Mideastern Region PSEA
May 2022 Newsletter
Our region represents the 15,145 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.
Get To Know MER Vice President, Debbie Lee
I have worked in the Abington School District for the past twenty years as a second-grade teacher. I honestly have never worked a day since I’ve become a teacher. It’s the BEST job on the planet. That doesn’t mean I don’t work hard every day, but I LOVE what I do. Spending my days with seven-year-olds, teaching them, and watching them grow, learn, and laugh fills me with joy. Honestly, they teach me as well daily. They are a constant reminder of how important our job is. They think I’m a great artist (which is far from the truth), they love when I sing to them daily (I would have to pay you adults to listen to me sing), and they think I’m 26…what more can you ask for.
I became a Building Rep in 2004 (thanks, Tracy Dooley, umm yeah, right, one or two meetings a month). In 2005 I attended my first Minority leadership training conference, where Becky Pringle sat and talked to me about my role in the union. She challenged me to step up and lead. That July was my first trip to Gettysburg, and I continued to attend every July for the next five years. I became the Abington President in 2009. In May of 2014, I ran for NEA Director. I served two terms as an NEA Director. I represented PSEA, our state, my local, my union brothers and sisters, and my students on Capitol Hill. I made sure our voices were heard in D.C. and here at home. Then in 2020, I ran for MER vice president and now represent my MER union brothers and sisters in the PSEA Board room. I am a PROUD Union member leader and am eternally grateful to be given the trust and faith of my members.
On a personal level, I have been married to my best friend for 37 years (we eloped in college). I have a beautiful daughter, Ashley, who is also a teacher. On August 4, 2021, she and her husband gave me the best gift--my grandson, Lawrence.
Thank you all for allowing me to be me and giving me this incredible journey. I am honored and humbled to serve as your vice president. Please stay happy, safe, and healthy, and remember we are all on this journey together. Hugs from your vice president.
At our region House of Delegates on April 28th, Debbie Lee was re-elected to her second two-year term as the MER Vice-President. Congratulations.
MER Spring House of Delegates held at Spring Mill Manor
The Mideastern Region House of Delegates is the main policy making body for our region and it traditionally meets twice a year, one in the fall in once in the spring. Due to the pandemic, the last in-person House was in November of 2019. On Thursday night, April 28th, the MER House of Delegates convened in-person for the first time in over two years. It was good to be back together and there also was a virtual component for those delegates and staff who were unable to attend in person.
Over 100 delegates, staff, and guests enjoyed dinner and drinks at the Spring Mill Manor in Ivyland, PA, with 23 delegates and staff participating virtually. PSEA Treasurer Jeff Ney and PSEA ESP Region President Rudy Burruss were both in attendance as well. Before dinner the assembly did some pro forma business, and then introduced the family of 2021 Region Service Award recipient Mike Stettner, and presented the 2022 Friend of Education Award to the Rising Stars Homework Club of Ambler.
After dinner, the group got down to business. We passed three New Business Items including supporting our ESP members and endorsing two terrific candidates for NEA Director. We elected three formidable women to region offices, four state committee members, and four alternates. We approved changes to our constitution and bylaws through electronic voting.
In addition to the business, members raised $1617 for PACE to support champions of public education at both the state and local levels. But the best part of the evening were the conversations, the networking, the smiles and laughs, the good-natured teasing, and the union solidarity that was built. It all made for a fantastic event.
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller
PSEA Mideastern Region 2022 Friend of Education Award-The Rising Stars Homework Club of Ambler
The Mideastern Region Friend of Education Award was established in 2002 by Region President Steve McCarter. This award is bestowed upon an individual or organization whose leadership, acts, or support has significantly benefited education, education employees, or students in the Mideastern Region. Traditionally this award was given at the Spring MER House of Delegates. The last award was given in 2019 to Frank and Linda Kuepper, the founders of the Autism Cares Foundation. We thank them for the good work they continue to do for neurodiverse students in helping them to lead lives that are more independent, more productive, and more fulfilling. Other past recipients of our award include Lana Weinstein, our CAPS PR consultant, two state senators, a state representative, a public radio personality, and several community leaders.
The 2022 award winner is the Rising Stars Homework Club. The Rising Stars Homework Club was founded in 2021 and is available to students of Shady Grove and Lower Gwynedd Elementary Schools in the Wissahickon School District. The children are identified by their teachers and invited to participate.
Volunteers with current clearances assist students with homework, studying, reading fluency, mathematics and social skills. Students have access to educational and brain teaser games along with team building activities. A healthy snack, creative activity and play time are incorporated into each session. The club operates in the Ambler Borough Building and is funded entirely through donations as a program of the Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard.
We recognize the important work done by this group with this award and a $200 donation to their program. Congratulations and thank you for making a difference for the students in Wissahickon.
The Award
PSEA Mideastern Region
Friend of Education
Award
Presented To
Rising Stars Homework Club
For providing not just homework help, but also enrichment, social and emotional learning, and team building experiences for the students in Wissahickon.
April 28, 2022
The MER Office Plaque
The last four winners
The Founders
The HOD
The Team
MER Officers Re-Elected
Vice President Debbie Lee
Treasurer Sue Brown
Secretary Jen Dan LoStracco
You can read more about Jen in the December issue, Sue's bio is in the January issue, and the story about Debbie is at the top of this page.
CAPS Thank You Campaign Continues
Legislative Update by PSEA ME Region Advocacy Coordinator, Adam Clark
As spring emerges, we should take the opportunity to reflect and take stock of our environment. I commend the hard work local leaders and members across the Mideastern Region have engaged in to provide your students the quality education everyone expects, while also bargaining contracts, representing your fellow members, and supporting public education advocates for your school boards.
The retrograde emergence of censorship, intolerance, villainizing educators and politicizing our schools are a concerning trend. We should remember that those loud voices are in the minority, as most parents have high degree of knowledge and satisfaction in their public schools despite the pandemic. Still, legislative threats to public education loom.
The Pennsylvania House narrowly passed HB 2169 last week, a voucher bill that would divert tax revenue from our public schools. We haven’t heard the last of HB 2169 yet as the as the Senate will likely have some changes, so the bill would come back to the House for reconsideration.
PSEA has built a powerful bulwark across party lines protecting public education and labor rights in Pennsylvania by holding the center in Harrisburg around shared values for our public institutions. We should be sure to thank our PACE-recommended legislators who stood up for children and public schools. This included EVERY Democrat in the MER and most of the GOP delegation as well. MER Republicans who held the line for public education last week were Frank Farry (HD 142), Shelby Labs (HD 143), Meghan Schroeder (HD 29), Wendi Thomas (HD 178), K.C. Tomlinson (HD 18) and Todd Stephens (HD 151). Three of these friends (Farry, Schroeder, Thomas) will not be in the House next session as they have announced that they are not running for re-election. Who will we count on to hold the center in their caucus for public education?
Governor Wolf has been a champion of public education for nearly eight years, and he would never sign a bill so damaging to public education. These are the stakes for Pennsylvania educators in November. Could Pennsylvania’s public employees – including public educators – lose their bargaining rights? The answer to that question is up to you. What are you willing to do to support Josh Shapiro? Will you volunteer at your local Shapiro campaign office this summer? Will you phone bank to ensure your bargaining rights are secure? Will you continue to give generously to PACE? I know I will.
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 2-6.
“First of all, if you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” - Atticus, 'To Kill A Mockingbird.'
Enter the CAPS Yard Sign Challenge and Win $1000 for your local and a $25 WAWA card for you.
Members who post signs (only with land owner's permission of course) should upload the picture here for us to post on social media, and for a chance to win a $25 WAWA card. If you plant multiple signs, then you get multiple chances to win. Only members can upload pictures and enter the contest. (No fair taking one sign and running up and down the block taking pictures of it.)
The challenge will run through the month of May. Drawing for the $1000 local prize and for the $25 WAWA cards will be held in June. How many signs can we get out into our two county region? Signs are available from your local association.
Show us where the sign is!
Include People if you want.
Post with your Neighbors
Enter the California Casualty Spring Giveaway!
From Tara Stoudt:
MER Members- Complete a quick survey to enter our $50 Gift Card drawing from California Casualty, the NEA Auto and Home Insurance Provider.
PSEA Member Benefits Spotlight: AmeriServ Bank®
PSEA Member Benefits and AmeriServ Bank® have partnered to offer you exclusive loan programs.
Whether you need a mortgage, refinance, home equity loan, or a personal line of credit, PSEA Member Benefits can help you save through our partnership with AmeriServ. Headquartered in Johnstown, PA with multiple branch locations throughout the state, AmeriServ has served Pennsylvanians' banking needs since 1901.
AmeriServ offers three benefit programs:
- Mortgage discount program
- Home equity credit line (Loan in a Line)
- Personal line of credit
Click here to take advantage of these programs.
