Countdown to Conference

Springing Towards Conference

       The best part about spring approaching is all of the good feelings that come with it. The feeling of the windows down, the grass gaining its vibrancy back, the feeling that in a few short weeks you’ll have the summer to celebrate all of your semester’s accomplishments. While it can be a crazy time, especially for those of us student teaching, it is a time to be excited. I am most excited for our Student PSEA Annual Conference and Convention in conjunction with our Student PSEA House of Delegates; it is less than a month away! The student executive committee has spent numerous hours planning for this conference to be one of the best yet. I am going to spotlight some information that you should know before making the trek to the good ol’ Harrisburg Hershey Holiday Inn in Grantville, PA!

#SPSEA15

Achieving Professional Excellence

         Student PSEA members do amazing things in their community, work towards personal growth and professional development, and are political activists in our locals. Once a year, we bring these accomplishments to share with the other students in Pennsylvania. The APEX is your chance to showcase your hard work, put your chapter on the pedestal and brag! Whether you compile your APEX into a binder, a website, or another creative way, you will be able to share and submit this to win cash prizes. You can set up your APEX (we will inform you with the location when you arrive) when you register on Thursday night or Friday morning. They must be set-up before lunch (by 11 a.m.) on Friday. Members can take some minutes during lunch to check them out!

Learning Centers

        Have you been working on your learning centers? Learning centers can be submitted as a chapter or as an individual. The registration form must be completed and postmarked by Tuesday, March 31^st, 2015. Bring 2 copies of this form to conference for each learning center. The forms must be turned in to the PSEA office before the first breakout session begins on Friday. Guidelines for the learning centers can be found on the website (www.psea.org/students) under Student PSEA Conference and Convention.

        We are looking forward to seeing your creations displayed at conference. They always make the conference center look and feel more like home. J

        We will be announcing the APEX and Learning Center winners during the second business session on Saturday.

Outreach to Teach: Meet Levi

         With our second year doing a beautification project as our Outreach to Teach comes another chance to make a positive difference in the lives of students and the community in which they live. This year we will be at Camp Curtain Academy (CCA) in the Harrisburg Area School District. Harrisburg is one of PSEA’s financial recovery districts and we truly feel that we are putting our energy in the right place. I will save the story of CCA and the perseverance of the faculty, staff, and students for the principal to share with you at our OTT kickoff. In short though, their school has undergone many changes in the past two years. Our projects range from painting walls and murals to the big project, renovating the library.

        With cuts in educational funding to the district, came the removal of the school librarian. The library is locked during the day because there is no one to monitor it. As a student teacher this semester, I see the enthusiasm my students have for visiting the library during (every possible) free time. I cannot imagine students not having the ability to visit the library. Bigger yet, I can’t imagine students not having a large assortment of… books. Book donations can be brought from your chapter or you as an individual. This library project is more than just coloring the library with new bulletin boards and murals; it is coloring the library with organized, Lexile-leveled books. I believe I’m most excited to see this location come to life again. No matter which project you sign up for, this OTT is sure to be meaningful and memorable for everyone involved.

        Lastly, I want to introduce Levi to you – the Camp Curtain Academy mascot! You are sure to see this face being added to the walls all over the school. We can’t wait to get started!

Let’s Get to Business

         As the ONE time our state’s student members gather together, the conference weekend is… eventful. Packed. Maybe even a tad overwhelming. There is just simply not even time in two days to share all of the meaningful information and collaborate with students from other universities. Therefore, there is less time to tell you what is happening.

        Am I a delegate? My nametag says I’m a delegate… what does that mean? I would like to run for a region leadership position, what does this entail? These student rep positions on the PSEA committees seem like something I’d be interested in, but what are they exactly?

        There, we already asked some of your questions. Now, we are going to make sure you have answers.

        We have worked hard to structure the schedule with various breakpoints and transitions. The schedule has also been planned with some opportunities for you to learn about what it means to be a delegate, what it means to be a leader, and what opportunities you have to get involved locally, regionally, statewide, and even nationally.

        Friday morning during breakfast, Vice President Dave Ramaley will provide a “New Delegate Orientation.” He will discuss the basic procedures of nominations, elections and what it means to be a delegate.

        Saturday afternoon during Business Meeting One, student members will be given the opportunity to run for the various leadership positions available. If you’re a local leader, an active member, and/or someone who would like to get more involved, you should consider running for a leadership position. What are the positions you might run for?

State Executive Board:

President

Vice President

Secretary

PACE (Political Action Committee for Education) Liaison

Student Executive Committee:

All those listed above

& Region Presidents

Student PSEA Representative to the PSEA Committees:

The PSEA Committees with student representation are,

·      Special Education Committee

·      Minority Affairs Committee

·      Resolutions Committee

·      Communications Committee

·      Intergroup Relations Commission

·      Professional Rights & Responsibilities

        You can also run to be a Student Delegate at the PSEA House of Delegates, which take place twice a year, once in December and again in May.

