United Voices, Vol. 6, No. 4

UNITED VOICES VOL. 6 NO. 4

FIRST EXPERIENCES Page 4

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Education Mindset

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Overcoming Obstacles

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NDU Delegate Assembly

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It’s like we always say here at United Voices. Expect the unexpected.

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to set up online systems of delivery for education and public services overnight was beyond humbling for all of us at North Dakota United.

I doubt any of us expected to live through a pandemic when 2020 started.

But that’s what happened to all of us, in the middle of March, and we all watched as public schools and universities shut down temporarily, and public educators and employees were forced to completely rebuild everything they knew about how to work from home, while still providing the high-quality public education and services that our state’s people have come to expect.

It was an awe-inspiring challenge, and to watch how hard all of you worked

This summer issue of UV is a tribute to all of you. Thank you for all that you do, in good times and in bad, in service to students, families and communities of our state. Together, we will get through this, stronger than we’ve ever been.

United as one.

Kelly Hagen, United Voices Editor

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

President’s Post

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Education Mindset

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First Experiences

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Testing is Part of the Answer

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Overcoming Obstacles

2020 NDU Foundation Scholarship and Grant Winners

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NDU Delegate Assembly

Meet the Staff

Upcoming NDU Events

Quality Services Provide Safety

United Voices is the official publication of North Dakota United, 301 N 4th St, Bismarck, ND 58501 Contact Us: 701.223.0450 | comments@ndunited.org Postmaster, send address changes to: North Dakota United, 301 N 4th St, Bismarck, ND 58501 Kelly Hagen Director of Communications kelly.hagen@ndunited.org

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Tom Gerhardt Director of Public Affairs tom.gerhardt@ndunited.org

ND United Voices

Sarah Keiser Johnson Special Projects Coordinator sarah.johnson@ndunited.org

Image Printing Design/Publisher

President’s Post

More Questions than Answers Educators voices need to be heard in planning for reopening schools

By Nick Archuleta NDU President

No one wants to return to in-person teaching and learning more than North Dakota’s professional educators. The women and men who have dedicated their lives to educating our future know better than anyone about the physical, intellectual, and psychological benefits that in-person instruction affords our children. But no matter how anxious we are to return to the classroom and meet face to face with our students, we must do so only when we have mitigated the risk to the health of students and staff to the greatest extent possible.

precaution has been taken to ensure that our schools are safe and will remain so for as long as they are open.

In leaving the responsibility to local school officials to develop the practices and protocols for the reopening of their schools, Governor Doug Burgum has avoided a state dictated one-size-fits-all mandate. Instead, Gov. Burgum and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler have provided guidance to districts to assist them in the creation of their reopening plans. Now it is up to the district to do the heavy lifting and plan for reopening our schools.

But we should not look only to school districts to mitigate risk. We all have a role to play and it is inexpensive, easy to do, and effective. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Socially distance. On July 14, CDC Director, Dr. Robert Redfield said, “If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I think in four, six, eight weeks we could bring this epidemic under control.”

To that end, it is imperative that each school district include the many talented and caring people in each community to build their reopening strategies. Every reopening team or task force should include educators, education support professionals, students, community members, and health professionals. And each plan must be transparent to create confidence in the community that every

There are more questions than answers at this point. Some districts, where the Coronavirus is rare, may open this fall as they always have with few modifications.

Other schools where infection rates are climbing, may be wise to delay opening their schools until there is a period of declining infection rates to best ensure that schools will be healthy places in which to learn and work.

Finally, we need Congress to act now get our school districts and local governments the necessary resources to effectively mitigate the health threat we currently face. The HEROES Act, which is currently languishing in the Senate, includes those resources. If that is not the vehicle they want, then the Senate has the responsibility to propose another and time is of the essence.

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Rachel Frigon working one-on-one with a student in her classroom.

First Experiences

Teachers describe the tumultuous journey of having 2020 as their first year in profession

By Kelly Hagen, NDU Communications

First days are rough on everyone.

Be it the first day at a new school for students, or the first day at a new job for adults. Every first day is a brand-new experience in a new setting, while meeting new people and learning new skills.

That’s a lot of firsts for anyone.

What if you combined the experiences, though? What are the first days like for a teacher at a new school, starting their career in education?

“Most days are pretty fun,” said Rachel Frigon, a first-grade teacher at Washburn 4

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Elementary School in her first year. “We have a fun time, learning, doing different things. But there are some days where sometimes I’m not exactly sure how to help one of my students, or if a few of them are having problems with each other, what to do with them? A couple of my students are lower academically, where do I start with them and how do I reach them to help them move towards where they need to be?”

For Frigon, that first day in a new job came at a smaller school, in a rural community. That was ideal for her, as she is originally from an even smaller community, Finley. In 2018, her

hometown’s population of 421 was about a third the size of Washburn, with a population of 1,261.

