Member Activity

Newmarket Support Staff Builds Better Wages and Benefits

My name is Pam Young and I am a paraprofessional in the Newmarket School District and President of the Newmarket Support Staff, which includes paraprofessionals and tutors. I became a paraprofessional in Newmarket eight years ago, so I could help children in my town and work hours that coincided with my own kids’ schedules. Working in the district, and being a parent of three children in the same district, gave me insight into what the support staff do every day for kids. This work is challenging and paraprofessionals and tutors work hard to ensure students are safe and successful in […]

Colebrook Support Staff Votes to Join NEA-NH

Colebrook’s thirty paraprofessionals, custodians, maintenance workers, secretaries and administrative assistants recently voted to organize and affiliate with NEA-New Hampshire, joining the majority of school support personnel in the North Country. Support staff began their effort this fall, talking with their colleagues and circulating petition cards to call for an election to organize with NEA-NH. Leaders collected more than the required number of signatures needed for an election, so the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) held the election November 19 in the Colebrook School library. Staff voters approved the union by an overwhelming margin. “We hope that forming […]

NEA-NH Election Filing Period Closes January 15, 2020

The filing period to run for NEA-New Hampshire offices closes at 5:00 p.m. January 15, 2020. All candidates for office must file in writing for the office for which they wish to run. All that is needed is a simple statement of your intent to be a candidate and the office for which you are running. For example, “It is my intent to run for Executive Board member for the North Country Region.” Include your name and the local association in which you are a member. This statement needs to be sent to: The Elections Committee, c/o Rick Trombly, NEA–NH, […]

McAuliffe Sabbatical Seeking Applicants With Great Ideas

Do you know a teacher with a great idea about education? If so, please consider recommending the Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical program to them. Each year the sabbatical, administered by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, awards a year-long leave of absence to an exceptional New Hampshire public school teacher. The sabbatical provides the teacher with the time, space and funding to explore, through a self-designed project, new ideas and ways to enhance classroom teaching. This is a unique opportunity for a full-time classroom teacher and their school to gain statewide recognition for innovative approaches to classroom instruction. The Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical […]

Beech Street School Teacher Wins California Casualty Music and Arts Grant

Arts and Music programs at 139 public schools in 31 states will be receiving a $250 Music and Arts Grant from California Casualty. A total of $34,750 will provide materials, supplies, and instruments for art, music, and performance programs at the schools. The 2019 California Casualty Music and Arts Grant Winners for New Hampshire – Michelle Fargo of Beech Street School in Manchester.   Ms. Fargo, who is a second grade teacher, was awarded a $250 Grant to help purchase art supplies for her classroom.  The grant is designed to foster creativity in schools, such as choir, band, dance, film, […]

FMLA Benefit Now Available to Education Support Professionals

“In December of 2006 tragedy hit my family. My husband was diagnosed with a rare advanced cancer and he required immediate surgery and would undergo intense chemotherapy in Lebanon over the next year. During this time I was able to use the sick time I had accrued to care for him after the surgery and take him to his biweekly appointments.” That is how her testimony to the Senate Committee began. In 2014, NEA-NH Executive Board Member Melissa Alexander started working on a crusade to ensure no other education professional would have to go through what she experienced. Denied time […]