Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1511993
IN SOLIDARITY by Marisol Garcia AEA OFFICERS Marisol Garcia President Angela Philpot Vice President Amber Gould Treasurer AEA STAFF Randy Parraz Executive Director Emily Kirkland Editor Roxanne Rash Graphic Design Advertising e AEA Advocate is published by the Arizona Education Association, 345 East Palm Lane, Phoenix, Arizona 85004-1532. Phone: 602- 264-1774 or 800-352-5411 Fax: 602-240-6887. Email: Emily.Kirkland@ArizonaEA.org. AEA's website may be found at www.arizonaea.org. Permission to reprint any material originating with this publication is granted provided that credit is given to the AEA Advocate. e AEA Advocate (ISSN 0194-8849) is published in Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer for $3.50 per year by the Arizona Education Association, 345 East Palm Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85004-1532. Periodicals postage paid at Phoenix, Arizona. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the AEA Advocate, 345 East Palm Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85004-1532. Moving? Please let us know before you go. Simply clip your mailing label from the back of the Advocate and send it along with your new address to: AEA Advocate 345 East Palm Lane Phoenix, Arizona 85004-1532 Marisol Garcia, President Arizona Education Association Dear AEA, Here's the question I've been asking myself over the last few months: what does it mean to nd joy as an educator? For many of us, joy is what keeps us in education, despite all the frustrations and stress. It's the joy that comes from our relationships with each other, our relationships with parents and families, and of course our relationships with our students. But it can be hard to tap into those feelings of joy. Many of us are just trying to get through each day and onto the next. We're anxious about bills. We're having to pick up a colleague's classes during a precious prep period. We're being asked to take on extra duties by a principal who doesn't seem to understand what our job is supposed to entail. And all too o en, the message we get is that if we're not feeling joyful, it's our own fault. We should exercise more, eat better, journal, meditate, take care of ourselves. And sure, all of those things do help. ( ere's a reason we're running the Be Kind to Your Mind Winter Giveaway that you'll nd on the back cover of this magazine). But it's also true that none of us can do this on our own. Many of us have trouble nding our joy because there are a lot of people trying to take it from us! Right- wing pundits say horrible things about educators, rhetoric that gets picked up by school board members and even parents, who then use it to attack us just for doing our jobs. State legislators pass dumb laws that result in endless, unnecessary paperwork. Worse still, they prioritize handouts for the rich over funding for our schools, leaving schools short-sta ed and educators underpaid. And that's exactly why we have each other. Our union is made up of us— educators from all over Arizona, at every grade level, in every role. And together, we're nding our way back to joy. We're ghting back against the bullies who want to undermine and attack our public schools. We're standing up for ourselves and our profession. We're winning higher salaries, better bene ts, more reasonable workloads. And we're doing it together. As always, I'm so proud to be in this work with all of you. In solidarity, 4 ADVOCATE | WINTER 2023