Learn and Lead

As you may have heard, our union is growing, and it's all thanks to the work of our incredible local leaders - like Mesa EA President Kelly Berg. She's the local President in the largest school district in the state, and we brought her on to talk about how she's been engaging in membership blitzes, building member capacity to take action, and taking back the narrative about schools in her district.

As we grow our union and our power by having more and more locals reach majority and supermajority status plus seeing pro-public education candidates elected up and down the ballot, the possibility of us winning a spot at the metaphorical table is becoming more and more real. But how we do start to prepare leaders for being part of the decision-making and policy leadership and start to grow even more leaders? John Wright, Interim Executive Director, joins us to talk about leadership identification and development.

In this episode, we have Deputy Director of AEA , Joaquin Rios, on as our guest and resident political expert to talk about what is on your ballot from the very top all the way down to the bottom on all the issues that relate to public education and issues our members care about. Listen and share with other voters!

In this episode, we welcome Brandon Riddle - a Field Services Engineer who travels around the world helping set up planetariums! He talks with us about the future of space exploration and jobs, how he got into the field, and about resources we can use to engage and prepare students for STEM careers.

Join us in talking to long time union organizer - Joe Diggs! He is AEA's Deputy Director of Organizing & Growth Strategies, and he shares some thought-provoking nuggets of knowledge for us to think about when it comes to reclaiming our power as educators through our union.

This summer was a whirlwind of union activity! We really lived our motto of "Member-Led Organization"! We had Delegate Assembly in May where hundreds of educators from across the state gathered to discuss the business of the union and make important decisions about the budget, beliefs, and stances of AEA. In June, we had a leadership conference (Leadership & Growth Summit), and in July, we sent representatives to the national democratic body (Representative Assembly) - all while navigating historic firsts and continuing to grow!

For most people, when they think of grant writing they think of boring paperwork and repetitive questions, but what if you saw it as an opportunity to dream? Having successfully brought in over a $1,000,000 in grant dollars to AEA's Learn and Lead program, Carrie is ready to share some ways to bring in some extra dough for you.

It's season 3 and a brand new school year, and we're back with more cringe jokes, good conversation, and nerdy references. We're kicking things off with an episode about goal setting - both personally and professionally. How do we look at what's currently on our plate, make goals we can actually achieve, and do so with joy?

In this episode, we're joined by Deputy Director Joaquin Rios who is talking about the educators at the capitol events we host every spring break, how they went this year, and the purpose of these types of organizing opportunities. Even more exciting is that Carrie gets to tell the cheesy joke this episode... ok, it's only exciting to her, but the conversation around what educators were able to share with legislators is worth a listen!

In this episode, we're excited to share some play-based learning examples, tips, and stories from the marvelous Kelley Fisher. As a Kinder teacher in Deer Valley Education Association, she has incorporated play into her curriculum her entire career, and she shares her insights in how prioritizing this kind of learning could be the answer to post-COVID learning!

Math instruction has changed so much over the past 5 years, and so many educators are trying to meet the times with new approaches! We had math teacher Maria McDowell from Phoenix Union Classroom Teachers Association join us to talk about how she builds math literacy, helps students relate to math content, and takes thinking deeper than just getting the right answer. This episode isn't one to miss if you love cheesy math puns!

This very special episode before Thanksgiving features the President of UFCW 99 - Jim McLaughlin. He's joining us to talk about the awesome work of their union, the pending merger between Kroger and Albertsons, and what the merger means for the future of grocery stores and communities in Arizona. It's a conversation about union solidarity and workers' rights that we hope will inspire you as much as it inspired us! About President McLaughlin: Jim McLaughlin currently serves the working men and women of Arizona as President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 99 representing more than 25,000 workers.  Mr. McLaughlin began his career working for Ralph’s grocery store in Orange County, California as a member of UFCW Local 324. In 1992, McLaughlin was hired as a field Representative with Local 99, later became an Organizer, and was elected President in November 2001. He currently serves on the national level as International Vice President of the UFCW International Union.  Jim is the chairman of the $1 billion dollar Desert States Pension Fund and the Arizona Retail Health fund that delivers $300 million dollars annually in health benefits to UFCW members and their families.

It's everyone's favorite time of year - election time! We invite Ellie Perez Pawloski back to the podcast to talk bonds, overrides, and federally endorsed candidates. Bonds and overrides can be a complicated funding question to explain to voters, but our members are carrying the lion's share of the action in making sure our schools can continue to make repairs, keep programs and people going, and purchase updated equipment. Listen in as she talks about the process for how candidates are endorsed, who has been endorsed so far, and why they were endorsed.

Sydney Knight - an early career educator from Washington District EA - joined us to talk about her experience getting involved in her union as someone new to the profession, and we played union trivia! How many can you get right?

Emily Kirkland is the AEA Communications Director, and she has some tips and tricks for educators who are using social media to advocate for a free, quality, public education for all students! We hope you'll laugh as much as we did. Follow us on social media! Facebook Instagram Twitter

In this episode, we invited AEA-Retired President Anna Cicero to share what it's like to be a retired educator, what AEA-Retired does, and tips for future retirees!

In this episode, we talked to two amazing educators who work with multilingual staff and students to find out what some of the best strategies are for meeting the needs of this diverse group of students. Lupita Almanza, our AEA Bilingual Content Creator, and Dr. Barbie Firkus, member leader in Washington District EA, share their stories, tips, and perspective on how we can all work to create more language-inclusive spaces.

This week, we talked to Josh Atkins - leader in Paradise Valley EA - about how he works to support LGBTQIA+ educators and students in his roles at a local, state, and national level. He shares compelling advice and perspective that everyone needs to hear!

We're proud to introduce you to our new AEA Legal Counsel - Wil Comer! Meet Wil, learn about his background, hear his passion for education, and listen to how he sees his role of supporting educators across Arizona. Need AEA Help Desk support? Submit a ticket here: https://nea360.tfaforms.net/493

We're kicking off season 2 with AEA President Marisol Garcia talking about some big wins from last year and some big fights coming up for us next year - and as always, grounding us in what it means to be in a union and in education.