IEA Education Support Professional Council

ONE Conference- Request for Proposals Now Open!

The 2024 IEA One Conference will be held on October 18 & 19 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago-Oakbrook.  We are seeking proposals for presentations for the conference.  The One Conference is an opportunity for IEA Education Support Professionals, Higher Education, and IEA Retired Members to develop professional skills, earn professional development credit, and network with colleagues from around the state.  The deadline for RFPS is May 10, 2024 so please submit session proposals as soon as possible.

Whether your spring break is just beginning or coming to an end, take time to enjoy.

Enjoy Your Spring Break

• Smile because the world is better because you are in it!
• Play a game with friends. Playdates aren’t just for kids.
• Rest, you deserve it!
• Ignore your emails….Ignite a new passion
• Notice the beauty of nature. Go for a walk; look and listen for the beauty of spring.
• Give yourself grace to not be perfect. No one is and who wants that pressure!

• Breathe in your blessings. They are all around us!
• Recharge your mind, soul, and body.
• Erase your worries. Prepared how you can, do what you can, then let go and let God.
• Accentuate the positives. Bad things will happen…it’s inevitable, look for the helpers.
• Keep heart and know that you are essential in the lives of those around you!

Education Support Professionals we need your voice to join an IEA governance committee and/or Board subcommittee. It is important that we have more of an ESP presence and voice at every table where decisions are being made. Interested education support professionals please apply today using the link below.  DEADLINE:  April 1

Opportunities to serve – IEA is seeking interested members for Committee and board subcommittee appointment procedures.  Electronic applications are available on the IEA website until April 1.

All applicants are required to enter their Members Only login information. Any questions, please direct them to Courtney Gillespie

If you are an education employee hired after Jan. 1, 2011, you are enrolled in Tier Two of either the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) or the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). Tier two pensions are unfair and inequitable. That is why our union is fighting to Undo Tier 2, and we have filed legislation (Senate Bill 2024) to do so. Graphics and fact sheets available at UndoTier2.org

What a fantastic time at the National Education Association’s Education Support Professional Conference in Las Vegas! So much learning, growing, and opportunities to make new friends and reconnect with old union family! Okay, how many of you like public speaking? Um, my fabulous friend Debra Ward-Mitchell and myself are definitely not fans, but we had several amazing opportunities to present and help facilitate multiple sessions. It was phenomenal!!

I want to encourage each of you to take a step out of your comfort zone. We truly can’t grow if we don’t push ourselves to get a little uncomfortable. You all have a power in side of you that is just waiting for you to release. Join us at our next rESPect meeting in April
https://www.mobilize.us/ieanea/event/592189/ The RESPECT Teams need you and your leadership to help us make the changes we need and deserve.

Amazing work is being accomplished at this year’s Representative Assembly. Many items are being brought to the floor…debated…and completed. It is important to have a voice in the direction our union will take over this next year. I encourage everyone to take an active role in your union because WE are IEA.

The IEA-NEA LOVEWORKS — Joy and Justice: Abolitionist Teaching in the Classroom has incorporated the goals of Read Across America and wants to provide funds to purchase diverse books for your classroom/school!