“I kind of always pictured myself working in a smaller school,” she said, “that’s where I feel like I came from, and where I feel like would be the best for me. So yeah, once I found out that I got the job here, I was really excited.”

And when she showed up on her first day, she discovered a school building filled with smiling, welcoming faces.

“The first time I came here, to start figuring out how to set up my classroom itself, there are people in the hallway, willing to help out. I was just really appreciative that everyone’s there to help you.”

Mentorship is key to first-year teachers on every level. For Heather Kaiser, who is also in her first year of teaching first grade at Sunrise Elementary School in Bismarck, she has four other first-grade teachers for guidance. Bismarck Public Schools is the largest school district in the state of North Dakota, and Sunrise is its largest elementary school with approximately 641 students.

“My gosh, I love it,” Kaiser said. “I love the big-school feel. I’m really thankful I’m here. And it never feels big because everyone is so welcoming and supporting. I’ve felt that along the way, that everyone has my back here and everyone’s on this journey with me.”

As part of the Bismarck mentorship program, Kaiser has looked to her fellow first-grade teacher at Sunrise and a member of the Bismarck Education Association, Mara Fischer. “She’s

fantastic,” Kaiser said. “Just to have that person next door to me who, any question that I have or if I’m feeling sad or asking, ‘Is this normal?’ she can answer all those questions for me and validate how I’m feeling and really celebrate every step along the way, too.”

Claire Endres entered her first year as a teacher in a small town, too. Originally from Carrington, Endres started the 2019-20 school year as an agricultural education teacher and Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisor at Killdeer High School.

They all agree that COVID-19 was a colossal challenge, but they won’t let it dissuade them from continuing on the path they’ve set.

When asked to describe her teaching duties, Endres said that she gets the opportunity to teach in a lot of different areas and subjects. “First hour, I have seventh graders and I’m teaching them basic cooking skills, but also giving them the angle from the agricultural perspective … and teaching them where their food comes from and how do we cook it,” she said. “And then I have three sections of intro to agriculture. And I teach a little bit of everything from welding to agronomy to food safety to anything you can think of – just basic agricultural knowledge, I’m probably covering it. And then I have some specialized classes this semester: I have a vet science class, and then my last class is a full-year horticulture class.” ndunited.org

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Endres credits her enthusiasm for education to influences from her family, growing up. “I’m a third-generation teacher,” she said. “My grandma was an elementary school teacher, and then my mom just retired this past year. She taught for 34 years in elementary school.

I always tell my kids here that I have the perspective of being a teacher’s kid. You get it, you understand all the long hours, all the tough kids, all the work you bring home.”

that the best bet was lumping agriculture and education together.”

Kaiser grew up in Bismarck, but got her education in the Fargo area too, at Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

She student taught in first grade at Kennedy Elementary in Fargo before returning to Bismarck to do the rest of her student teaching at Miller Elementary. She was also a teacher’s aide at Miller and at Sunrise, starting in January of 2019.

Along the way, she was able to learn from a lot of different classroom teachers and can now call on them for advice and encouragement. “I mean, without those experiences, I wouldn’t know what to do in here,” Kaiser said. “You can only learn so much in your classes, but until you really step into that role and have those mentors in your life, it’s hard to move forward. I’m thankful for that.”

Claire Endres alongside fellow vo-ag teacher in Killdeer, David Leier.

She was inspired to pursue a career in agricultural education by her teacher at Carrington High School, Missy Hansen.

“She’s just a phenomenal, hardworking teacher who always motivated me.”

Endres enrolled at North Dakota State University as an undecided major but ultimately chose the career path she is on now because, she said, “I knew I wanted to be an ag teacher because I knew I loved to work with people. I like to educate, and my family’s always been surrounded by agriculture. So, I figured 6

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Frigon said that she, too, was inspired to become an educator by her own teachers. “I think a lot of it had to do with some of my high school teachers really kind of helping me or inspiring me to be myself and to push myself to be the best that I could.” She majored in elementary education at the University of North Dakota and minored in literacy and special education.

Being an avid reader herself, Frigon places special emphasis on literacy in her curriculum. “I feel that building those basic literacy skills is so important at this age,” she said, “and even using those literacy skills in other things that we do, like incorporating it with math or helping them understand how to read different types of texts. By exposing

them to a lot of different things, but also really focusing on the beginning phonics skills and making sure they have that good foundation, so then they’re ready for harder things.”

All three of these first-year teachers said they have enjoyed most of their first days and experiences in education. But there have been bumps in the road, from time to time.

“Most days are pretty fun,” Frigon said.

“We have a fun time, learning, doing different things. But yeah, there are some days where sometimes I’m not exactly sure how to help one of my students, or if a few of them are having problems with each other, I won’t know what to do with them. Or a couple of mine are a little lower academically, so I’m trying to figure out where do I start with them and how to reach them to help them move towards where they need to be.”

