“We need to stake our claim as ESSENTIAL partners in learning, partners in the health, safety, nutrition, and support students need.”
Andrea Beeman, 2020 NEA ESP of the Year
The NEA NH ESP Issues Committee totally agrees and supports Andrea Beeman’s statement that Education Support Professionals are essential partners in education. We certainly never imagined it would take a pandemic to help educate our community members about the work we do. Our NH Education Support Professionals have done an amazing job supporting student needs, teachers, offices, transportation and the school buildings during these past three months.
We want to take this opportunity to say….JOB WELL DONE… and we are so proud of everyone’s collaborative efforts during these unprecedented times.
We don’t quite yet know what our circumstances will be this fall, but we all hope by then that there is no question about the need for us to continue supporting students, staff, transportation and buildings.
We wish you all a restful, healthy and enjoyable summer and look forward to advancing our Educate and Elevate campaign in the fall.
NEA-NH 2020/21 ESP Issues Committee Members
The NEA-NH ESP Issues Committee believes that our ESP members fill a variety of important roles in our public schools. Every one of them is critical to the success of each student who attends New Hampshire public schools; no position is more important than another. We believe that our schools are an integral part of making our communities strong. School employees share a common responsibility to provide for the learning environment, the health and mental well-being, and the physical safety of students.
Take a moment to consider.
- How would your children get to school safely and reliably without the bus driver?
- Would a student obtain a healthy meal, so that he could learn each afternoon, without the food service staff?
- How would a student with disabilities begin to learn complicated math concepts without the 1:1 para who works by her side?
- How would a student register for school without the help of an administrative assistant?
- How will our school remain healthy and safe without the assistance of a custodian?
Every single employee is significant to student success. ESPs deserve compensation and benefits that reflect the significance of their roles. They deserve a safe working environment and resources to do their jobs. NEA-NH understands and fights for these needs every day.
Educating the public – including teachers, administrators, parents, school board members, and business owners – about what it means to be an ESP and how these members improve New Hampshire student lives, is vitally important. NEA-NH has undertaken a long-term campaign that engages ESPs with their friends and neighbors, so that voters have a very clear understanding of the need for fair compensation and benefits, as well as safe working conditions.
NEA-NH’s Educate and Elevate Campaign aims to start these changes in our communities. Your ESP Issues Committee is securing grants from NEA national, and with full support from NEA-NH’s leadership and Board of Directors, a plan is being developed to educate the public about ESP contributions to the school community. Also, the ESP Issues Committee will work with our members to elevate the work they do so that they too understand their fundamental worth to New Hampshire’s students. We want members to tell their stories.
The Educate and Elevate Spring Workshop Series
NEA-NH is offering a series on Zoom workshops as part of our Educate and Elevate Campaign. Originally scheduled as an in-person conference, the workshops are now being offered in weekly 90 minute online sessions.
There is no cost to attend the sessions, but registration is required.
SELF-CARE FOR A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Presented by: Cynthia Dickinson, M.Ed., Cigna Employee Assistance Program, Cigna Onsite Health Promotions, NEA-New Hampshire
Eat right…exercise…manage your stress…blah blah blah. All good advice but we’ve heard it so many times it can go in one ear and out the other. Now add Covid19, with challenges to our well-being different from anything in our experience. Self-care is more important now than ever before, and harder to achieve. How do we keep ourselves healthy and emotionally well while at the same time giving ourselves the grace and space to not be perfect? This presentation offers some suggestions for self-nurturing and maintaining a level of wellness that will help us go the distance now and after this crisis has passed.
MAY 20, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
MICRO-CREDENTIAL: ARMCHAIR IN-SERVICE AT ITS FINEST
Presenter: Irv Richardson, Coordinator for Public Education and School Support, NEA-New Hampshire
NEA has developed over one-hundred focused professional learning opportunities known as “micro-credentials.” These opportunities can be completed by individuals or in groups and are available to members of NEA-New Hampshire at no additional cost. This webinar will introduce you to all of the topics available through NEA’s Micro-credentials and will show you the steps for accessing and completing the professional learning activities. These structured opportunities provide links to free resources. The NEA Micro-credentials can be accessed at the following url: https://nea.certificationbank.com/
MAY 27, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
USING THE CONNECT PROGRAM:SUICIDE PREVENTION
Presenter: Ann Duckless, National Alliance on Mental Illness, New Hampshire
School personnel often notice changes in youth behaviors (attitudes, academic performance, or social interactions) that may signal symptoms of depression, substance misuse, or other risk factors which can lead to suicide. Connect is a unique, community-based prevention and intervention training that helps increase the competence of school communities to promote suicide prevention, recognize individuals at risk, and respond to individuals who are thinking about or have attempted suicide. We review National Best Practice protocols for schools as well as sample policies and procedures to guide a school’s response to a suicide incident. We will explore interactive case scenarios based on possible situations and discuss how to integrate key community service providers to develop an effective and comprehensive response.
June 3, 3:00-5:15 PM (2-hour session fulfills state requirement for suicide prevention training)
YOU ARE POWERFUL!
Presenters: Nicole Argraves, Lorri Hayes, Michelle McCord, NEA-NH Uniserv Directors
ESP’s have a wealth of untapped power. This training is designed to examine your personal power and the power of your local association. We will explore tools to help you identify, strengthen, and maximize your personal and association power. At the completion of this training, you will know how to best access and wield the power you have and then there’s no stopping you!
JUNE 10, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
WAGE THEFT: WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO PREVENT IT
Presenter: Peter Miller, NEA-NH UniServ Director
Are you an ESP who could use an extra $650 in your pocket every year? That’s the average amount that each hourly employee in NH loses per year because of wage theft. This workshop will explain what wage theft is, the size of the problem, how it shows up in public education, and ideas for how you can stop it from happening to you.
JUNE 17, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
