This is our time. We are the present and we are the future. We are the National Education Association Aspiring Educators, and I’m excited to join with you to continue the important work of building the education profession and enhancing the promise of public education for all students!
Like many of you, I knew early on that one of the best ways to influence the next generation of learners was by serving public school students. Throughout my time at the University of Kentucky, I polished my practice with student teaching in first-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms in Lexington. These experiences shaped my belief in a student-centered learning environment that fosters innovation, collaboration, teamwork, ownership, and a growth-mindset.
I immediately joined my local campus chapter of NEA Aspiring Educators, and found opportunities to enhance my skills in educator quality, community engagement, political action, and social justice. More importantly, I found my home: a community of like- minded individuals who cared about everything I was passionate about. NEA Aspiring Educators became my ultimate community of support.
Our union has pushed me far outside my comfort zone. And the push helped to shape my passions, goals, and who I am as an educator, activist, and friend.
I’m an advocate for racial and social justice, gender equity, culturally responsive pedagogy, restorative school practices, and positive school-wide culture. We must prioritize our time and energy on educational justice to ensure the promise of public education. The growth and strength of our union relies on the knowledge we learn and collective action we take around these issues.
Last summer, at the NEA Representative Assembly, Aspiring Educator leaders helped design strategic goals for NEA through four new business items, which were adopted by a majority vote of 7,000 delegates.
For the next two years, we will explore new ways to encourage ethnically diverse P–12 students to consider education as an elite career choice. We’ll look at how NEA is supporting aspiring educators of color, specifically at minority-serving institutions. These same groups will make recommendations to the NEA Board of Directors on how to best recruit educators of color and identify the resources they need to become lifelong, active educators and union leaders. Our work will also underscore the benefits of having full-time state student organizers to help grow the Aspiring Educators program.
We live in a moment that is historically significant for education, labor unions, civil rights, and national activism. As members of the nation’s largest labor union, our collective voices as aspiring educators can help to build and reclaim the narrative of the public education profession and the labor movement.
On behalf of the entire NEA, welcome to your biggest support system. It’s a network that—if you allow it—will push you far outside of your comfort zone to ensure you enter the profession as an educator who is strong and prepared. By joining our union, you are connecting with 3 million like-minded leaders and advocates from across the country. Welcome to our NEA family. Welcome home.