PEC-2002--Public Education Celebration at the Montgomery Mall hosted by MER and CAPS. #TBT
CTE Matters. Testimony from a Friend
"I made this in Mr. Fazio’s junior high shop class. It’s been through a house fire and 33 or more years of use holding bits and whatnot in my home and shop. A few years later, I was told to stop taking shop classes, it was a waste of my education. It took years for me to divorce myself from that thinking and return to tool work. Every time I see this in my shop it reminds me that enjoying what you do will always make your life more complete than living up to society’s expectation of what you should do."
MER Officers Jerry Oleksiak, Jim Sando, and Steve McCarter with PSEA President Patsy Tallarico at a CAPS event in 2001. #TBT
Jerry went on to serve as PSEA President from 2015-2017 until he was appointed PA Secretary of Labor by Governor Wolf. Steve McCarter served as a state representative in the153th legislative district in the Cheltenham area from 2013 to 2020. After retirement, Jim Sando became an educational representative and consultant for Kades-Margolis. Patsy continues to serve on the PSEA Board of Directors as the Vice President of the PSEA-Retired. #MERPROUD
“Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, that’s how peace begins. And it’s up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.”--Barack Obama
California Casualty’s $10,000 Staycation Dream Giveaway
California Casualty, the provider of the NEA Auto and Home Insurance Program, wants to help you escape the everyday with $10,000 to spend your way! Get that hot tub you’ve always wanted, create your dream kitchen, turn your backyard into an oasis, add a media room the whole family can enjoy – the possibilities are endless, but only if you enter to win. You give back every day… now it’s time to take care of yourself!
The winner for the $10,000 prize will be randomly selected in October. No obligation, click here to enter today: www.membergiveaway.com/NEA
Susan K. Castle Memorial Scholarship for Montco Future Educators
Sue Castle was a member of Colonial EA and president of our region from 1995-1997. Each year the Montgomery County/PSEA Retired Educators group offers a scholarship to a college junior or senior enrolled in the field of education. The individual needs to be a graduate of a Montgomery County high school. The application is linked below. Be sure to submit it by the deadline of June 15, 2022. Please share the document with anyone who may be interested in applying!
If you are interested in donating to this scholarship fund, please make checks payable to "Montco PSEA-Retired" and send it to Montco Retired Treasurer, Anne Pass: 2 Withers Lane;
Blue Bell, PA 19422. Please include a message that it is for the Susan K Castle Memorial Scholarship fund. If you include an address, they will gladly send out an acknowledgment of the donation.
Special Program: PSEA Personal Legal Services
PSEA has a Personal Legal Services Program for members and their families. The program provides discounted rates and two 30-minute consultation sessions free during each membership year with the designated law firms below. The areas of concentration are:
- Personal Injury (Cordisco & Saile)
- Workers' Compensation (Cordisco & Saile)
- Domestic Relations (Susan Levy Eisenberg, Esq)
- Criminal Law (Neff & Sedecca)
- Wills & Estates (Martin Herring)
Please take advantage of this special program.
Calling all members! We need your stories!
We know that there are amazing things happening in your school buildings every day, but they aren’t covered by the local media or talked about beyond your own building. We’d love to help spread the word on our PSEA CAPS social media channels! It is so important to tell your story about the great things going on every day in your school, especially now.
If you have something neat, newsworthy or funny that you think our community members should know about, can you let us know? You can email it to Danielle who helps with our PSEA-CAPS communications efforts.
Leadership requires the ability to engage and to create empathy for communities with disparate needs and ideas. -- Stacey Abrams
Save The Date
As we move into the springtime, we hope to continue to see the retreat of the virus. Maybe now is a good time to consider attending a PSEA conference.
PSEA House of Delegates - May 13-14, Sheraton Downtown, Philadelphia
NEA Representative Assembly - July 1-7, Chicago, IL
PSEA Summer Leadership Conference - July 24-28, Gettysburg College
MER Legislative Reception-August 31, MER Office
For a complete list of PSEA statewide events, please click here.
Previous Editions
Stay Connected
Mideastern Region PSEA
Alan Malachowski, President (North Penn EA)
Bill Senavaitis, President-Elect (Central Bucks EA)
Debbie Lee, Vice President (Abington EA)
Sue Brown, Treasurer (Wissahickon EA)
Jen Dan LoStracco, Secretary (Bucks County IU EA)
Theresa Prato, PACE Director (BCTHS EA)
Maria Bennett, NEA Director (New Hope-Solebury ESPA)
Website: www.psea.org/mer
Location: 601 Bethlehem Pike, Building C, Montgomerville, PA 18936
Phone: 215.853.2100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PSEAMER