Now that I have finally settled into the career that I have wanted since childhood, I have been excited to have the opportunity to be involved with my union – and through it, my Native American community. I have other plans for my work in education, but teaching a subject I love, working with colleagues on important education issues and learning more about the Alutiiq nation and the Native American people – it is all very rewarding.
I am an elementary school music teacher in Anchorage, Alaska and I love my work, introducing students to dance, music and song from different cultures and giving them an appreciation for movement and music. As an Alutiiq, I especially enjoy teaching about native American music and customs to the one third of my students who are Native Americans and the others, who all enjoy learning about them.
My career in education has not always been easy. Like many teachers – especially those who are new or teach something other than the core courses – I have been in difficult positions in the classroom. At one point in a school where many students were very challenging and teachers felt unsafe, I dreaded every day as I entered the school and faced classes that were very hard to control. Administrators wanted to improve things and hoped to institute restorative practices, but there was never time or energy left from days spent with these challenging students.
The union supported me then and afforded me other opportunities to reach my goals.
I started as a building representative, hoping to understand the issues facing schools and make a difference. I was happy to help members in a variety of ways – at one point assisting a teacher facing challenging students without support – similar to the situation I’d been in. We found information in the contract that protected teachers from abusive behavior by students and she raised the issue with her administration successfully.
I have then gone on to become a representative to the state delegate assembly for NEA Alaska and to the NEA national representative assembly meeting. I have learned a lot about critical issues in education, about leadership and about the political process as I have advocated for key education issues in Washington, D.C. I was fascinated by the process of putting forward resolutions, seeing them acted upon at various levels, seeing how they were presented to legislators for their support and then tracking them as they went through the legislative process.
Beyond that, I have gotten deeply involved in the work NEA does for Native Americans and help advocate for the specific issues that tribes face. For example, I joined NEA’s Educator Diversity Collective, formed to increase the number of minority teachers working in schools by recruiting students in high school and college to consider roles in education. The leaders of this group have really held us to task to find prospective educators and introduce them to the profession.
Being involved in education has had its challenges, but it has also been richly rewarding for me. With my union, education has given me opportunities to explore things I love.