Endres also said that the pressures they come with in the first year of education can be overwhelming. “As a first-year teacher, I come in and have all these expectations,” she said. “I’ve got to keep my own mental health in check, but then it’s like, oh, my students are also really struggling with their mental health. How do I be their “school mom” – as a lot of girls will say – but also make sure I’m hitting standards, keeping up with grades, correcting papers, being a coach, and the list just never ends. Some days it’s a lot and very exhausting.”

The rewards though, are the connections they all have made with their students, and the little moments of gratitude and appreciation. “There are these small glimpses of success that I’ll see from

different students, or maybe it’s just a kid telling me hello, who hasn’t really talked in a long time,” Endres said.

“That makes it worth it.”

These first-year educators would then face a challenge in March of epic, historical scope. The COVID-19 pandemic closed schools across the country, in communities large and small, and educators at all levels of experience needed to completely change the ways they taught students. No longer able to provide in-person instruction, teachers closed out the 2019-20 school year as online instructors.

Heather Kaiser practicing math with students.

“It was very abrupt and somewhat unexpected,” Frigon said. “We left on Friday prepared that we may be closing sometime in the near future, but I was not expecting that to be the last day I would have students in class.

Preparing for distance learning was very overwhelming, but with the other firstgrade teacher there to help me and with ndunited.org

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Heather Kaiser reading to her class.

the help of other staff, we were able to prepare materials to send home for the remainder of the school year.”

Endres agreed that the experience of shutting down schools and switching to distance learning was discombobulating.

“It was surreal when schools closed,” she said. “I was in Killdeer, working on my lessons for the upcoming week, when my friend asked what I was going to do with schools being closed. I was in disbelief when she explained that the Governor made the announcement that schools were closing. I was in shock. I was surviving in the classroom but was unsure how teaching online would be.”

Certainly, as early educators and digital natives who have grown up with the technological systems that are now vital to reaching students from a distance, they would have an advantage over more-experienced classroom teachers, less familiar with online learning. But this was still the end of their first year as teachers, and they were closing them out in a fashion that none of their colleagues could compare with.

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“One component of distance learning that was hard for me was I wasn’t able to connect with my students who really thrived on a one-on-one or small group instruction and interactions like I was able to when we were at school,” Frigon said. “I knew they weren’t getting the support and structure that going to school provided them with which is so important to their educational success.

I reached out and did what I could, but the personal relationships and support were not the same as it was when we were inside the school building.”

Again, it was the support of their fellow teachers, educators and administrators that carried them across the finish line of their first year. “One thing I’ll say is I just think our administration and our whole Sunrise team handled everything so well,” Kaiser said. “I felt so supported and just felt like things ran so smoothly.

I hadn’t ever felt so close to my firstgrade team, because we had to work together so much and problem-solve, and just had to come together and make it work. So it was actually kind of beneficial in the sense that I was able to get to connect with them more and plan

with them more and get to know them better.”

So, what final lessons did these three first-year teachers come away with, in the end? They all agree that COVID-19 was a colossal challenge, but they won’t let it dissuade them from continuing on the path they’ve set. Kaiser and Frigon are both returning to their first-grade classes in the fall, whether it be inperson, online or a combination. Endres was married at the beginning of July and has relocated to the Napoleon area.

This meant she had to say goodbye to the Killdeer community after just one year of teaching there. Education will always be a part of her life though, she said. “My husband has pointed out that my teacher tendencies never really leave me, even when I’m at home,” she said, and that she plans to continue as a substitute teacher while waiting for future opportunities to open up.

Frigon said she plans to continue being a public-school teacher and expects to still be teaching in a rural school setting into the future. “But I hope to have gained more classroom management skills,” she said, “learned more about how to effectively incorporate technology into education and continue to be a teacher who positively affects many students’ lives.”

The word that sums up this tumultuous year, for Kaiser, is grace. “Give yourself grace,” she advises anyone entering the profession this coming year. “Give your kids grace, but also give yourself grace. Definitely enjoy the journey and embrace all that comes at you, because there will be a lot of unexpected things.

But cling to the people around you, find your support and find joy in the journey. It’s a challenging job, but it’s a job that makes a difference. And it’s so worth it.”

Rachel Frigon explaining an assignment to students.

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Educators share their stories of teaching through a pandemic on Education Mindset.

By Tom Gerhardt, NDU Communications

Education in North Dakota shifted dramatically March 15th, when Governor Doug Burgum, by executive order, announced that K-12 schools would close for a week to help slow the spread of coronavirus. That led to another announcement a week later that schools would close indefinitely.

Soon after, the governor ordered schools closed for the year. Our colleges and universities followed suit.

School districts quickly developed plans for distance learning that led to the lightning-fast transformation of education in North Dakota.

Educators, students, and parents were all thrust into an unexpected teaching and learning environment.

