The Illinois Education Association announces the availability of grant funds. The purpose of SCORE is to encourage early career members and their local associations to collaborate and create opportunities for community service projects or school projects. Proposals should be substantive and meaningful. They should build visible foundations for deeper relationships with students, families and communities. Additionally, IEA wants to foster the deeper value of the association in the life of our members and identify new leaders to carry forth the mission and goals of IEA.

• WordPress

Gratitude…something so simple but…so powerful at the same time. I am grateful to be able to have my dream job and have had these past two weeks to rest and spend with family. I understand that many ESPs must work multiple jobs and winter break can be a time of additional stress. Please know that your ESP Council is here to be an added resource for you and your local.

I’m grateful for each and everyone of you! I’m grateful for all you do and realize many of you face unspoken challenges and yet give everything you have for your students.

I pray you enjoy these last few days of winter break. I wish you good health, rest, and an abundance of love today and all through this year. You deserve it.

My local was chosen to participate in the National Education Association ESP mentoring program. Myself, the ESP vice-president of my local and our Uniserve director will be traveling to Washington DC in January. We will be working with a NEA mentoring team that will help us create a framework for an ESP program that will work specifically for our local and school district. This is where I need your help.

Do you have an ESP mentoring program in your district? What works? What doesn’t?

Do you wish you had an ESP mentoring program? What would you like it to look like? What topics would you like to see covered in this program, ie autism education, behavior management?

Please fill out the information below and help me help my team create the best framework for our ESPs.

As 2019 comes to a close, it’s good to take stock of where labor has won and the places we still need to win. Help make a difference in 2020 as educators demand rESPect in your local, in your state, and across the nation.

Everyone from your ESP Council wishes you a very happy holiday season and a safe and blessed new year.

Enjoy your holiday break! Rest, rejuvenate, and recharge, you deserve it!

About ESPs

The 510,000 Educational Support Professional members of the National Education Association and the 29,500 ESP members of the Illinois Education Association take care of our children every day and make sure they have the tools they need to succeed in our schools and classrooms. We are truly the unsung heroes of public education.

We are the…

• school bus driver who greets your child with a warm “hello” and delivers your child safely to school
• cafeteria worker who gives your daughter a warm, healthy meal
• paraeducator who provides your child with a little extra help in the classroom
• school nurse who comforts your sick child
• office assistant who makes sure your son’s records are up to date
• technician who wires the classroom computers
• custodian who works to keep the school environment safe and clean
• security professional who help keep students and school employees safe.

Please click the above link to visit your IEA ESP page for a wealth of information and tons of resources for all ESPs.

We’re raising our voices together for our students, for our schools, and for ourselves as educators. That’s why we’re wearing Red for Ed.

“Whether you’re a teacher, paraprofessional, counselor, or school resource officer, every staff member cares deeply about students. And that means being exposed to the traumas students bring into school every day, including poverty, grief, family problems, racism, drug abuse. The emotional and physical toll is often severe. Even if they have not endured trauma themselves, educators can begin exhibiting symptoms similar to those of their students – withdrawal, anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue.”