

She goes the extra mile, Principal Haney said. In a normal year, when monthly Friday night lock-ins are part of the routine, Hendges takes time off from her second job at Kohl’s department store to supervise the fun, even though it’s unpaid.

Now two evenings a week, she helps to distribute bagged meals for

families in the community in need of food assistance. “And I’m sure, for the kids who maybe don’t have money in their lunch account, she puts part of her paycheck in the cash register making sure those kids get fed.”

It takes many different people to meet the needs of kids, Haney said.

“In a school of 400 students, some of them connect most with the cook or the parapro or the playground ladies... people—like Dawn—whose hearts connect with kids sometimes when others can’t reach them.”

Hendges seemed perplexed by the attention. “This makes me very nervous!” Hendges said. “I just love my job. It’s what I’ve been doing for so long—this is home to me.”

To offer this award, the Michigan Department of Education partners with MEA; AFT Michigan; and AFSCME Council 25. Awardees receive $1,000 and consideration for the national Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award, overseen by the U.S. Department of Education.

MEA VOICE 23

You are heroes, and MESSA is grateful This year has taught us all a lot about resilience. During normal times, education jobs can often be stressful. Well, these are anything but normal times, and 2020 has upped the ante.

But while challenge after challenge has been thrown at you since the first cases of COVID-19 were announced, you have risen to meet those challenges time and again.

You continue to learn new technologies and innovate to educate your students from afar. You feed children in your communities who might otherwise go hungry. You work to make school facilities as clean and safe as

possible. You put on your masks and head into your buildings when duty calls. You are heroes, and MESSA is grateful for you and all that you do.

We want you to know that MESSA is here for you. Your MESSA health plan provides excellent mental health benefits when you need extra support. And MESSA Wellness can help you find new tools to support you when you need it. Check them out at messa.org/wellness.

By Ross Wilson, MESSA Executive Director

On behalf of everyone at MESSA, thank you for everything you do to care for our kids and our schools.

We are grateful for you.

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24 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Last March Kat Sibalwa, Byron Center High School teacher and BCEA co-president, was set to talk about MEA with soon‑to‑graduate aspiring educators at Grand Valley State University.

Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly she was teaching from home with two small children and a husband working in health care.

Had you presented to aspiring educators before?

No. I’ve been a co-president with a friend for five years, and our focus has been on how to reach those new people in our district. When I was in school nobody ever talked to me about the teacher’s union, or the EA. I really feel if people understand what we do, and who we are, and what we stand for, they will join. So I really wanted to focus on the teachers coming out of college.

Before they get a job. And my goal was to get a bug in their ear about the importance of being in a union.

My mother taught for 40 years and her former principal is a professor at Grand Valley for student teachers. She ran into him a while back, and that’s how I got hooked up with them.

Did you think of cancelling when schools shut down?

I wasn’t sure what would happen, but (GVSU) actually went virtual before the public schools did, so the professor contacted me and said he still wanted students to hear from us. It was their last week of their last semester of class. The vice president and I presented virtually to 75 student teachers about the history of MEA and unions, what we do, the importance of them, how to become a member when you get a job. We also talked about how we sometimes falsely get a bad rap and what we really stand for.

What did you want to be their takeaway?

Find your union representative when you get hired and be sure to sign up to be in your union.

26 DEC 2020 – JAN 2021

And then the second takeaway was to start saving for your future retirement, even though you’re just starting a job. With MEA Financial Services, of course. And it went really well. They want us to come back.

What message about the union most resonated?

I think it was that education is a social justice issue. I showed pictures of me and my children when we went to Lansing last year for the Red for Ed Rally, and how we were marching to the Capitol, and just talking about the importance of us sticking together, standing for what’s right for our kids, and how we believe in education as the great equalizer. It all comes back to the kids and what’s best for the classroom.

How did you do it virtually?

At GVSU, they use Blackboard as a platform. We had created a PowerPoint, and the professor uploaded it to Blackboard and gave us administrator rights. We could see when students signed in, but we couldn’t see their faces. If they had a question, they could virtually raise their hand or type it in the chat. We wanted to play a game and do an ice-breaker, but that was harder to do online than what we could do.

Could you tell if it was well‑received?

Oh, yes, we had a lot of people, and we could see a lot of them making comments. “Wow. Thanks.

This is really helpful. This is exactly what I wanted to hear before I got a job.” So, yes, I believe it was very well-received. I also followed up with the professor just to make sure it went OK, and he said, “Yep, that was awesome. I loved it.” I said, “Hey, is there anything you would want us to change or add if we were to come back again?” He’s like, “No, I think it was spot on. That’s really good.” So yeah, I was excited it went well. I hope to eventually get into a couple more universities because the hard part’s done. Figuring out that presentation and what we wanted to do and say was the hard part, and now we’ll get better at it every time. We definitely want to expand and see what we can do.

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