Happy October! The year is off to a running start and I keep hearing that this has felt like a busier fall than normal. We have been training new Building Reps,, getting our committees going, spreading the word about the Student Success Act, and supporting members. The BEA Executive Board has focused attention on the following priorities for this year:
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- supporting colleagues through staffing changes, new contract language and the loss of collaboration time;
- engaging in timely and effective two-way communication with members;
- continuing the Red For Ed momentum we built last year (and making sure funding is allocated where it will make the biggest difference for students) and
- supporting our new Executive Board members and Building Reps to provide representation for all members.
Given some of the work we will be engaged in this year, I want to share a reminder about the importance of educators being life-long learners. We ask our students be empathetic, to ask questions and listen as though their minds can be changed – we need to do the same as adults. This fall, teachers and students will be digging into new health curriculum and standards that are more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community and provide a more modern and comprehensive health education. In addition, Superintendent Grotting has publicly made a commitment to deeper equity work that seeks to explore and dismantle systems that have created inequities and opportunity gaps for students. As we move forward in this critical work that can challenge us as educators, we need to be willing to learn, ask questions about our own practices and patterns of thinking, and empathetically listen to the experiences and stories of our students and colleagues. It is our shared responsibility to create and maintain safe, welcoming and inclusive school environments for all students and staff.
Thanks for all the important work you do,
Sara Schmitt
BEA President