Goals:

• MEA will increase its presence within the community in order to create measurable, positive, and active support from all stakeholders by June 2012.
• MEA will increase membership by at least 60 certified members and 60 ESP members by May 10, 2012.

Vision Statement:   The MEA is an actively engaged and ever-increasing group of educators (both Certified Staff and Educational Support Professionals) who, with the support and mutual respect of the community (including parents, legislators, and school board members), and through reciprocal communication within the Association and its parent Associations, are able to overturn the “luna” laws, enact positive educational legislation, and achieve negotiated agreements for all employees.

Our Executive Board is working hard every day for the members of this great Association.  We appreciate your continued support and will continue to do the rewarding work of furthering the profession of education.

Your 2011-2012 Executive Board

President:           Luke Franklin

Secretary:           Angie Hickman

Treasurer:           Dori Atterberry

Vice President of Membership: Sheila Saunders

Vice President of Government Relations:  Eric Thies

Vice President of Community Relations:   Kendra Wisenbaker

IEA Board Members: Sue Darden, Lennette Meyer, and Laura Lemmon

I graduated from Boise State in 2007 with a degree in Elementary Education.  During my time at university I helped pay the bills by working as a paraprofessional in the Boise School District for five years.  After graduating, I took a job as a second grade teacher at Meridian Elementary where I worked the last four years.  I can honestly say that I feel the job of an educator is the most important profession in our society today.  I have nothing but admiration for the profession, and I vow to do all I can to help advance our cause throughout my tenure.

I want you all to remember a few things as you look forward to teaching this year.  First, remember you can count on me to help you as a member in any way I can.  I will be visible in the buildings and am looking forward to spending time with and meeting all of you.  Secondly, remember that as educators we are a family.  You may have heard of a family business, but we are a business that is a family.  It is always all about the children we educate.  As educators we all know that it takes more than just one teacher in a classroom to educate the total student.  It takes a village to raise a child, and we are that village.  Lastly, I want you all to remember that change is positive.  We need to be willing to adapt as an Association so that we can remain a viable part of the current system.  Therefore, you will see quite a bit of change in the way we run the Association this year, and a lot of the future success of our organization will depend on how well we all embrace that change.  Please never hesitate to contact me at the office or on my cell phone.  I am in this position to serve you, the members.

“Your issues are our issues. Our issues are yours. We welcome you with open arms,” IEA President Sherri Wood said after the board’s unanimous vote last November to welcome locals representing educators at North Star as well as at Xavier Charter School in Twin Falls.

Wood noted that although some individual teachers at Idaho charter schools have long been members of the IEA, “People at North Star and Xavier took the next logical step and decided to get organized as locals. Every educator has the right to join the IEA. North Star and Xavier have done it in a big way.”

At North Star, 35 teachers representing 83 percent of the certified staff had joined the local as of early December, and 90 percent of the staff agreed to be represented by the North Star Charter Education Association, which has asked its school board to bargain. (Idaho law requires that just 50 percent of employees “plus one” agree to the local’s representation before bargaining may be requested.)

The North Star local is being led by John Hansen, who previously taught at Capital High School in Boise. He joined the charter school in 2007 to teach social studies and coordinate North Star’s International Baccalaureate program. He is joined by Shirley Rau, the 1991 Idaho Teacher of the Year and a past Nampa Education Association president. Rau worked as executive director of the Idaho Charter School Network and as school choice coordinator at the Idaho Department of Education before returning to the classroom in 2009.

The curriculum at North Star is rigorous and faculty members are passionate about teaching. “We agreed that we wanted to form a professional association so we could, under Idaho law, have a seat at the table to help our school move forward,” Hansen says. “We look forward to having a constructive, positive relationship with parents, the school board, and everyone else in the charter school community, and to be a good example of how the IEA can be a positive working partner in charter schools around the state.”

Sue Scott, the new IEA Associate Executive Director, helped guide the North Star staff while serving as Region 9 director for the IEA in the organization’s Meridian office. (North Star is authorized by and within the boundaries of Joint School District Number 2, but it operates independently.) “Watching a local begin from the ground up has been incredible,” she says. In turn, Rau says that Scott’s expertise – and support from the entire IEA staff – has helped the organizing process go smoothly.

Scott says the North Star effort is organizing as it should be, with professionals saying, “Let’s get together and talk about what matters to us.” Although most charter schools succeed, their survival is not guaranteed. More than anything, North Star EA members seek to uphold their school’s high standards and have a consistent contract and equitable working conditions from year to year.