In an effort to capture a historical snapshot of the unprecedented change, North Dakota United began a new podcast called Education Mindset. Host Tom Gerhardt decided to zoom in on the McKenzie County Public School District in Watford City

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to help provide perspective. It’s not the largest district in the state, nor the smallest. It’s in the heart of oil country which brings in students and families from around the world. Oil prices plummeted at the time, imposing more stress and uncertainty upon Watford City as it dealt with the impacts of layoffs and economic uncertainty — disrupting the school system and the community.

How did educators educate? In a half-dozen episodes, you can listen to high school science teacher Amy Polivka — who is also the president of the Watford City Education Association. Tom also visited with a school counselor, a middle and high school band director, the coordinator of the English Learner program along with a staff member, a kindergarten teacher, and a library media specialist.

All are members of North Dakota United.

Veteran high school science teacher Amy Polivka left Watford City High School on a Friday in mid-March to go home for the weekend.

It turned out to be Amy Polivka her last day in the classroom with students for the school year. By Sunday night, Governor Doug Burgum ordered schools to close immediately. The shift to counteract the impacts of COVID-19 happened so quickly and unexpectedly that educators across the state didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to their students in person.

It was the same story for thousands of educators and tens of thousands of students across North Dakota this spring. “And I think that was definitely an eye opener to us, a wake-up call, couple of days without school,” Amy Polivka said. “And then we all started thinking, what’s next? What do we need to do and how are we gonna finish up the school year?”

Answers to those questions began to take shape. Governor Burgum directed school districts to submit plans to the state by March 27th on how they were going to move forward with distance learning.

It was new ground for administrators, educators, students, and parents.

Problems compounded in Watford City as plummeting oil prices reverberated

Center-Stanton Dino-mite Month

around the region.

“And we met and kind of discussed what we felt would be best Check out our newsfeed at for our community,” ndunited.org Polivka said. “Again, a community that’s been impacted by oil and a lot of people from diverse areas of the country. And the thought of how are they going to navigate this, schooling their kids at home and continuing to work, because at that time, we really did not foresee a lot of the oil field companies slowing down at that time. So that was kind of our biggest concern.”

The English Learner staff in the McKenzie County Public School District was up for the challenge. Pamela Albright works with students in grades 7-12. On top of helping families with technology, working through language barriers over the internet and other challenges, Pamela wanted to make sure she stayed connected to her kids. She had one student who had begun to drift away.

“I had her number and she wasn’t responding to other teachers. I was able to send her a text. Hey, are you OK? I even sent her a picture of some hot sauce she had told me about,” Albright said.

“I asked did I buy the right one just to make her laugh and do some silly things.

And she just reached back out yesterday after I sent her another text. Are you OK? I’m getting on it, Miss Albright, I’m getting work done.”

It’s just one example of teachers going out of their way, often outside of the normal school day, to stay connected. ndunited.org

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“They are human beings.

They are our students and we’re in this profession because we love what we do and they will forever be our children” Kindergarten teacher Delanie Hill faced another set of challenges. In many cases her students were still learning to read. “The hardest thing Delanie Hill with doing distance learning for kindergarten is that we are not teaching our students directly.

We’re really teaching parents,” Delanie Hill said. “So, all of our lessons we’ve had to create. They have instructions in multiple formats. I mean, we’re having the instructions on the assignment.”

Hill said time was spent translating instructions into Spanish, and that she and others created video instructions trying to find as many ways as possible to make distance learning easier on the parents and students.

Through the challenges, which included teaching from home while taking care

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of her own young children, Hill found successes to build upon. That included a child in her class who is a selective mute.

“She participates and does the work, but I’ve maybe heard two full sentences out of her all year,” Hill said. “When playing with her friends, she doesn’t talk.

Once when playing house, she meowed because she was playing the kitten and the kids got all excited. I mean, that’s how much she was not talking at all. Well, now with distance learning, she’s doing it all. She’s submitting the recordings of herself reading to me. She’s doing this assignment and I get to hear her voice. And it’s a really cool.”

Rachel Meuchel

conversations face-to-face.

The challenges were equally difficult for high school counselor Rachel Meuchel.

She says the biggest challenge was not being able to see their faces and have

“Especially our students who don’t have the resources — that’s been probably one of the biggest challenges is being able to if they don’t have Internet or they’re sharing computers with their siblings or maybe they have one computer for the whole family, things like that,” Meuchel said. “It becomes a challenge to reach the kids that we would usually be able

to reach at school. But hearing from our students now is that much more rewarding just because we miss them.”

Library Media Specialist Olivia Dwyer also had to pivot quickly.

She went from working faceto-face with around 600 students each week in her K-3 school Olivia Dwyer to trying to find ways to connect, help teachers with technology needs, check in with parents, and manage her own toddler while working from home.

“Technology has always been a part of my every day, but it’s really become a huge part, especially with those teachers that just, you know, need a little extra help.”

“So, my days consist of a zillion emails.

They range from parents to teachers saying help. I don’t know how to Zoom, you know, just things like that.”

grabbing instruments out of lockers, putting labels on them, saying, who belong to what? Make sure everybody had music,” Page said.

