Mideastern Region PSEA

Welcome to the Mideastern Region newsletter! Each month we will be featuring information to help our members stay informed, get involved, and advocate for our profession.

Our region represents the 15,168 public school educators across the 35 school districts and two intermediate units of Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Your hard work and the power of collective bargaining help to bring an exceptional education to the 195,426 students in our buildings.

The “Touch the Future” art show is a professionally juried art exhibit featuring the works of Bucks and Montgomery county public high school students. Sponsored by the Mideastern Region of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (MER/PSEA) and CAPS, the show began as a tribute to Christa McAuliffe, NASA’s teacher in space who died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. McAuliffe’s motto was “I touch the future…I teach.”

Check out the amazing student work that is on display at Arcadia University until the end of the month! Congratulations to all of this year's winners and the parents and educators that supported their endeavors.

Winter weather caused us to reschedule this act 48 night to April 3. We hope you can join us for the new date!

Student Inquiry-Centered Instruction, including introduction to PBL, Design Thinking, Genius Hour, and Maker Movement presented by Dr. Christopher Clayton, PSEA Assistant Director for Education Services

Wednesday, April 3 at 5pm at our region office in Montgomeryville.

This session provides an introduction for teachers to developing instruction for student-centered with their own authentic inquiry as the driver. Participants will be introduced to and have an opportunity to explore resources such as Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC), Problem/Project Based Learning (PBL) as well as an introduction to and resources for Design Thinking Genius Hour, and Maker Movement for the development and actualization of student-centered instruction in their own classroom.

Registration is FREE and includes dinner! Attendees are eligible for two hours of Act 48 credit. To register, please visit this website.

MER is going to a baseball game! Join us for a Family Day in Trenton! Enjoy a private all-you-can-eat buffet (hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, BBQ Chicken, sides, snacks and drinks), a Trenton Thunder vs. Binghampton Rumble Ponies game, and good company of your colleagues! Tickets are only $25 each and available here. For questions, please contact Sue Brown at suebrownwea@gmail.com

After receiving ACE training and support from Jennifer Statler in PSEA Government Relations, Colleen Brodbeck, a 6th grade language arts teacher at Pennwood Middle School, invited Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick to join her students in the 22nd annual NEA’s Read Across America Day. Congressman Fitzpatrick read “So You Want to be President” and told the students that they could one day be President with hard work and dedication.

Colleen said, “ The ACE training gave me the tools and confidence to be more actively involved with my local representatives. I want my students to know that they too can reach out and that even at the federal level the government is accessible.”

If you are interested in meeting with a member of the legislature, please contact PSEA Government Relations.

Do you know of an individual or organization whose leadership, acts, or support has significantly benefited education, education employees, or students in the Mideastern region? If so, please consider nominating them for our Friend of Education Award to be presented at our Region House of Delegates on May 2nd. Nominations must be received by the end of the work day on Monday, April 1. Some of the past recipients include a state representative, a state senator, a public radio personality, and several community leaders.

One of our upcoming Act 48 Nights features Newbery Medal-winner Avi!

Sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Public Schools

Wednesday, April 10th from 5-7pm at our region office in Montgomeryville

Words in the Age of the Image (How to promote reading when they rather look at pictures) Presented by Edward Wortis, better known by the pen name Avi, who is an American author of young adult and children's literature.

It's hardly a secret that we live in the age of the image. In the hands of your students are cell phones dotted with memes, digital games, graphic novels and communications with the fewest words possible. If we believe that deep reading is the most powerful conveyer of ideas, emotions, and information, how can we bring students back to the printed page? Writers use all kinds of strategies to keep readers turning the pages of their books. Perhaps teachers can use the same methods to lure and create young readers. Ave, the award-winning author known for his popular, suspenseful novels, shares his ideas and methods.

There will be time to meet and greet and for book signing. Copies of Avi's new book, "The End of the World and Beyond" will be available for purchase.

FREE to PSEA members. Online pre-registration required. Dinner will be served and members are also eligible for 2 (two) hours of Act 48 credit. To register, please click here.

It's a PSEA Member Benefits blitz! At 3:15pm and 4:30pm on the dates and locations listed below, learn how to save time and money with PSEA Member Benefits.