“That’s what your membership in the Idaho Education Association is all about: joining a group of people working together to the do the best possible job for kids in the state of Idaho,” says Sherri Wood. “We’d be more than happy to speak with other charter school educators about possibly starting their own local.”

Educators in charter schools who would like to explore affiliation with the Idaho Education Association are invited to contact the regional director in their area. Find your region at http://idahoea.org/directory/or call (208) 344-1341 for help.

Do you know of – or do you teach at – a school that deserves wider recognition for its innovative staff? Nominate it as an IEA Featured School by emailing jfanselow@idahoea.org.

This is the meeting where building representatives learn about the latest MEA and IEA news and events, learn more about the MEA budget, and let the MEA know about the concerns, questions and conditions throughout the Meridian school district. The MEA leadership shares information about Children’s Fund, Membership, Education Support Professionals, the Legislature, the Master Contract and more.

All B Team members and their guests are welcome to attend.

Please RSVP to Tricia Waltner by February 4th.

Please RSVP to Tricia Waltner.

Please make sure that your building sends a representative to get this important information.  See you there.

This is the meeting where building representatives learn about the latest MEA and IEA news and events, learn more about the MEA budget, and let the MEA know about the concerns, questions and conditions throughout the Meridian school district. The MEA leadership shares information about Children’s Fund, Membership, Education Support Professionals, the Legislature, the Master Contract and more.

All B Team members and their guests are welcome to attend.
Please RSVP to Tricia Waltner by January 7th.

Super Educators (pictured left to right) Nona Ritchie, Sonya Packard, and Sheila Saunders

Every educator does amazing things in the classroom and school to further student learning.  We’re excited to announce that we are honoring teachers and ESP staff who are nominated by their colleagues at the B team meetings this year.  If you would like to nominate someone please send your nomination to Shannon Nicholson.  Meet the Super Educators from October!

She is versatile enough to teach 6^th grade math and science, or 7^th grade math, or 6^th grade social studies.  Currently a 6^th grade social studies teacher, she creates lesson plans that allow students to make the connections from ancient civilizations to their modern lifes, dashes off emails to parents, grades piles of papers with whip-like speed and is almost single handlely covering every position on her middle school’s B-team.  From Meridian Middle School it’s Nona Ritchie!

She has very little prep time and started seeing students on day one. She provides children with great lessons and works hard.  Plus she sees and helps ERR kids with no aides or assistants.  From Peregrine Elementary it’s Sonya Packard!

She wields a mighty pen and inspires her students to think and write creatively (with proper grammar and spelling of course!)  She leaps into action by volunteering at her church, dashes to all our her children’s events, and for several years she served on the MEA board.  She continues to advocate for us as a Negotiator.  From Lowell Scott Middle School it’s Sheila Saunders!

“The MEA new teachers’ luncheon gave me a chance to see what kind of support there was out there for new teachers.  I found out that there is a place to get those ‘unspoken rules’ explained to me.  It was also a chance to start making those very valuable connections to teachers all over the district.  I am so glad that I was able to attend.” Jennifer Weddel, 5th Grade, Meridian Elementary

The new teachers attending the luncheon learned about many of the programs that the IEA and MEA offer especially for teachers new to the profession.  Some of the programs offered to new teacher members are the Cold Hard Cash for your Classroom grant program, the annual SPARKS retreat for new teachers, and the MEA’s one-credit New Teacher Seminar Class, which meets once a month starting October 27.

To learn more about what the MEA offers to new teachers, contact the MEA office at 888-1192 or email mermea@idahoea.org.

This is the meeting where building representatives learn about the latest MEA and IEA news and events, learn more about the MEA budget, and let the MEA know about the concerns, questions and conditions throughout the Meridian school district. The MEA leadership shares information about Children’s Fund, Membership, Education Support Professionals, the Legislature, the Master Contract and more.

All B Team members and their guests are welcome to attend.
Please RSVP to Tricia Waltner

Topics in this first semester class will include classroom organization, professional responsibilities, classroom discipline, time management, and parent activities/relations.

LOCATION: Meridian Middle School Library

DATES: Oct. 27, Nov. 17, Dec. 8, Jan. 12 (You must attend all  four classes to receive the credit)

TIME: 5:00 – 8:00 pm

1 NNU Credit available – $60.00

Class Registration Deadline:  October 27, 2010

Email Tricia Waltner for more information or to register for the class