GEA NEWSLETTER: ABOVE & BEYOND
June 10, 2022
Greenwich Education Association Executive Board
Contact Us
Lillian Perone, President: president@greenwicheducationassociation.org
Lori Mulligan, VP Secondary: vpsecondary@greenwicheducationassociation.org
Melissa D'Amato, VP Elementary: vpelementary@greenwicheducationassociation.org
Chrissy Distel, VP of Communications: communications@greenwicheducationassociation.org
Jessica Punchatz, VP of Membership: membership@greenwicheducationassociation.org
Chuck Costello, PR&R Chair: prr@greenwicheducationassociation.org
Secretary: secretary@greenwicheducationassociation.org
Courtney Powers, Treasurer: treasurer@greenwicheducationassociation.org
PAC/BOE Chair, Aaron Johnson: pac@greenwicheducationassociation.org
ABOVE & BEYOND!
Talented GEA Members
Valerie Bolling
Valerie has been a valued educator in Greenwich for 29 years. Currently, she has published two children's books and has another one on the way in October, five slated for release next year, and one title announced for 2024. This year alone she has been the recipient of NEA's H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award, CEA's Susan B. Anthony-Prudence Crandall Equality Award, and the CT State Education Resource Center's George A. Coleman Excellence in Equity Award. She was also recently featured in CONNECTICUT READS, the 2022 Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge, where the State of Connecticut and Governor Lamont selected her as one of the featured authors in this year’s summer reading challenge.
Valerie is dedicated to supporting equity in schools and diverse representation in children's literature. She was quoted in a recent Greenwich Free Press article saying, “Sometimes people think of equity as race, which is part of it. But equity is also about considering students who have physical or mental challenges. And it is about students who are LGBTQIA+. We want to make sure that everyone feels welcome in a school building.”
To learn more about this inspiring educator and author and her books, please check out these amazing articles and Valerie's website:
Congratulations Valerie on receiving these prestigious Human and Civil Rights awards, and thank you for all you do for your colleagues and our students!
Le Ann Hinkle
Le Ann is also an active member of the GEA, serving on the Board Directors and Negotiations Team for several years.
Congratulations Le Ann on this wonderful award, and thank you for all you do for your students, your colleagues, and your union! GEA and Greenwich Public Schools are lucky to have such a devoted educator!
Stacy Barnett Mozer
Stacy is an active SCBWI (Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators) member and is a co-Regional Advisor for New England SCBWI, overseeing Connecticut and Rhode Island. Her books include The Sweet Spot and The Perfect Trip, and you can learn more about this dedicated educator and author at stacymozer.com
Congratulations Stacy on these amazing accomplishments! Thank you for all you do for your students, your colleagues, and your union!
Gaspare Lipari
Greenwich Alliance for Education executive director told the Greenwich Free Press, “Gaspare’s passion and commitment to bring cutting edge experiences to our students will now be made available outside of the school year. Seeing what he has already accomplished with his Reaching Out Grant that brought virtual and augmented reality experiences to Western Middle School students, I know these camp participants are bound to have a fun, innovative summer.”
What an amazing and innovative use of the Greenwich Alliance Grant funds. Congratulations on these wonderful accomplishments, Gaspare, and thank you for all you do for your students, you colleagues, and your union!
2022 Distinguished Teachers
A huge congratulations to this year's talented and devoted Distinguished Teachers Award
Recipients:
Ms. Libby Craig, International School at Dundee, Advanced Learning Program
Mr. Ryan Jones, Greenwich High School, Social Studies
Ms. Alison Kistler, North Mianus School, Kindergarten
Ms. Tyler Mecozzi, Western Middle School, Science
Mr. William Ronk, Riverside School, Fourth-Grade
Ms. Darcey Zygmont, North Street School, Third-Grade
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to your students, your colleagues, and your union!
