TODAY — SELWell Committees Meeting
Please join us at the BTU from 4:30-6:30. Committees under SELWell include: SELCommittee, Restorative Justice, and School Counselors. Light dinner will be provided. To learn more and to RSVP please contact Natalia at ncuadrasaez@btu.org.
TODAY — Election Committee MeetingThe Election Committee has now met three times, and is in the process of selecting a vendor for the 2019 BTU election. Each meeting is open to the membership, with the first 15 minutes devoted to questions and comments from members. Join us today at 5 PM. Minutes from previous meetings can be accessed on the member portal at members.btu.org.
TOMORROW — Membership Meeting
Please join us at the BTU tomorrow beginning at 4:30. See our agenda, and don’t forget to request childcare if you need it.
THURSDAY — School Site Council Trainings: Harness the Power of the SSC
This Thursday, December 13, join us for School Site Council 102: SSC Basics & the Budget from 5:30-7:30 at the BTU. David Bloom, the BPS Budget Director, will facilitate and speak to the role of the SSC in developing & approving the budget. There are also SSC 101: Basics & Shared Decision Making sessions on December 19 and 20. Organizers will give out updated SSC manuals to all participants and will serve refreshments. Please RSVP to Caren at ccarew@btu.org and see the flyer for details and all upcoming sessions.
THURSDAY — Arts for All Organizing Meeting
Do you believe all BPS students deserve access to high quality arts education? Do you want to get involved in making this vision a reality? Join us this Thursday at 4:30 PM at the BTU to help us come up with an advocacy plan. There will be an option to call in if you can’t be there in person. To learn more and RSVP, please contact Natalia at ncuadrasaez@btu.org.
THURSDAY — Lessons from Chicago: A Conversation with Eve Ewing
Join BPS families, students and teachers to discuss #BuildBPS and how the plan disproportionately impacts communities of color. Dr. Eve Ewing will join us via Skype to share her insights from the Chicago school closings. McCormack educator Neema Avashia and Stephanie Bode Ward will facilitate. Learn about the history of the plan to close schools and join forces with community members committed to building an equitable plan. Join us at the McCormack from 5:30-8 PM. See the Facebook event.
NEW — Haitian Educators Meeting: December 18
Our next Haitian Educators meeting will be Tuesday, December 18 at 4:30 pm at the BTU. Light dinner provided. To learn more and to RSVP please contact Natalia at ncuadrasaez@btu.org.
NEW — Meeting for Committee on Teachers in SPC Roles: December 19
Please join us next Wednesday at 4:30 at the BTU. Light dinner will be provided. Email Natalia at ncuadrasaez@btu.org to learn more and to RSVP.
Unafraid Educators Meeting: December 19
Please join us next Wednesday from 4:30-6:30 PM at O’Bryant High School (55 Malcolm X Blvd) Room 5-107. To help us plan for the upcoming school year, we’re updating our lists of educators who’ve been involved and/or are currently interested in our Week of Action and scholarship efforts. Please help us out by filling out this quick interest survey! This year’s Week of Action (a week of advocating for safe and welcoming schools for all undocumented and immigrant students) will be the week of April 29. To get involved, please email Nora at npaulschultz@bostonpublicschools.org or Lena at paulena.papagiannis@gmail.com.
BTU Winter Conference on February 9 & Action Step for Building Reps
Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for the Winter Conference on February 9! As we build on the learning that took place at our Fall Conference, we want to hear from you about what workshops you would like to see at the Winter Conference. Please fill out this quick survey to give us your thoughts.
NEW — Help Build a New Resource from the Inclusion Committee
Have you ever spent money on Teachers Pay Teachers, just to find the worksheets don’t work for your students? Have you spent endless hours scrolling through Pinterest, just to spend more time recreating and differentiating the materials for your classroom? Do you teach students with varying levels and abilities in the classroom? Have you ever modified a worksheet? Have you been given a curriculum and created supplemental materials that worked well with your class? Are you willing to exchange resources with other teachers? Please share your resources with the BTU Inclusion Committee at btuinclusionresources@gmail.com! Attach the resources, copy and paste a great web page, or send a great community resource. Please use the subject line, “Resource for ____________, grade level _______.”
Community Events & Opportunities
NEW — Mass Ed Justice Alliance Statewide Gathering this Saturday
You are invited to the MEJA Statewide Convening this Saturday, December 15, at the BTU! In the last two-year State House session we came so close to passing a statewide foundation budget fix for schools. There have been rumblings that Beacon Hill wants to take this up, but we want to make sure it’s the bill our students and communities deserve! Join us Saturday at the BTU from 11 AM to 6 PM for a statewide convening!RSVP today here, and please share and invite friends on Facebook.
FRIDAY — Ebony Winter Gala
The Black Educators’ Alliance of Massachusetts is a co-sponsor of the Annual NABA Ebony Winter Gala this Friday! BEAM donates proceeds from the event to award college scholarships to graduating high school seniors. Last year they awarded seven scholarships. See the flyer for details. For more information, contact Karen King at 617-480-9338 or Johnny McInnis at 617-510-2281.
NEW — All We Want for Christmas is PILOT Payments!
We continue to support the PILOT Action Group in their efforts to push the city and our wealthiest nonprofit neighbors to reform our Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, which over the last seven years has left over $77 million uncollected for our schools, housing, roads. A great group of parents and students from St. Stephens are organizing a fun event delivering petition signatures at City Hall on Tuesday, December 18 at 3 PM.RSVP and share on Facebook and add your name to the petition!
NEW — Join Organized Labor in Support of Asylum Seekers
As you have probably heard, thousands of asylum seekers from Central America are headed on foot toward the US-Mexico border. As union members and people of conscience, we understand the importance of standing together and advocating for each other when faced with the abuse of power. Join workers and unions from around the country and add your signature to this letter today.