With everything going on in public education, you often hear me say ‘educators need to raise their voice to make a difference’. So, what does that mean? To me, it means getting involved in any way to help your students and your profession. It could be doing something as simple as talking to your local leaders about issues that concern you to becoming a leader at the local, state or national level.
At the local level you could attend a local association meeting, volunteer to attend a school board meeting, serve on the membership or bargaining committee or step up to be a local association leader. It could be as simple as talking to your colleagues about why you became a member and encouraging them to join as well. Everything you do, big or small, raises the collective voice of educators.
You can raise your voice by getting involved at the state level. Again, that could be anything from responding to an SDEA poll asking your opinion, attending an SDEA Conference or participating in a professional development opportunity on our Bridge platform to serving on the SDEA Board of Directors. Your participation is raising the voice of educators.
If you want to get involved at the national level, you could consider being a delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly. This is an opportunity for you to help shape the work at the national level by joining roughly 5,000 other educators from across the country to set the priorities for the union. Again, you are lifting the voice of educators on the issues that really matter.
You really do make a difference when you participate in the work of the Association. I encourage you to use your voice in whatever way you can. If you want to join us at the state or national level here are a couple of dates to put on your calendars. First, if you are interested in serving on the SDEA Board of Directors or becoming a NEA RA delegate, you need to let me know your intentions by January 15, 2024. You can find more information on running for one of these elected positions in this publication and on our website at sdea.org. You should also mark your calendars for the SDEA Lobby Day, February 25–26, 2024. This will be a great opportunity to raise your voice with legislators for public education.
Finally, I want to thank you for the work that you do every day. You truly make a difference in the lives of students.