Luckily, Page says his students were already using technology. “We’ve been using this program already called Smart Music, which is an online thing where the kids can go on and put in the piece of music and it scrolls on their screen for them. It records them as they play. So, I can make assignments. They hit record.

They like it, it just gets sent on to me so that I’m able to make critiques and stuff like that,” Page said.

Ultimately, educators in Watford City and across North Dakota found a way to make distance learning work. “I have to say that no one went into education to sit by a computer all day, and still missing the kids and the vibrancy of the school setting is a big disappointment,” Rachel Meuchel said. “But I have to say that I’ve never been more proud of my coworkers and my fellow educators across the state. It’s amazing to watch them. They’ve stepped up. They care so much.”

You can find all episodes of the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Spreaker and our website ndunited.org.

High School Band Director Matthew Page acted quickly when he heard the school was closing.

“And so, I went in and I was just

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Testing is Part of the Answer

Public health units step up in response to the threat of COVID-19

By Kelly Hagen, NDU Communications

Perhaps the best defense against a molecular threat like the COVID-19 pandemic, so small it goes unseen by the human eye, is a similarly invisible force. Those society defenders against pandemics are our local public health units, located across our state. And they are staffed by trained, dedicated professionals like Daphne Clark, public information officer and protection team leader at Upper Missouri District Health Unit in Williston.

“I think the best description of local public health that I have ever heard is that when we are doing our jobs well, no one sees us,” Clark said. “It is only when we fall short that we are seen. Other emergency responders fill important roles that are more visible. Local public health responders are not as visible, but we do fill an equally important role, especially during a public health crisis.”

Clark has worked at UMDHU for more than 16 years. She started her career in public health as a general environmental health practitioner, then moved into 14

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becoming an emergency environmental health practitioner. In 2008, she began in her current position. She describes her day-to-day work requirements as promoting and public messaging for her health unit, which serves four counties – Divide, Williams, Mountrail and McKenzie – in the northwest corner of the state. Additionally, she is team leader for the UMDHU emergency preparedness program and environmental health programs.

And her work duties have changed completely since the state’s first reported case of the novel coronavirus on March 11. “All of my time now is spent on COVID-19 response,” she said. “I spend most of my day connecting with partners to work on emergency plans or answering their questions about response.”

UMDHU is one of 28 local public health units in the state of North Dakota. Seven of these units are multicounty health districts like UMDHU and serve wide swaths of geographic terrain. Clark said that UMDHU has an especially strong working relationship

with the Southwestern District Health United, which serves eight counties directly south of their unit. Along with six tribal health units, these public health districts and departments are the “boots on the ground” for the North Dakota Department of Health and are largely responsible for local response efforts.

“We are the ones in the communities who are answering questions and helping to guide local policies,” Clark said. “We have had my team from UMDHU out fit-testing emergency response partners.

Fit-testing is necessary for people before they can wear the N95 masks we hear about that medical and emergency response personnel must wear to protect themselves. Our team has fit-tested around 1,000 emergency response personnel. UMDHU also has staff that are assisting the NDDOH Division of Disease Control with COVID-19 case and contact tracking.”

Fit-testing N95 masks for emergency responders, so that they can be protected from the same threat we are all facing today, as well as doing contact tracing of essential workers and supporting them with guidance from NDDOH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are parts of all the essential, behind-the-scenes planning and implementation of emergency preparedness and response plans during a crisis like this one. And public employees, such as Daphne Clark, go largely unseen during their efforts.

Which is the way they feel it should be, but it can still sting, all the same.

“I’m not going to lie though, when I see other emergency responder agencies getting food deliveries, I do think ‘I like donuts, too,’” Clark said with a laugh.

Public health agencies like UMDHU have hosted free drive-thru testing clinics in communities across the state.

Working alongside the National Guard, anyone can drive through, get a test directly from their vehicle and have results back in 24-72 hours. One of the first testing sites was held in New Town, and Clark was proud of the role that her agency played in its success.

“We have worked with our partners in the New Town area for years,” she said, “However, having as many partners there working together was something phenomenal to see and be a part of. As many people that were there, everyone took their assigned task and went to work and within a couple of hours, 282 people were tested. It was a great example of what can be achieved when partners and communities come together to work towards one goal.”

Clark urges every North Dakotan to pay attention to this serious situation, and to get their information from reputable sources. “I would encourage them to look to their local public health, North Dakota Department of Health and CDC for information on how to protect themselves and their communities.”

Additionally, she recommends that we all continue to work together to protect as many lives as we possibly can. “This has the potential to go on for a while,” Clark said, “and it is a high-stress situation, so I keep encouraging people to approach others with kindness and graciousness.

There will be mistakes made, and we need to look past those to continue our partnerships together to have the best results for our communities.”

