MEA | President's Letter Reflect, remember, recharge
W
here did this year go? Often that’s a question I would ask myself as the school year came to an end, and in this role now, I really am wondering where it went! It seems like the 2018 MEA Representative Assembly just happened, but actually we just ended the 2019 MEA RA! (It was great, by the way! Thank you to all who participated and helped to make it happen! Read more on page 26. When I began this position last summer there were endorsements, trainings, meetings, then Supreme Court hearings, elections, book deliveries and of course, a full legislative session (which isn’t over yet—but hopefully will be by the time you read this!). Though I have missed being in the classroom, I truly enjoy this work and especially the chance to meet many more members across the state. Seeing things from this perspective, I am even more confident our students and our public schools are in good hands. Our students are fortunate to have such dedicated and hardworking educators who really care about them and show it every day. My dad was a teacher—high school math—for well over forty years. He at times worked three jobs to help my four sisters and myself go to college. I knew Dad loved teaching, but I saw how hard he worked, and I did not intend to follow in his footsteps. But the college I attended, Beloit College in Wisconsin, had a requirement for a ‘field term’-you had to live away from home and campus and have a job for a term-so, I became an instructor at a language institute in Spain, teaching English to teens and adults. My motivation initially was so I could stay on in Spain where I had been studying, but after just one evening of classes, I was hooked. The interaction with students, the creativity and passion needed to find whatever ways they needed to get them to understand and learn—I loved it!
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Maine Educator • June 2019
There have certainly been times over the years when I have questioned my career path. But at those times, I just recall how I felt at the Briam Institute in Madrid, and how many more moments I have had where I have remembered my ‘why’ for becoming a teacher. And I feel renewed and reenergized. Over the summer break in the academic year (even though I know many of us will be working), I hope that you can find the time to also remember your ‘why’—why you chose to do what you do for Maine’s students—and I hope that you also can feel renewed energy and have the chance to recharge. Meanwhile I will be working on our next round of forward movement. After many successes in our Association this year, I will be looking for more ways to reinforce educator voice in the decisions that impact our students and our colleagues, to restore the respect that educators deserve, to redistribute the power that has been out of balance for too long, to retain the good progress in our schools and to reduce—or remove—the negative impact of misguided decisions of the past. To our retirees and those who are about to join them, thank you for your years of service (and remember to stay connected by enrolling in MEA Retired!) To all, relax, recharge, reinvigorate, and know that you can rely on the fact that together we will continue to work relentlessly to make our schools the great schools that all our students deserve!
Grace Leavitt President gleavitt@maineea.org
