Happy end of April EPEA / EPPEA!
Thank you for a wonderful Union Week: Strengthening our Community.
We hope the week provided a little boost to sustain your resolve to finish the year strong for our kids.
The following contains information regarding important Union Week recaps, EdMn Rep Convention Recap, Preschool Negotiation information, Friends of EP Teachers Partnerships, and upcoming election information.
UNION WEEK RECAP:
We saw a lot of red and grey last week to visually show our unity. "Thank you" to all who donned your EPEA / EPPEA gear!
Moving forward we will continue to visually show our unified strength by designating every 3rd Monday as Union Swag Day. Next Swag Day: May 16.
PROP was delighted to receive 518 pounds of food the EPEA/EPPEA staff donated during Union Week. Mary Brown from PROP confirmed that this donation places the food shelf in a great position to meet the needs of students during the summer months. EPEA hats off to CEDAR RIDGE STAFF who knocked it out of the park with their efforts to support the food drive!
In our first EPEA Scholarship Fund Raffle, 115 tickets were donated to provide $575 towards another EPEA scholarship to be awarded to a senior pursuing a career in education.
Congratulations to the following raffle prize winners, and a huge thank you to all who donated to "strengthen our community" in this way. You can watch the live raffle in the video below:
“Book Club Bash” Winner: Gwen Marrin (Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion) 1) $50 People's Organic Gift Card 2) $25 Barnes and Noble Gift Card “Mall Experience” Winner: Jenny Hanson (Central Middle School) 1) $25 Scheel's Gift Card 2) $25 AMC Gift Card 3) Davannis Gift Bucket: Pizza Cutter, T-shirt, miscellaneous swag, $10 gift card “Pamper Yourself” Winner: Dianna Kelly (Oak Point Elementary) 1) Pamper Product Bag: MoroccanOil Smoothing Mask, Moroccanoil Shampoo, Moroccanoil Conditioner, CND SPA Lotion, LALICIOUS The Body Butter, The Scrub--All from LifeSpa Crosstown 2) Love on a Plate: Ruhland's Chicken Potpie Strudel, Ruhland's Apple Strudel “Let’s Celebrate” Winner: Brenda Walsh (Eden Prairie High School) 1) Nothing Bundt Cakes $25 Gift Card (EP Location) 2) Ruhland Chicken Pot Pie Strudel and Apple Strudel 3) Target $25 Gift Card “Pizza Party” Winner: Carla Thompson (Central Middle School) 1) $100 Red's Savoy Gift Card (EP Location)! “Good Eats” Winner: Nate Gabel (Prairie View) 1) Cub Foods $75 Gift Card (EP Location) 2) Ruhland's Apple Strudel 3) Ruhland's Chicken Pot Pie Strudel Many thanks goes to the following businesses for their donation of prizes for this EPEA Scholarship Raffle: EP Red's Savoy Pizza, EP Cub Foods, EP Davanni's, Crosstown LifeSpa, EP Scheels, EP People's Organic, EP Nothing Bundt Cakes, Ruhland's Strudel (our very own Kadee Ruhland-Cedar Ridge).
Thank you to those who submitted your motivation to vote in the 2022 election on the pledge card made available to you. The word cloud to the right illustrates the motivation some of us listed as why it is important to be a voter in the 2022 election. Look for more election-related updates in the future.
On April 20th, negotiators were able to hear directly from members as to the contractual items they would like to recommend be topics of the net round of negotiations. EPEA and EPPEA members were placed in 1 of 3 breakout rooms to provide smaller groups and more time to voice topics. Thank you to all who attended the negotiators' listening session.
Congratulations goes out to Nicole Rusch (CMS) who won the $50 Union Week Participation Raffle. Thank you to all who participated in our Union Week and by doing so brought unity to our organization. A special shout out to Linda Enck and Dominic Kirkpatrick who took charge of the planning and implementation of the week's events.
Education Minnesota Rep. Convention Recap: Thank you to Brent Bovitz (CMS), Jamie Alsleben (Cedar Ridge), Nate Gabel (Prairie View), and Joanne Peterson (EPHS) for representing EPEA at the Education Minnesota annual Representative Convention on April 22-23. Noteworthy happenings from the event: 1. EdMN Leadership Elected: Denise Specht (president- Centennial); Monica Byron (vice president - Richfield); Rodney Rowe (sec/treasurer- Worthington); NEA Directors Heather Bakke (Brainerd) and Jasman Myers (North St. Paul). 2. Pension Bill Action Items: EdMN delegates passed 2 items related to educator pensions that require Education Minnesota to actively support the Extension of Rule of 90 and advocate for increased investment from the state of Minnesota to restore, equalize, maintain and improve Minnesota educator retirement benefits, including the cost of living adjustments and double service credit for working during the pandemic 3. EdMN caps state dues increase at $9.
PRESCHOOL NEGOTIATIONS: Preschool educators can expect to receive a feedback opportunity that asks for more specifics relating to contract improvements. All-in-all preschool educators would like to gain alignment of their language, salaries and benefits with that of their ECFE and ECSE counterparts who are on the EPEA contract. Four negotiators will come to the bargaining table looking to reach these goals. Stay tuned for progress updates as the process begins. Please show your preschool counterparts support in their endeavors of reaching these sights.
FRIENDS of EP TEACHERS:
In the coming months, EPEA will start up the community partnership tab of the epteachers.org website titled "Friends of EP Teachers." This tab is intended to provide insights into our work our collective desires, and our partnership opportunities for our Eden Prairie community members. EPEA sees this as a positive step forward to have our voice known within the community.
In the near future, EPEA leadership will be reaching out to those who live within the Eden Prairie school district to help coordinate partnership opportunities. Stay tuned for how we all can help the community see additional perspectives on the work we do to serve students.
CAMPAIGN 2022: Did you know there will be FIVE open seats for the Nov. 2022 school board election? Now is the time to recruit possible candidates to put their name in the running for open seats. We need former educators, former
colleagues, retired educators, and educator-friendly residents to be on this year's slate. This election could change the trajectory of how the school board functions, what policy decisions are made by our admin teams, and how feedback and communication are delivered to the public. Please consider reaching out to viable possible candidates who would be pro-educator to consider running for school board and pass on the name to Dominic Kirkpatrick.
Thank you EPEA / EPPEA for your continued work, support, and advocacy for our students, our working conditions, and the advancement of the profession.
EPEA leadership is here to support and guide in all situations. As your first line of support, please reach out to your site representatives.
Wishing you a great weekend and entrance into May!
Blessings,
Dominic and your EPEA leadership team
Comments