By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Surreal. Overwhelming. Indescribable. Talk to MEA members in Midland, Saginaw, and surrounding counties, and you’ll hear those words used repeatedly to try to convey the effects of a 500-year flood event in May which displaced thousands of people and cut a wide swath of destruction through the huge mid-Michigan…
EAST LANSING — The following statement can be attribute to MEA President Paula Herbart in response to the ongoing protests and racial unrest in our country: “The protests we have witnessed across our state and throughout the nation over the past several days should serve as a wake-up call for both police officers and citizens.…
Last year, MEA member Bill Boerman launched an ambitious greenhouse project at Holland Middle School because he knew it would pay big dividends in his STEM students’ learning about design, gardening, and nutrition. Now it’s led to a benefit he didn’t imagine: delivering fresh produce to a local food bank for people thrust into need…
Through one art project, MEA member Julie Durocher has found a way both to alleviate stress for those quarantining at home and to help homeless people who lack a safe place to hunker down amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Durocher lined up visual artists in Jackson County – where she is a professional artist and…
Friday’s announcement of an over $6 billion pandemic-driven hole in the state budget reinforced the urgency of getting help from Congress to help maintain essential services, like public education. Following relief for big businesses like airlines and cruise operators, it’s time for the federal government to help schools and other state-funded essentials deal with the…
EAST LANSING — The Michigan Education Association today announced 51 recipients of the 2020 MEA Scholarships, honoring exemplary public school students from across the state who plan to attend a Michigan public university next fall. Among the 401 applications submitted for scholarship awards this year, the MEA Scholarship Fund Trustees chose 29 new award recipients…
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor Some MEA members – like the three featured below – are positioned at the crossroads of the current public health crisis, working both in education and health care. They offer a unique perspective on teaching, learning, and appreciation for front-line caregivers in the age of COVID-19. Patrick Lothrop –…
EAST LANSING – Otsego Public Schools food service workers on Monday provided their 100,000th meal to local families since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The West Michigan school district’s experience is indicative of other districts statewide that are continuing to serve meals to students in need. “We knew it was going to come at…
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor As a self-described “Harry Potter nerd,” MEA member Ashley Calhoun has brought a bit of magic to her hometown of Homer, where she is now finishing her fourth year of teaching fourth grade. When the global COVID-19 pandemic forced school buildings in Michigan to close in March, Calhoun was…
Students, parents, and educators are grappling with a global crisis, trying to stay safe, facing a new virtual reality and struggling to connect. Now more than ever, school communities across the nation need support and leadership. Instead, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using this pandemic to, once again, push her failed privatization agenda to defund…