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Overcoming Obstacles Two Mandan Education Association and NDU Education Support Professional members decorated the town by building sidewalk obstacle courses with chalk for the kids of Mandan. In April, Dawn Ressler and Marla Barnhart created sidewalk obstacle courses at all the elementary schools and the Brave Center in Mandan. Their boss got the idea from social media, and Ressler and Barnhart jumped at the chance to help the community, as well as themselves.

“I miss the kids so much,” Ressler said.

“This really helps me by doing something to let them know we really do miss them.”

They also created and delivered care packets full of activities at students’ homes.

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2020 NDU Foundation Scholarship and Grant Winners

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By Sarah Keiser, NDU Communications

The North Dakota United Foundation recently awarded over $18,000 in scholarships and grants to North Dakota United members, dependents of members, and students preparing for professions in public education and public service.

The goal of the NDU Foundation is to aid educators, public servants, and students in achieving greater educational success by offering various grants and scholarships to individual educators, public servants, and college students designed to enhance their skills.

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The NDU Foundation currently offers nine specifically designed and administered scholarships and grants to NDU members and students. To find the complete list of scholarship and grants as well as application due dates and how to apply, please visit ndunited. org/who-we-are/ndu-foundation.

You may also make a tax-deductible donation.

The Foundation is proud to share this year’s scholarship and grant recipients who have all demonstrated a dedication to the goals of North Dakota United.

GEORGE BRACKIN III, BISMARCK George has been awarded a Ron and Ann Anstrom Scholarship as well as a Horace Mann ND Agents Graduate Education Scholarship, totaling $3,500. He is pursuing a Master of Arts Science Education degree with an emphasis on Secondary Physics. By obtaining his master’s degree, Brackin hopes to gain the knowledge to be able to offer additional AP Physics classes at Century High School.

SAIGE FORSETH, HILLSBORO Saige has been awarded a Cindy and Gary Rath Education Scholarship of $1,000.

Forseth, a graduate of Hillsboro High School, is entering her sophomore year at Valley City State University. She is pursing a degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Spanish. Her goal is to teach fourth or fifth grade.

OLIVIA GRONOS, WATFORD CITY Olivia has been awarded a Bill Oban Special Education Scholarship of $1,000. Gronos is a 2018 graduate of Watford City High School and is entering her junior year at the University of Mary, Bismarck, where she is pursuing a double major in Elementary and Special Education.

As she continues with her education and work and volunteer experiences, she looks forward to becoming an impactful teacher who helps students at every level succeed in reaching their goals academically, personally, and socially.

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ALEXANDER GORTHY, SURREY Alexander has been awarded a NDU Member Dependent Scholarship of $800 to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Education degree with a major in Art and a minor in Digital Design.

Gorthy recently graduated from Surrey High School and is planning on attending Minot State University this fall. His goal is to become a full-time art teacher at a public school and help his future students express and spread their creativity and positivity through art.

JESSLYN HALL, ROLLA Jesslyn is the first ever recipient of the Halstenson Family Music Scholarship and has been awarded $1,000 to complete a Continuing Music Education Orff Level 3 Training. She teaches Kindergarten-5th grade music, 8th grade choir, and High School choir at St. John Public School. She is pursuing the training to develop musicianship, creativity, and teaching strategies that can be effectively implemented into her classroom.

EMILY KENNELLY, GRAFTON Emily has been awarded a NDU Education Scholarship of $1,500. Kennelly graduated from Saint Thomas Public School and is entering her junior year at Mayville State University. She is pursuing a degree in Elementary Education with a specialization in Reading. She is the President of the Student Education Association, a Peer Leader, a tutor, and a member of the SNDU Executive Team.

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MICHELLE KUKOWSKI, HARVEY Michelle has been awarded a Horace Mann ND Agents Graduate Education Scholarship of $1,000 to pursue her master’s degree in Education through the University of Jamestown. She has taught grades 3-6 throughout her fourteen years in education.

SARA MEDALEN, MINOT Sara has been awarded a Workplace Innovation Grant of $500 for a Girl Power – Summer STEAM Academy to be held this summer. Medalen, the 2020 North Dakota Teacher of the Year, is partnering with Minot State University and STEAM Ahead to design a 2-day summer program that will introduce participants to college life while offering academic sessions on science, mathematics, arts, engineering design, robotics, and computer coding. An emphasis will be placed on 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. She is a Reading and Math Interventionist for grades K-5 at Sunnyside Elementary School.

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ERIC SANDERS, GRAND FORKS Eric has been awarded a Ron and Ann Anstrom Scholarship as well as a Horace Mann ND Agents Graduate Education Scholarship, totaling $3,500. Sanders is pursuing a graduate degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Teacher Leadership. He is an English teacher and Instructional Coach at Red River High School in Grand Forks. His goal in pursuing a graduate degree in teacher leadership is to develop his teaching practices while spreading and celebrating a culture of innovation and growth.

