Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1113583
COMMUNIQUÉ A PUBLICATION OF THE IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION – APRIL/MAY 2019 – Vol. 56, No. 6 IN THIS ISSUE: Four tips to finish strong Advocate Delegate Assembly Report 2 3 8-11 'Nobody is 'just a'' ISEA-Student members see opportunity in education FOLLOW US ON: By Mike Wiser, mwiser@isea.org By Mike Wiser, mwiser@isea.org Imagine a school day without teachers. What would the students do? How would they behave? How much work would be left undone? Now imagine a day without support staff and ask the same questions. The answers are pretty much the same. And that fact motivates Michaelle Miller, the ISEA's Education Support Professional of the Year. She's the activities secretary at Sioux City West High School which means she coordinates all the activities in the school with the principal and serves as a liaison to parents, guests and vendors in addition to monitoring grades, attendance and paperwork requirements for every student participating in school activities. "My husband's a teacher and at one time we worked in the same building. Someone made the comment 'Oh he's a teacher so you must be a teacher too,'" Miller said. "I said 'No. I'm a secretary.' He said 'Oh, you're just a secretary.'" The comment struck Miller as odd. No one is "just a" she said. "It takes everyone to run a building." It's a message she's brings as she recruits for the Sioux City ESPA (she's the West High building rep) and one she exhibits professionally and personally. When she became a member of the school's Building Emergency Response Team, Miller took it upon herself to learn CPR and First Aid. Outside of school she's helped coordinate the food baskets for students – a project that was underwritten, in part, with an ISEA Community Service Grant – and she and her family volunteer at the annual Labor Day picnic in Sioux City. In nominating Miller, Bernie Scolaro, a counselor at West wrote, "Michaelle cares about her colleagues – and treats other with respect at all times. She creates relationships with the teachers, parents, students, and fellow employees – as it is those positive relationships and interactions that benefits students the most." Which makes sense, because it takes everyone – teachers, support professionals, administrators, students and parents – to keep the building running. Michaelle Miller is the ISEA's ESP of the Year see STUDENT MEMBERS on page 6 One remembers hanging out in her mother's classroom as a kid watching mom grade papers and daydreaming of being able to do the same one day. Another came into teaching only after first trying cosmetology school and a psychology major. One hopes to teach in the area, if not the district, where she grew up while another feels leaving her hometown would give her an opportunity to be independent and start somewhere fresh. They are the sons and daughters of teachers, farmers, salespeople and office workers. They come from small towns surrounded by corn and soybean fields, the ever-expanding Chicago suburbs and mid-sized Midwestern towns hit hard by globalization and automation. They've cut their instructional teeth as camp counselors, Bible Study leaders, student teachers and working as education support staff. Some will start their first job this fall others have several semesters to go. But all the students have at least two things in common, they've chosen education as a career and they are members of the Iowa State Education Association-Student organization. ISEA has 13 chapters in Iowa's public and private universities and colleges. Here are the stories of a some members who may be working soon in your school district. ISEA-Student members listen to a presentation at Green Hills Elementary School in West Des Moines. This year the student program purchased shirts that proudly proclaim their future plans. The shirts were designed by ISEA-Student President Justin Rottinghaus who is completing coursework in Agricultural Education at Iowa State University. MIKE WISER/IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Michaelle Miller works through a stack of papers on her desk in the office at West High School in Sioux City. Miller is the activities secretary at West and the ISEA's Education Support Staff of the Year for her advocacy on behalf of students and education professionals. MIKE WISER/IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION