Good morning!
Good morning. As we head into the holiday season making preparations for a new round of contract negotiations, our members continue to collectively advocate proactively for our students and schools. We want to share a couple of those efforts.
Lisa Villareal shared insight with participants in our Hub Schools Coalition.
Last Monday, our Hub Schools Coalition, which advocates for wrap-around services in integrated full-service schools (and is known nationally as Community Schools), visited the Gardner Pilot Academy for a showcase to learn about how this whole-child centered approach is working in practice. Participants also heard from Lisa Villarreal, the board chair of the Coalition for Community Schools, who shared a bit of the national context and history. We have heard loud and clear from our Listening Tour that, in addition to improving inclusion, greater supports for social-emotional learning are a priority for our members. Integrated partnerships via a Hub Schools coordinator are a concrete solution that can bring needed supports to schools.
Hub Schools Coalition members pose for a photo!
To learn more about our advocacy efforts for Hub Schools, professional development opportunities for Hub Schools, or to join our coalition, please contact BTU Organizing Director Farah Assiraj at fassiraj@btu.org.
Another major event was the BTU Women’s Rights Committee Forum on Stopping Human Sex Trafficking. A packed house of BTU members heard from guest speakers including Boston Police Department Lieutenant Donna Gavin who is the head of their Human Trafficking Unit; Ann Wilkinson from My Life, My Choice; Alexandria Jeffers, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, local 556 union member and founder and president of Airline Vigilantes; and Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley. Each of the speakers shared information about the problem, the signs, and the solutions.
City Councilor Ayanna Pressley addresses the crowd at last week’s BTU Women and Human Rights Forum, the first of many conversations to stop human sex trafficking and protect children from exploitation.
Thank you to BTU Women’s Rights Committee Chair Sherry Pedone and the members of the committee who worked so hard to make this happen! Check out this Public Service Announcement video that was shared that evening, and find many resources on the My Life, My Choice website.
Finally for this update, we continue our preparations for our next contract campaign. This is the last week for you to weigh in on our contract survey by signing into the BTU portal. Please also help us to share the new community survey.
And this is the last reminder that the application for the Collective Bargaining Committee closes tomorrow at midnight! Please apply! Implementation updates for our current contract can be found in the BTU members portal.
As we move into Thanksgiving week, this article from PBS News Hour offers some interesting food for thought about teaching the holiday.
Have a great day and enjoy the short Thanksgiving week!