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To find the complete list of scholarship and grants as well as application due dates and how to apply, please visit www.ndunited.com

CHRISTIANNA SCHMIDT, BEULAH ChristiAnna has been awarded a NDU Member Dependent Scholarship of $800. Both of Schmidt’s parents are educators – her mother is an elementary teacher and her father an Agriculture teacher. She graduated this year from Beulah High School and is planning on attending North Dakota State University this fall to study Agricultural Communications and Marketing.

DINAH SEASTRAND, MINOT Dinah has been awarded a NDU Education Scholarship of $1,000 for her junior year of Elementary Education study with a concentration in Kindergarten at Minot State University. She is a 2018 graduate of Minot High School and is active in Minot State’s SNDU chapter.

Her goal is to make a positive impact on future generations of North Dakota.

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Public Service Perspectives

Quality Services Provide Safety

By Gary Feist, NDU Vice President of Public Employees

These are challenging and unusual times. During the past few months, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our life. Thinking back to March when high school sporting events started to be canceled and there was talk of schools and worksites shutting down many of us thought this can’t be happening and expected things to get back to normal soon. After three months of teleworking, we are now planning for the new normal. Public employees of North Dakota have provided quality services during these difficult times while also making sure we and our families were safe.

NDU and NDPE want to hear your thoughts and ideas so we can have a voice in the development of the state’s policies and procedures for safely returning to our places of work or continuing to provide our services as we work remotely.

As a union, we need to make sure all public employees are provided the necessary protective equipment, agencies have 24

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adequate staffing, and the state has the financial resources necessary to provide quality public services and quality public education.

Our national affiliates the National Education Association (NEA) and the AFT have been a great resource for ideas of what’s necessary for employees to safely return to work. I have been meeting with and discussing policies and procedures with fellow public employee union leaders of the AFT but it’s not a one size fits all. We need you to join the conversation to ensure our collective voice is heard.

The AFT and NEA are also pushing for the passage of the HEROES ACT, so our schools will have the resources necessary to open in the fall. Please contact Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer and ask them to support the HEROS Act. During these challenging and difficult times, we need to amplify our voice for the services we provide, the people we serve, and for the safety of all public employees.

There is no better time to ask a fellow co-worker to join our union.

North Dakota United Delegate Assembly was held on Saturday, May 16th Members of our union gathered on Zoom to chart a course for the year

By Sarah Keiser, NDU Communications

The NDU Delegate Assembly, like most things in our current lives, looked different this year.

The Assembly was held on Zoom on Saturday, May 16th and gave members the opportunity to share in the governance decisions of NDU and elect statewide delegates to the NEA RA. Special guest speakers included NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia and AFT President Randi Weingarten.

One big change to the constitution revolves around the very assembly itself. In an effort to save financial and organizational resources, there will now be one Delegate Assembly held each year, eliminating the previous model that alternated between one delegate assembly and two regional assemblies.

Term limits were also passed so that the officers and directors of NDU are now limited to three three-year terms.

(Mandan), and Tim Thueson (Williston) were all elected as NEA RA Delegates.

A proposed dues increase was passed which will result in a $1 per month ($12 per year) increase in dues for the first year of the budget cycle, divided equally between the state and national affiliates.

During the second year, no increase in state dues is anticipated.

NDU advocates for great public schools to enhance student achievement and great public services to enhance the quality of life in North Dakota.

Therefore, the 2021 NDU Legislative Agenda was adopted to support legislation that will: • Ensure quality public education for students and quality public services for North Dakotans.

• Improve and enhance student learning and public services.

• Recruit and retain education and public employees.

• Provide retirement benefits for present and future retirees.

Thank you to the dedicated members who attended this virtual assembly during these unusual times. We are awaiting seeing your faces (hopefully) in person in 2021!

Mara Nysetvold (Fargo), Christina Nystrom (West Fargo), Alexis Rasset ndunited.org

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Meet the Staff

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LIZ BJERKE organizer

I have been a member of North Dakota United since I was a student at NDSU. Speaking of NDSU, I graduated from there in 2015 with a Bachelors in Family & Consumer Science Education. I then went on to teach at Hope-Page HS for 1 year, and Northern Cass the following 4 years. I loved working with learners but realized my real goal was to work with North Dakota United. This March I finished up a Master’s in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from the University of Texas-Arlington, so it seemed like a perfect time to make the transition. I have been with NDU since the last week in May and have been loving it so far, mostly because of youOUR MEMBERS! I currently live in Fargo with my husband Zach who works for the Air National Guard, and we have one son who will be 3 in July.

I look forward to meeting many of you throughout this work.

LEAH DEKREY digital director

I was born and raised alongside the smell of processed sugar beets in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

I attended the University of North Dakota where I graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. After 21 years in the same place, I decided a change of scenery was needed. So, I moved far away. Like really far away, all the way to Stockholm, Sweden. While there, I got my master’s degree and started my 10-year career in digital marketing. I joined North Dakota United in the 26

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hopes that I can help improve working conditions for public employees and teachers across North Dakota. Outside of work, my guilty pleasures include Hall & Oates and RuPaul’s Drag Race. My not so guilty pleasures include traveling, playing Pinochle and (occasionally) beating my husband in racquetball.

