“IEA recognizing the MEA Task Force was a wonderful opportunity to share the message of what the Meridian Education Association is trying to accomplish.  The work started in 2007 is just beginning.  We continue to grow and evolve.  We continue to take on the issues that affect Educational Support Professionals every day.  We cannot wait to see what the future holds for the task force and ESP’s, not only in Meridian but all over Idaho.” – Mary Frances Booth, MEA-ESP Task Force, Computer Lab Technician, Ponderosa Elementary

“I felt we (the group attending DA) were just “the tip of the iceberg”. There were so many indispensable members of the Task Force that weren’t able to attend. We were proud to stand up there and receive the award, but were representing the entire team.   I wished they had all been there.  We’d need a ‘bigger bus’ to get us all there!” – David Swingle, MEA-ESP Task Force, Head Custodian, Lewis and Clark Middle School

“We have spent the last year working on a Living Wage Campaign and trying to connect teachers and ESPs together.  It is a compliment to our efforts that we were awarded the Edythe Crowe award.” – Jeanne Taylor, MEA Vice President of ESP, MEA-ESP Task Force, Resource Room Assistant, Peregrine Elementary

“I feel like we’ve made great gains this year in managing to successfully merge the monthly B-team meetings and local ESP meetings into one.   It was so wonderful to be rewarded with this honor of the Edythe Crowe Award. “ – Tawni Berryman-Hull, MEA Vice President of ESP, MEA-ESP Task Force, Resource Room Assistant, Peregrine Elementary

Edythe Crowe was a food program manager at Orchards Elementary School in Lewiston for over 25 years. Edythe was involved in the beginning of the membership movement of the ESP (Educational Support Professional) bargaining rights.

Edythe was actively involved in committee work of the IEA and she marched from Julia Davis Park to the Capitol with the teachers and staff from many school districts in support of funding and bargaining rights for ESP. The Edythe Crowe Award was started to honor Edythe for her involvement in encouraging classified staff to become members of our local, state and national associations and her involvement in the struggle for bargaining rights for Educational Support Professionals.

“The training helped to reinforce my feelings regarding seeking a Living Wage in this time of economic hardships.  It is not our responsibility to carry the burden of these times on our shoulders and we have the right to be able to “afford to live.” – Jeanne Taylor, Peregrine Elementary, Resource Room Assistant

Participants learned about the role of networking and relationships in any successful organizing effort and practiced these one on one conversations with their colleagues in attendance.

“The Living Wage training gave us some good information – I especially liked coming up with statements that people would likely say to us and then coming up with replies (as a group).  I think this will be very helpful.  Furthermore, it reinforced the belief/fact that we do “deserve” a living wage and we should be paid a wage that we can support ourselves on.” - Tawni Berryman-Hull, Resource Room Assistant, Peregrine Elementary.

For more information on a Living Wage in Idaho, check out the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations (NWFCO), a regional federation of four statewide, community-based social and economic justice organizations located in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington: Colorado Progressive Coalition, Idaho Community Action Network, Oregon Action, and Washington Community Action Network. Collectively these organizations engage in community organizing and coalition building in both rural and metropolitan areas, including Denver, Seattle, Boise, and Portland.   www.nwfco.org.

To view photos of this meeting go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/meridianea/sets/72157623228285353/