        Lastly, you can run to be a Student Delegate at the National Education Association’s Student Leadership Conference and Representative Assembly. This is occurring this summer in Orlando, Florida from June 26 to July 6, 2015. You can read more about this moving experience in the first Shout Out included in this blog!

        During Business Meeting One, the floor will be open to everyone for nominations for each of the listed positions above. Your nominator must head to the microphone nearby and nominate you. Voting will take place on Saturday morning for the State Executive Committee (Board and Region Presidents). Election results will be shared at the second business meeting Saturday afternoon. Positions on the PSEA Committees and Delegates to the NEA-RA will be announced at a later date.

        On behalf of the entire executive committee, we look forward to seeing everyone in Grantville on April 9^th!

Lauren Williams

Student PSEA President

Still have questions?

Contact Lauren Williams at LWilliams@psea.org

Or

Chris Clayton at CClayton@psea.org

Student Representatives

Student PSEA provides ample opportunities for students to get involved and hold a leadership position. Students serve on the state executive board, region executive boards, and at their local university.  Each year at our SPSEA Conference and Convention’s House of Delegates, students are elected to serve in these positions. At the House, students are also nominated to apply for a position serving as the student representative on one of the eight PSEA committees. As the student representative you are representing all of the student members in our state. It is an incredible networking opportunity and a chance for your voice to be heard.

The committee with a student position available each year are:

Communications Committee

Leadership Development Committee

Minority Affairs Committee

Resolutions Committee

Intergroup Relations Committee

Legislative Committee

Professional Rights & Responsibilities Committee

and the Special Education Committee

Tiffany Yeiser shared her experiences at the Communication Committee meeting. She was able to hear about and share her input about what our members want to see in The Voice and how to gain a larger audience of readers. She enjoyed hearing about the activities happening in regions across the state.

“The experience was great and it was interesting to see how the other committee members felt and the problems/ things they've encountered versus how I as a student felt and things I did not even know about yet.”

-Tiffany Yeiser,

Communications Committee, Student Representative

Gabrielle, the Resolutions Committee student representative, had the opportunity to be a part of the discussion on upcoming resolutions. The resolutions were on tax relief, standardized tests, pupil personnel services, child abuse, statewide health care, safeguarding the resolution's process, and student teacher evaluation. She shared her voice on a new resolution concerning student teaching.

“I was excited because I came up with a resolution concerning student teaching, and it may be published in the new book of resolutions for next year! It was a very busy and successful meeting.”

-Gabrielle Gombos

Resolutions Committee, Student Representative

At the Minority Affairs Committee meeting, Jennifer Searfoss was involved in conversation regarding NEA Bylaw 3.1g “Counting Beyond the Numbers” which is about “achieving ethnic minority delegate representation at the Representative Assembly that equals to the proportion of identified ethnic minorities in each state.” They also discussed and planned the Minority Leadership Training Conference in Grantville this upcoming March.

“It was a very productive meeting and everyone on the committee was very friendly, welcoming, and more than willing to help me and answer any questions I had. I found it interesting to hear about other people’s concerns and viewpoints on minorities and to learn about current events occurring in Pennsylvania that I was unaware of.”

-Jennifer Searfoss

Minority Affairs Committee, Student Representative

Alex Nietert represented the students on the Leadership Development Committee. They discussed the Gettysburg Summer Leadership Conference that was held this past July. They heard each of the Gettysburg schools report what went well and what could use improvement. The also discussed demographics and survey results. Alex will be a part of the LDC crew in the summer 2015; this committee is known as the “red shirts” of Gettysburg – running around and ensuring that everything goes smoothly! Gettysburg is the annual summer leadership conference where teachers from all over PA gather for professional development and collaboration.

“This was a great and enthusiastic group of people and I am really looking forward to spending a week with them in Gettysburg! The Gettysburg Leadership Conference is July 19th to the 24^th , 2015.”

Alex Nietert

Leadership Development Committee, Student Representative

Think about where your passion would be most valued and consider a position in the 2015-16 term!

NEA's Degrees Not Debt

With the launch of NEA’s Degrees Not Debt Week of Action on November 11^th-18^th, Student PSEA members are getting involved, taking the pledge, and sharing their stories.

Seven out of 10 college students graduate owing an average of 30,000 dollars in student loans.

Student debt is no longer just an inconvenience - it’s becoming a barrier that prevents graduates from buying houses, starting families, and taking advantage of the American Dream.

The National Education Association launched the Degrees Not Debt campaign to support students and educators facing this crisis. The campaign in an effort to: (1) increase need-based federal aid, like Pell Grants; (2) refinance student loan interest rates; and (3) expand student loan forgiveness programs, especially for people working in public service careers like education.