Random fun facts about me: I once went diving with Great White Sharks in South Africa, I’m a dual citizen, and genuinely enjoy assembling Ikea furniture. I reside in Moorhead with my husband and 2-year-old son.

AMY FLICEK professional development director

I have always been a member of North Dakota United and take great pride in my membership and what NDU represents. I believe wholeheartedly in supporting educators in any manner possible. My goal is to provide the professional development that our members seek. As a former educator, working to help educators be the best they can be for ND students is my top priority. I am married to Todd Flicek.

We have three grown children, one sonin-law, and our family is continuing to grow.

DAVID MARQUARDT field consultant

Hello, I am the new Field Consultant with NDU. Previously, I was an elementary teacher for over 20 years with Fargo Public Schools. I was the local Fargo EA president for several years, on the Board of Directors for NDU for 9 years and last April elected NDU Vice President for Education.

This experience has helped me gain the knowledge needed for position.

My bride of 17 years is a social worker for Fargo Public Schools and we have three children who are 16, 14, and 11.

Being a field consultant with NDU is my way to be a helping hand for locals, to improve public education and Public Employees issues across the state. I look forward to working with our members as their advocate on issues that matter to them. I look forward to helping members by sharing and encouraging members to take advantage of the professional development opportunities being offered through NDU. I hope we can get bargaining rights for all public employees and improve the bargaining process for those who currently have it. I want members to see and know the value NDU has in their profession and watch more members take leadership roles in their local. I look forward to meeting many new people in my role as field consultant. ndunited.org

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Upcoming NDU Events EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS (ESP) ONLINE BOOK STUDY No credit is available for this strand of book studies, which have been developed specifically for Education Support Professionals.

• How Children Succeed: Grip, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – September 14

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ESP ONLINE FEES Members $10 Non-Members $20 _______________ The cost associated with this registration is for course participation only. There is no credit offered for the ESP book studies.

For specific information and to register, please visit pd.ndunited.org.

ONLINE BOOK STUDIES (BY CATEGORY)

Behavioral Health • I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids – August 31

Social/Racial Justice • White Fragility: Why it’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism – August 3

Leadership • Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success – September 21

Trauma • Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a TraumaSensitive Classroom – September 7

Personal Wellness/Mindful • Kids Deserve It: Pushing Boundaries and Challenging Conventional Thinking – September 28

Student Success • The Wild Card: 7 Steps to an Educator’s Creative Breakthrough – August 3 • No Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind – August 10 • I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids – August 31 • Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a TraumaSensitive Classroom – September 7 • How Children Succeed: Grip, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – September 14

ONLINE BOOK FEES Members: $50 ESP $25 Student members: $0 Non-Members: $100 _______________ The cost associated with this registration is for course participation only. This course is eligible for 1 graduate credit through UND at an additional cost of $50 per credit paid directly to UND.

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Helping educators today and tomorrow

Founded by Educators for Educators®, Horace Mann is dedicated to helping educators and their families protect what’s important today and prepare for a successful tomorrow.

Products and services especially designed with educators in mind • • • •

Auto, home and life insurance and retirement solutions with personalized service for all school employees Educator rates and discounts on auto insurance and special educator rates for life insurance Special auto and home insurance benefits and features just for educators Convenient payroll deduction available to pay auto and life insurance premiums

Solutions to the challenges educators face • • • •

Student Loan Solutions Workshop DonorsChoose.org Workshop and Funding Financial Success Workshop Teachers' Fund for Retirement (TFFR) and Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)

For more information or to request a no-cost workshop at your school, contact your local Horace Mann representative.

Morgan Engbrecht Morgan Engbrecht Agency Mandan 701-663-1707

Shawn Rehm Shawn Rehm Agency Fargo 701-232-7353

Jason Rohrer Jason L Rohrer Agency Minot 701-839-4669

Lance Rustand Rustand Agency Dickinson 701-483-5789

Bob Tiller Bob Tiller Agency Grand Forks 701-787-8754

Your school must approve payroll deduction for premium payments. Horace Mann Insurance Company and its affiliates underwrite Horace Mann home and auto insurance. Horace Mann life insurance and annuity products are underwritten

by Horace Mann Life Insurance Company.

AM-C04259 (3-18)

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YOU DESERVE MORE Like the comfort of knowing they’re covered

You deserve the peace of mind that comes with protecting your loved ones. NEA Member Benefits offers educator-tailored insurance solutions you can count on to help keep your family covered, SCAN & GO

plus plenty of resources to help you make sense of it.

Explore your coverage options at neamb.com/protect

 800-637-4636

LIFE INSURANCE PROTECTION

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PERMIT NO. 433 BISMARCK, ND