GEA News
CEA Red for Ed Day of Action Update
Legislators passed mental health bills SB 1, SB 2, and HB 5001 unanimously or with overwhelming majorities and bipartisan support. Legislators also passed a $24 billion annual state budget (HB 5506) that provides mental health supports for students, additional school funding, money for indoor air quality, and much more. Governor Lamont signed the bills into law on June 1st. Some of the many measures contained in the three bills signed today, SB 1, SB 2, and HB 5001, include more school social workers, psychologists, counselors, and other mental health professionals, expanded mental health support programs and school-based health centers, no dual teaching, and uninterrupted duty-free lunch periods.
The legislature provided grant funding to fix HVAC problems and will require inspections of all school HVAC systems. A task force will make recommendations for humidity and temperature standards, protocols, and best practices for addressing indoor air quality issues.
We unfortunately did not get approval of our proposal to provide pandemic pension credit to educators. Rest assured, CEA and GEA will continue to advocate strongly for this proposal. Legislators created a Teacher Recruitment Task Force in SB 1, charged with exploring incentives to recruit and retain educators, including measures related to the Teachers’ Retirement System, such as our pandemic pension credit and minority teacher recruitment scholarships.
YOUR VOICES MADE A DIFFERENCE!!
Several legislators reported that they were moved to action when they heard directly from teachers about challenges they are facing. Your stories made this personal. On numerous occasions, legislators told CEA how impressed they were to receive so many emails and phone calls and to see so many teachers wearing #RedforEd at the Capitol, at school, and on social media on CEA’s #RedforEd Day of Action on April 27.
State Representative Eleni Kavros-DeGraw told Avon Education Association how moved she was that teachers filled her inbox with emails and that she was doing her best to keep up with them and to respond to every member. Your stories matter.
Governor Lamont remarked on the unprecedented number of people who turned out for the bill signing, and said that the bills were some of the most impactful of the legislative session.
“I heard from teachers, I heard from paras, I heard from parents,” Lamont said. “I also heard from the kids. There’s a lot of worry about stigma, and I was at Enfield High School and asked students, ‘If you had $10,000 dollars to invest, what would make the biggest difference in your lives?’ And they said, unanimously, ‘mental health, a confidential counselor, a shoulder I can lean upon.’ And these are 17-year-old boys, and that really resonated with me.”
CEA President Kate Dias said in a recent publication, “Our members stood up and spoke out this legislative session, making sure legislators were left with no doubts about the urgent need to act to improve children’s mental health. We extend a big thank you to all the legislators who listened to teachers, students, and parents and took action to pass these bills ensuring more mental health supports for our kids.”
THANK YOU GEA MEMBERS FOR ALL YOU DID TO RESPOND TO THIS CALL OF ACTION!!! RED FOR ED DAY WAS A HUGE SUCCESS BECAUSE OF ALL OF YOU!!!
Reminders!
- Class Coverage Data Form: If your administration requires you to cover another class/duty, please fill out this form. The GEA Executive Board uses this valuable data in our meetings with Dr. Jones and cabinet members, as well as negotiations. THIS FORM IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE.
- Quarantine Days Resolution Reminder: Check your sick leave. You should have received back any sick days you took due to covid. If you have any questions, please contact Maria Bocchino Maria_Bocchino@greenwich.k12.ct.us in GPS HR.
- Questions about retirement? Check out our GEA Website greenwicheducationassociation.org. The CEA Retirement liaison is Robyn Kaplan-Cho. She can be contacted at robynk@CEA.ORG. She is a wealth of knowledge and the CEA Retirement workshops are incredibly detailed and helpful. Read below for the next workshop dates.
As always, your building rep is happy to assist you in answering any questions and should be your first contact for non-emergency concerns. If your building doesn't have a rep, feel free to reach out to any one of the amazing people on our Board of Directors. Click here for a list of all the reps throughout the district. Also, please consider filling an empty position. Strength in numbers!
Covid Relief Program for Teachers
If you contracted COVID-19 and experienced financial hardship due to lost wages or out-ofpocket medical expenses, you may be eligible to receive reimbursement from the Connecticut Essential Workers COVID-19 Assistance Program.
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