The PSEA Member Benefits program offers you thousands of discount and savings opportunities including mortgages, insurances, financial services, mobile services, restaurants and so much more. In this workshop, you’ll learn about all of these programs and how to easily get more information on any of PSEA’s wealth of Member Benefits

• Monday, April 8th—Bristol Township
• Tuesday, April 9th—MCIU in Norristown
• Tuesday, April 9th—Quakertown
• Thursday, April 11th—Perkiomen Valley

Our final Act 48 night of the year is on Thursday, April 11 at 5pm at the This session will delve into the reasons for career readiness being highlighted by PDE and how classroom teachers can incorporate a career focus in to every subject. The session will begin with basic information about the state requirements, and then review creative ideas to help students focus on careers in each subject matter taught in school. Ideas for all grade levels will be presented, and discussion will be incorporated to investigate further possibilities for classroom specific situations.

Presented by Jennifer Wahl, 2018-2019 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year

To register for this event, please click here.

We know two things about theater productions taking place at schools throughout Bucks and Montgomery Counties:

1. The shows are spectacular

2. Each building has closets stuffed full of supplies from previous shows

Wouldn't it be great to facilitate some sharing between all of these storage areas?

Here's your chance!

If you are the designated keeper of the supplies and you don't mind loaning them out to other PSEA members producing shows in Bucks or Montgomery Counties, this opportunity is for you! Simply click here to complete a survey and let us know which shows you have supplies for that you'd be willing to loan out. If you have supplies for multiple shows, complete the form one time for each show. After a period of time, we will share all of the response data with each contributing member. Hopefully you will be able to locate the supplies that you need - without having to reinvent the wheel (or make it, or paint it, or bedazzle it).

Announcing the Fabric of Unionism Art Competition! There are two contests: one for members and one for their students.Prizes for each contest include a Grand Prize of $1000, a Second Prize of $500 and a Third Prize of $250. Entries must be postmarked by March 29, 2019.

Artwork will be displayed and final awards presented at the Awards Reception to be held on June 1, 2019. The two-dimensional artwork will be displayed in PSEA offices.

Interested? Visit www.psea.org/fou for details or click on the flyer below.

Just in time for the 2019-2020 school year, California Casualty has launched a Music & Arts Grant program for all NEA members. 140 grants will be awarded to association members across the country in September 2019. Don’t wait: applications are due by June 30, 2019.

The California Casualty Music and Arts Grant program will consider grant requests for public K-12 schools whose music and arts programs are in jeopardy or in great need of funding. Requests will also be considered for individual classrooms wishing to integrate music and/or arts projects within school curriculum. Visit www.CalCasMusicArtsGrant.com to apply!

Save the date for the 19th annual PSEA Department of Pupil Services Conference! The event will be at a new location this year: The Nittany Lion Inn in State College, PA on July 30-31. The conference will include information for certified school counselors, school nurses, school dental hygienists, school psychologists, and home and school visitor/school social workers. For additional informaiton, contact Veronica Biegen.

Our final Coordinated Bargaining meetings for this school year are on April 1, and May 6th. Each of these meetings features a presentation by PSEA staff on current bargaining trends, reports from settled and bargaining locals, and time to allow bargaining teams to speak about ideas and topics that are important to their memberships. If you are currently on a bargaining team, or know that you will be bargaining soon, please reach out to your local president for information on how to register for these important meetings.

Our next region House of Delegates is on Thursday, May 2 at the Valley Forge Casino Resort. An election for the MER office of President-Elect will take place at this event. Registration materials will be sent to local presidents later this spring.

The next PSEA House of Delegates is on Friday and Saturday, May 17-18 at the Philadelphia 201 Hotel. An election for the offices of PSEA President, Vice President, and Treasurer will take place. Delegates will also vote for three NEA directors.

Alan Malachowski, President (amalachowski@psea.org)
Bill Senavaitis, President-Elect (bsenavaitis@psea.org)
Bill McGill, Vice President (wmcgill@psea.org)

Kathy Hornberger, Treasurer

Susan Brown, Secretary

Theresa Prato, PACE Director

Debbie Lee, NEA Director

Website: www.psea.org/mer
Location: 601 Bethlehem Pike, Building C, Montgomeryville, PA
Phone: 215.853.2100
Facebook: www.facebook.com/caps1995