I come from a family of educators, so becoming a teacher was in my blood. My dad is a music teacher, my mom is a music teacher, and my older sister is a history teacher. My dad was also the president of his local union for many years, so it just felt natural for me to join. A big part of the reason I got involved in the union was because I knew the value of it growing up. If you’re going to be an educator, then you’ve got to be an advocate as well.
I became a member-organizer because I thought it would be a really great way for me to use my voice as an advocate. I’ve been organizing since 2020 and it’s been a different experience every year, especially because of the pandemic. I organize because it’s important for teachers to find collective values to tackle collective problems. We need passionate educators to push back against legislators who want to privatize education and who don’t understand the issues we face on a regular basis.
We need teachers who are finding every reason to stay in the profession, despite all the external pressures we are facing, to organize. Teaching can sometimes feel like an isolating experience, but it’s important for educators to put our voices together so we can speak about these issues and share opportunities to find solutions. I took part in NEA’s Education Summer program, and that helped me to better engage with educators on some of these organizing issues. Organizing can be awkward, especially when an educator is hesitant to speak with you. It’s important to keep those conversations going until the educator opens up about the issues they’re facing.
I really like that member organizing is rooted in one-on-one conversations with educators. It requires developing relationships with members and non-members and giving them the space to share their frustrations, and then challenging them to do something about it. If I speak with seven educators who all have the same complaint, then we can put our voices together to do something about it. Individually an educator might not feel like they have a solution, but collectively we can work to address these problems.