Already, more than 5 million American college graduates have fallen behind on student loan payments. Over the last decade two out of every three students must borrow money to afford college. Student debt burden stands at 1.2 trillion dollars, more than the nation's collective credit card debt.

Tuition costs continue to increase every year, though median household income has fallen 8 percent since 2007.

This past Saturday November 8, students got involved at the Southeastern Student PSEA conference at West Chester University. Here, students from WCU and Holy Family took the pledge.

On Sunday, November 9, I had the privilege of speaking with students from Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg. We discussed the value in your Student PSEA membership, your future as active PSEA members, and how we will be inspiring leaders – leaders who move people to action, encourage others to participate and encourage others about their own issues. We then shared our personal stories on college affordability and student debt.

 “Student loans hinder those with talent, passion, and determination. Growing up I heard, “you can be anything you want to be,” but excessive loans make continuing my education feel impossible.”

-Gabrielle Gombos, East Stroudsburg University

“Even with financial assistance, I struggle now to afford my own education. Without this aid, I could not attend college to pursue a career I have aspired to have for years. I know I am in this field for the love of school, children, and learning – not the money and not the insurmountable debt I will soon have to find ways to pay back.”

-Alexandra Jedlowski, Bloomsburg University

This weekend 58 of our student members took the pledge. I am thankful for the meaningful conversations we shared and the motivation to be advocates for our own education.

Learn more about the campaign at www.nea.org/degreesnotdebt, where you'll find information and resources to take action in your community or on your campus and urge Congress to support America's college students.

Transformations and Movements

Public Education in America is a civil right – a promise of equal educational opportunities no matter race, religion, or ability. It is tuition-free and a commitment to high standards and high expectations for all students. Public education is a benefit to society, our future, and our security. However, public education is under threat. There is misplaced blame, neglected responsibilities, and accountability falsehoods. In this Educational Apartheid we face the dismantling of the system that helped propel this country to its greatness. As future educators and future societal leaders, we are the ones who are going to take back our schools and our professions. We are the generation that is going to make the change - to be the change. We believe that we can and we do it with great pride, passion, and courage. As Student PSEA members, we not only enact positive change for our schools and our students, we join together and help create movements.

(Student PSEA Executive Committee at the Leadership Retreat at Seven Springs Mountain Resort)

            Seth Godin defines a movement as “an idea that spreads with passion through a community.” It is passion that transforms an idea to a movement. It is passion that makes people want to discuss and share an idea, and it is passion that inspires people to exert incredible amounts of energy on behalf of a cause. Movements offer a means of finding comfort and purpose in a world that has become increasingly disconcerting. This year, Student PSEA is moving in a new direction. We are becoming advocates for what it is we believe in, and we will move others to join in our ignited passion. The first movement we will take part in is the NEA Degrees Not Debt Campaign, a campaign with a focus on college affordability and student loans. This is what directly impacts us as students. This has meaning and value to members of Student PSEA and the National Education Association Student Program. Degrees Not Debt information will be coming to you through the Student PSEA Spotlight video in early November, directly after the elections. The “Week of Action” is November 11^th-18^th, 2014.

(Student Delegates of the NEA/RA in Denver, CO, sporting their Degrees Not Debts shirts)

Our future belongs to movements. There is so much that needs to be fixed and there are issues that need to be addressed. Our hard truth is that if there is no organization forced to advocate for public education in the state capitols of this nation, our children and schools will suffer. We, Student PSEA members, are the advocates of today and the future.

(Lauren Williams, Victoria Rodriquez, and Ashley Muscarella)

(Lauren Kriebel - Southern Region President and Sara Bycura - State Secretary)

I am proud to be the student president because I am guiding our organization through a transformation. Our state student coordinator, Christopher Clayton, presented to the Student Executive Committee this past weekend. Now, I am going to share it with you.

“You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” –Abraham Lincoln

            Politics is part of our every day lives, whether a student or a professional. Politics are about how we navigate, move and maneuver. There are two types of leaders, transactional and transformational. Let me break it down in its simplest form - a transactional leader does for others, while a transformational leader empowers others to do for themselves. Student PSEA is moving away from transactional politics. We are more than just electing leaders, setting policy, and holding a conference. We do more than vote, campaign, and give money. Politics is transformational when it understands others interest and values, connects the current reality with interpretations of the past, and when it builds power through action. Student PSEA members are going to be agents of action and reflection. Are you in? Will you be an activist of Student PSEA or a leader? An activist takes action, is willing to participate, speaks out on an issue and showcases his or her strengths. A leader moves people to action, encourages others to participate, encourages others about their own issues, and showcases another’s strengths. In this transformational year of Student PSEA we are taking action, leading movements, and building a better future. I am happy to have you on board!

-Lauren Williams

Student PSEA President