QUOTABLES

MEA Human Rights & Educational Excellence Awards

Three MEA Human Rights & Education Excellence Awards were pre sented to exceptional members at the MEA Winter Conference in February.

J. Blake Johnson, a professor of Art and Graphic Design at Saginaw Valley State University, received the Distinguished Servant of Public Education Award for the innovative SVSU Cardinal Solutions program he founded that gives students a chance to work with local nonprofits and businesses before graduation.

Char Fitzgerald, a bilingual and bicultural second grade teacher in Houghton Lake Public Schools, received the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion Award for her work helping children and colleagues in her district and community understand the needs and challenges of marginalized people.

Sarah Furman, a math teacher at Inland Lakes Schools in Indian River, received the Instructional Excellence Award for her dedication to contin uous improvement, commitment to engaging students in math, and her work developing free content for math teachers at Open Middle.

Congratulations to the winners!

Above And Beyond

on page 20.

Members of the Fraser Paraprofessional Association were fortunate to attend the MEA Winter Conference in Detroit in February for the first time. All of the workshops were beneficial, they said, but one in particular sparked an idea. In that session participants discussed a district where bus drivers sent holiday cards to members of the school board. The Fraser group decided during a school break they would send Valentine’s Day cards to some district administrators and school board members. It so happened that a few of the district’s special education classes were selling Valentine’s Day cards hand‑made by students to showcase their talents and raise money to buy books for a local foster closet. The unit purchased the cards, and members added a handwritten note of “Fraser Paraprofessional Association sending some joy your way.” It was a great way to send some kindness and to let recipients know what some special students and staff in their district were doing. As an added bonus, the classes that made the cards were able to raise enough money to purchase 225 books for children in foster care for March is Reading month.