Message from President Cordelia Anthony
Dear Members,
I am always happy to get the chance to bring you a Presidents Message. It is unbelievable that October is more than halfway over. Years ago when I was a new teacher, someone warned me that after you pass 20 years in our profession that the school years seem to move at warp speed and it seems they were right. As we have settled into the school year I have spoken to many of you who are feeling overburdened by different concerns or new requirements that have been introduced. I want it clear that your voices expressing to us and our admin that some changes were confusing, surprising and unexpected helped us as your elected voices to continue to sound the alarm we had warned about with too much change at once. We always want to deliver your message and advocate for you, but I always reiterate that YOU the members are the union. We all work as a team and we represent your concerns but you have a voice that is essential in the work we do. Another way we can use our voices is in the upcoming elections. This year I truly believe that freedoms are on the ballot, even here in NY state. Specific to us is the freedom to support all our students and the freedom teach the truth in our classrooms and curriculums. On a larger scale the freedom to vote and more is on the line around the country. Please remember to go out and vote, remind someone else to vote, check out the NYSUT endorsed candidates, make a phone bank call, or join a labor walk. By supporting politicians who support public schools and union values we make sure that we have a voice in what happens to our careers. Having the right people in office helps us fight for our students, school safety, improved workplace conditions, advocate for tier 6 reform, as well as a necessary aid for our districts and more.
On another note I wanted to alert everyone to the fact that we are 'growing our own' teachers here in Farmingdale. Through a NEA/NYSUT grant we did start a Take A Look At Teaching Club at the high school this year. We were able to get started with students last month and the HS club advisor is AnnMarie Ingenito. We are hoping to shine a light on the value of becoming an educator, grow our own local teachers who have a love for the profession, and also diversify the teacher pipeline. With the negative light that can be cast on educators it is awesome to see students who are motivated to teach by the positive impact we have had on them and who want to do what we do. If we call upon you to support our club we hope that we can depend on you to be supportive of the club and the students who hope to join our field one day.
