After presenting at the New Teacher Orientation in August 2023 and attending UEA Summer Leadership meetings, we’ve learned that belonging to UEA gives teachers a powerful voice. We have a voice in advocating for teachers, students, public education, and ourselves. Our goal is to share that knowledge and help teachers feel more connected and empowered. We believe that if we spread awareness about UEA and share our personal stories, more teachers will feel inspired to join because we believe in the power of united voices.
Millard plans to use the grant money to provide incentives for potential members who are in their first three years of teaching, such as gift cards and snacks. We’ll obtain a list of new teacher names from our district and use the funds to cover transportation costs and substitute reimbursement, if needed, to ensure our Member Organizer team (Jennifer and Jody) can attend meetings. We will focus on highlighting the benefits of membership and guiding new teachers through the enrollment process. We’ve already reached out to our district’s New Teacher leader and received permission to present at their back-to-school meeting.
We plan to meet with the new teachers in July or August (depending on their meeting schedule) to share our stories about the benefits of UEA membership. We’ll provide snacks for everyone and offer Amazon gift cards as incentives for joining. To ensure ongoing support, we will follow up in two ways: 1) asking Building Reps to check in with the new teachers we presented to, and 2) emailing all the new teachers after the first week of school to see how they’re doing and answer any questions they may have about UEA membership.
