Mideastern Region PSEA
September 2018 Newsletter
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.
MER Fall Leadership Conference at Skytop Lodge: Nov. 9-11
Registration is now open for our fall conference! Located at the beautiful Skytop Lodge in the Poconos, this Friday night through Sunday morning event is packed with great information and sessions that you can use in your own classroom and local association. From organizing presentations to legal updates and everything in between, we are confident that you will have a great experience. Click here or check your email for a list of session descriptors.
Recommended Candidates
Act 48 Nights in October!
Both courses are FREE to PSEA members with online pre-registration required via the links below. A light dinner will be served and members are also eligible for two hours of Act 48 credit from PSEA for each event. We hope to see you there! Look for more FREE Act 48 opportunities in 2019 in next month's newsletter.
Current Trends in Special Education presented by Dr. Judith Petruzzi, PSEA Director of Education Services
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018, 5 pm-Perkiomen Valley SD, Perkiomen Valley Middle School East, 100 Kagey Rd, Collegeville, PA 19426
This course will review current legal trends and issues involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as Pennsylvania Chapter 14 and 15 state regulations implementing the IDEA and the ADA. This workshop will also discuss the legal parameters of student restraint. Click here to register!
An Introduction to Blended Instruction with Google Classroom presented by Rich Kiker, Founder & CEO of Kiker Learning - Google for Education Partner
Monday, October 29th, 2018, 5 pm- Bristol Township SD, Keystone Elementary School, 1800 Keystone Street, Croydon Pa 19021
Google Classroom allows teachers to manage time and workflow because of its simplicity and total functionality. We will explore streamlined assessment techniques, web integration with additional assessments, automatic grading, and discuss what we can expect to see next from the Google Classroom team! BYOD if you want. (To access the parking lot us the following address in your GPS: 926 Church Street, Croydon Pa 19021.) Click here to register!
Will Nights
Member Benefits Fair
At 4:30pm in the Titan Forum room at CB South there will be a PSEA Government Relations Update: Who are the endorsed candidates in Bucks and Montgomery Counties? How is PSEA working to support an education-friendly legislature? Learn what you can do to support a governor who respects educators.
At 5:15pm in the Titan Forum room is an event designed for PSEA members in their first year of employment: Paychecks, Pizza, and Pensions. Bring your pay stub and your appetite – we will help you understand the acronyms and deductions on your paycheck. Which PSERS multiplier is right for new employees? Kades-Margolis will provide information to help you decide!
If you plan on attending any of the events at CB South, please RSVP so that we can plan appropriately. Hope to see you there!
Educator Open House
Bucks County Book Festival
New Costco Members Receive Over $60 in Extra Savings, Plus 3 FREE Items!
NEA members save money on thousands of brand-name items every day. From fresh foods and health & beauty items to clothing, electronics and even school supplies, you’ll find everything you need to get yourself ready for the new school year!
It’s easy to join Costco: go online to www.neamb.com/costco, sign in or register, click “Join Now” to purchase your Costco Membership Activation Certificate, and present the Certificate at any Costco retail location!
Mideastern Region Service Award
The Mideastern Region Service Award was established in 2000 by Region President Steve McCarter “to formally honor one of our own with a region award for service.” In his remarks, President McCarter stated that this award would recognize excellent region leaders “who have given willingly of their time and energy to advance the cause of public education and the goals of our organization.” Traditionally this award was given at the Fall MER House of Delegates. The last award was given in 2011. We wish to revive this tradition using the following guidelines:
1) Nominations can be made by any active member of PSEA.
2) The nominee must be an active member of a PSEA-MER local.
3) The award will be given at the Fall MER HOD.
4) Nominations will be submitted to the MER Executive Board who will select the recipient. The award does not have to be given every year.
If you would like to make a nomination for this year’s award, please request one via email from Kim Smith at ksmith@psea.org and submit it back to Kim by Monday, October 1, 2018.
2018-2019 Region Calendar
Career and Technical Education Meeting
PSEA Collective Bargaining Conference
Stay in the Loop!
Council for the Advancement of Public Schools
This campaign is managed jointly by the CAPS Work Group, PSEA members who meet on the last Monday of every month, and DDC Works, the public relations firm that helps to coordinate our efforts to spread the good news about our public schools. Check out our website and Facebook page, and consider nominating an educator in your world for our #TeacherTuesday feature!
Representatives on the PSEA Board of Directors
Save the Date
2019 NEA RA in Houston, Texas
Every summer, NEA members from across the world (that's right, we have NEA members in other countries!) come together to set rules and policy for the organization.
Each local is entitled to elected delegates to represent their local views and can attend the NEA Representative Assembly (NEA RA). If you are unsure who your local delegates are, reach out to your local leaders. Your local Constitution and Bylaws will outline to process for electing delegates and successors.
Beyond the local delegates, we are also assigned a number of state delegates, broken down by region, to go represent the voices of our members. You could be one of these state delegates! Nominations are open through October 19, 2018 and were included in the most recent issue of the PSEA Voice or can be accessed at https://www.psea.org/nomination, so if you are interested, fill in the information!
Online voting will open on December 17, 2018 (if you want a paper ballot, you must request so by December 12 following the initial email you receive with the election information) and will remain open until 5 PM on January 30, 2019, and paper ballots must be received by February 1, 2019. Every active member of PSEA is encouraged to vote (don't worry, we will remind you here on Facebook).
If you have further questions about nomination (or about the NEA RA in general), feel free to reach out to one of our region officers.
Region Shirts for Sale!
Mideastern Region PSEA
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: facebook.com/caps1995