Things You Need To Know This Month Local Strategies to Improve Indoor Air Quality MEA offered another opportunity for its members to better learn about key issues related to COVID-19 and how to advocate for safety conditions during the pandemic during a recent indoor air quality webinar. It’s likely pre-COVID you never asked yourself, is the air quality inside my school safe to breathe? However, as we continue to navigate the pandemic in our schools, MEA will take a closer look at how we can improve indoor air quality. During the webinar members heard from health and safety experts and a public health expert who specializes in indoor air quality along with union representatives who helped navigate how to bargain for better air quality conditions. A recording of this webinar is available and can be found by registering to view it on the MEA website at maineea.org.
Honor a Colleague: MEA Award Application Open MEA offers awards and grants to members to both honor and support colleagues and your work. MEA offers awards in multiple categories including community support, political action, teaching excellence, friend of education and more. All award descriptions can be found on the MEA website along with the applications for each award. Award deadlines are March 6th. Learn more at maineea.org
Early Career Racial Justice Webinars The NEA is pleased to offer a webinar series focusing on equipping new educators with the tools to analyze, implement, and advocate for racial justice in schools and classrooms. NEA's Center for Organizing, in collaboration with the Center for Social Justice, is hosting a series of webinars for Early Career Educators centered around racial and social justice, specifically focusing on ways to support educators of color. The webinars will be held the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 7-8:30 pm. The first event of the series will serve as a kickoff conversation exploring racial justice in education. NEA will provide an overview of the levels of racism and its impacts on institutions and systems and outline why a race equity/justice lens is critical to our work. The webinar will also provide activities and tools to support the development of a racial analysis and to engage in constructive discussions about race. To learn more about these webinars, head to the professional development page of the MEA website at maineea.org.
Building Resilient School Communities in Uncertain Times We know from resilience research, that social support is a critical factor in bouncing back from adversity — humans are hardwired for connection. And yet, the typical ways we have built community, through gathering in groups and personal interactions, have been upended by the pandemic. In this workshop we will collaboratively explore how to build resilient school communities despite the constraints imposed by these uncertain times. We will be honest about the struggles educators are facing as individuals and offer strategies for how to build community as a protective factor. In the process, we will also build community among participants. Participants will leave the webinar with ideas and strategies they can use to build community within their own schools and districts. Webinar Date: March 3, 7-8pm Register at: maineea.org
February 2021 • www.maineea.org
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