Our Voices, October 2023

Sparking a Passion for Politics

Early in Rochelle Greenwell’s career, she wanted to help her fellow paraeducators receive more professional development. Her unions, the Washington Education Association (WEA) and the Kent Association of Paraeducators (KAP), provided an avenue for her through a lobbying training program called Poli SPARKS.

She attended her first training in 2018. “After that weekend, I not only was versed on the union’s political advocacy, but I knew I discovered a passion,” says Greenwell, who works at Kent Elementary School.

Poli SPARKS is intended to build curiosity and enthusiasm for political activism and organizing. It’s a two-part training that teaches participants valuable advocacy skills and organizing tips, with a focus on virtual lobbying. Participants interact with insiders and decision-makers at the state capital and get a close-up look at how government works at the state and federal levels.

“It takes a lot to impress me, but when I attended my first Poli SPARKS training in Olympia, all I could say was, ‘Wow!’” Greenwell says.

The program is a hands-on experience offered to all WEA educators in their first six years of working in a public school.

Feeling empowered

One of the first bills Greenwell lobbied for would allow paraeducators to take 28 hours of professional development paid for by the state. Greenwell was inspired and honored to be the voice of advocacy for all paraeducators in Washington.

“I was so proud when the bill was passed and implemented in 2019,” she says.

Two years after attending her first Poli SPARKS training—and scores of lobbying visits and union meetings later—she is now president of her local association, serving 400 members.

Her first order of business? Visiting schools and connecting with members and potential members.

“I have a strong desire to meet people where they are and let them know the union is there for them, and I am there for them,” Greenwell shares. “This was especially important after the pandemic.

“It is also my job to identify leaders in our schools and train them to make a difference and get involved,” she adds.

While most days still feel chaotic to Greenwell—working in the classroom, leading KAP, and being a mom to her 25-year-old daughter—these are the roles she cherishes.

“They are the roles I know will make a difference to the next generation,” she says.

A Family Tradition

Marty Gutierrez

Middle School Math Teacher

Westminster, Colorado

The Chicano Movement was born in Denver, in 1969. At the time, my parents were a young couple with a growing family, and they proudly supported the movement’s activists, known as the Crusaders for Justice. However, my parents drew the line at the more militant actions of the time. They believed in the power of education and the strength of reason.

I must have done a lot of eavesdropping on their conversations around the kitchen table, because their values were instilled in me, as were those of my maternal grandfather. For years, my grandfather worked the mines in Colorado and spoke to me about why unions were crucial to workplace safety and financial security.

Today, after 28 years of teaching, I continue to proudly serve as a foot soldier for the Colorado Education Association and my local, the District Twelve Educators’ Association. I will always find the time to say yes to what’s asked of me. I guess you could call it a family tradition.