Educational Support Professionals
Winter Newsletter 2015
Letter From the President
Happy Holidays! As we begin the holiday season and end the 2015 year, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your service and dedication to the children and families of the Boise School District.
The BEA is proud to have 101 ESP (Education Support Professional) members who have an important impact in our state and local union. With amazing members like Stacie Aspiazu-Johnson (special education paraprofessional at Hillside JH) who serves as the Idaho Education Association ESP on the Board of Directors or Gena Harris (Title 1 tutor at Hawthorne) who serves as the BEA ESP Committee Chair, ESP's are helping to organizer and represent our local. Members are even given the awesome opportunity to travel to national conferences and return to make a difference here in Idaho.
We want you to become more involved too! The committee meets once a month (with food!) to talk about issues, projects, and how the voice of the ESP is heard. Contact me (stephaniemyers@boiseea.org) or Gena (gena.harris@boiseschools.org) for more information.
A couple of items to highlight:
- Volunteer for “BEA Day at the Food Bank”! Last year we sorted and boxed over 5,000 pounds of food. Join us for this outstanding community service event in January!
- Do you have something unique for the ESP auction this spring? The money raised from this Rep Council event will go to help support the ESP Steering Committee and raise funds for the Children's Fund.
Thank you for all that you do! I wish you, your family, and your friends a wonderful (restful) holiday season.
Stephanie Myers, BEA President
stephaniemyers@boiseea.orgESP's At Work - Tiffany Larsen, Grounds
Tiffany Larsen was born in Logan, Utah and is the youngest of three children.
Growing up, she did great in school, rode horses and read lots of books.
Eleven years ago she moved to Idaho and worked at many different jobs, including plumbing for homes. After the crash of the housing market, Tiffany attended a heavy equipment operating school. Shortly after completing her education, she landed a job with the Boise School District.
Tiffany is the Foreman of the grounds shop at the Boise School District. Grounds is responsible for building, maintaining and fixing playground equipment, maintaining and fixing all of the sprinkler systems in the district, mowing and maintaining football, baseball and lacrosse fields and snow removal throughout all district facilities. Which means she'll be busy this winter.
One of the biggest reasons Tiffany joined the BEA is that she feels that there needs to be a voice for the support staff and a reminder that this department is as necessary for a successful district as the teachers or any other part of the educational environment.
In her free time, Tiffany enjoys fishing, camping, horses, being in the mountains, reading, being with friends and family and her animals.
Foodbank Volunteer
Click here to register at the Idaho Foodbank site and then select the morning or afternoon shift on the 23rd. After you select the date, you will be asked to select an organization, and the BEA will be listed there.
We can't wait to see you there!
Auction to Support the Children's Fund and ESP Committee
ESP Outreach
ESP's in Idaho - Stacie Aspiazu-Johnson, ESP-At-Large
There is a movement happening with ESP's across Idaho, and we have a HUGE potential to increase ESP Membership here in Boise. Currently, Region 4 and Region 2 have surpassed Boise in the number of ESP members. So it's time to catch up.
I have developed an ESP toolkit to help in membership recruitment. Included in this toolkit is a flyer with information on the benefits of being a member, how to use the benefits to pay for your membership and cards you can hand out that contain a phone number with an access code that allows the potential member to call at their convenience to listen to a 2-3 minute pre-recorded phone call talking about the benefits of being a member.
In addition to the toolkit, is a new, revised, ESP Brochure.
Also recently release by the IEA, is a Podcast with Dave H. and myself, that details what an ESP is, and why ESP's are necessary in public schools across Idaho.
All of this information can also be found on the BEA ESP webpage.
BEA Educational Support Professionals Steering Committee
-BEA Executive Director, Kathy Yamamoto
-Chair, Gena Harris, Hawthorne
-Debra Brown, Horizon
-Mary Gordon, Retired
-Bev Harrigfeld, Horizon
-Jeanine Rishel, South
-Allison Gordon, DSC
-Nick Stienmetz, F & O
-Bree Wildman, Morley Nelson
-Stacie Aspiazu-Johnson, Hillside
Newsletter Editor:
-Allison Gordon
Boise Education Association
Email: info@boiseea.org
Website: www.boiseea.org
Location: 620 N 6th St, Boise, ID 83702
Phone: (208) 345-4450
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ESPBoise