Dear Colleagues,
I hope all is well. I know from chatting with many of you in our Ring Central Gatherings that the pace has not let up this in January! There are a number of upcoming events to share with you in this edition that may be of interest to you. Please see below.
I would be remiss if I did not congratulate the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee for their very successful Summit last week. They held the fourth annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Summit, with the theme, “Gen-Z Moving A New Dream Forward,” virtually from January 19-21, 2021. It was an exciting and compelling three days. Well done!
Also noteworthy this past two weeks was the DESE/MSAA/MAECTE book group meetings. The book that was read and discussed was Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism by Tracey A. Benson and Sarah E. Fiarman. We were so fortunate and so grateful to both authors who facilitated the hour and a half long sessions. This certainly was deep and meaningful work and only the beginning. A quote form the book to keep in mind, "In schools tackling bias, adults and students talk about race regularly."
Please note that MSAA took two very important actions this past week. Firstly, we sent a letter to Governor Baker calling for a comprehensive and organized plan to vaccinate educators in February. Secondly, we sent DESE a position paper on the latest changes they made to Time on Learning, noting our objections. Links to both can be found below.
Please click here to see the summary of NAESP's mid year survey results. “The results of this survey reaffirm the enormous challenges that principals are facing in trying to lead learning communities in the middle of a pandemic,” says NAESP Executive Director L. Earl Franks, Ed.D., CAE.
A big shoutout to the folks at Horace Mann for providing us with a consequential report on the Hidden Impact of Covid-19 on Educators. Also they are sponsoring two upcoming speaker series on February 2nd and 16th. See below to read the report and sign up for the speakers for free!
Also there is an important upcoming webinar on Free Application for Federal Aid on February 9th. The registration link is below.
There are three new shares with you in the Latest Articles, Video Section. Both are timely. The first is the Commission that has formed to study the Commonwealth's seal, flag and motto. The second is a webpage with valuable and fact based resources on teaching about The Capitol Event. And finally the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) webpage that has some valuable resources for parents and educators to get help for students who are struggling during COVID -19.
MSAA Chat
#MSAAchat will be on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 8 PM. We have had a few great discussions so far this school year. The #MSAAchat is hosted by MSAA High School Committee Chair, Brian McCann, Middle Level Chair, Bob Silviera, and Elementary Chair, Martin Geoghegan. We host #MSAAchat on the second Tuesday of each month during the school year at 8PM EST. We have some very lively discussions on many of the issues and topics we are all dealing with as educators right now. Please think about popping in.
Horace Mann Report
Horace Mann Educators released a new report, The Hidden Impact of COVID-19 on Educators, finding that over a quarter (27%) of teachers are considering leaving the profession due to concerns about COVID-19 including their own health and safety as well as the potential financial impact. Here are a few of the topline results:
The Hidden Impact of COVID-19 on Educators
Based on nationally representative survey of over 1,200 U.S. educators, with ages ranging from 21-64
Key findings include:
· Navigation of complex virtual / hybrid learning is driving job dissatisfaction: 77% of educators are working more today and almost 2/3 (60%) are enjoying their job less now than a year ago
· With the present health risks, many educators feel ill-equipped to return to classrooms: 59% of educators don’t feel secure in their school district’s health and safety precautions and 66% of educators don’t believe that health-related unplanned time off will be covered by their benefits
· Expensive treatment for COVID-19 would be another blow to educators’ weak finances: almost ¾ (74%) of educators would not say they are living comfortably and 44% of educators aren’t fully confident that their health insurance will adequately cover any health issue that arise
Here are links to the full report and the release:
Horace Mann Speaker Series
Tuesday, February 2nd Adam Welcome Educators Deserve It Register
Tuesday, February 16th Nicole Malachowski Harnessing the Headwinds of Change Register
Free Application for Federal Aid (FAFSA)
Increasing FAFSA Completion
For last year’s seniors, enrollment in higher education dropped by 10 percent this past fall compared to the previous year, and by 20 percent among economically disadvantaged students. COVID is clearly exacerbating already persistent college going gaps, particularly for low income, African American and Latino students.
For this year’s seniors, Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion has dropped compared to this time last year by over 9 percent statewide, with larger drops in populations with historically low college going rates. FAFSA completion is a strong indicator of college-going, and this drop may be an early indication of further drops in college enrollment in September 2021.
Overcoming the financial barrier to higher education is critical. To help mitigate this potential crisis in college going, DESE, in partnership with Mass. Dept. of Higher Education, Mass. School Counselors Assn. (MASCA), Reach Higher, and GEARUP are sponsoring two FAFSA completion webinars to help illustrate the FAFSA completion situation, demonstrate FAFSA reports on Edwin Analytics, and hear from a few practitioners to explain how they are “getting it done” despite the pandemic.
While these sessions are particularly aimed at high school counselors and district and high school administrators, all are welcome. Please register ahead of time for one of the sessions available. These sessions will be offered via Zoom. After registering at one of the links below, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
When: Feb 9, 2021 03:00 PM
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfuihqj8sHtT-uN7Lvf4wnx0eTHeq_QQg
When: Feb 10, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYocemtpzkvG9AIKQGYzpRsRalQQSayt8zE
Upcoming Events/Initiatives at MSAA
- MSAA Edcamp Saturday, February 27th 8:15 AM Click here for more information
We are excited that EdCampMaLeads2021 is coming up next month!
Educators- YOU are AMAZING 💥 and have been making the impossible possible!!! MSAA knows how hard you are all working and we want to invite you to this year's VIRTUAL EdCampMALeads to support you and give you the opportunity to connect with other educators across the state (& beyond)!
We hope you will consider registering - sharing with other educators- and attending - did we mention there will be giveaways too! (Thank you to our Sponsors!!!)
Register TODAY (thank you to those of you that have already registered)
https://www.smore.com/yb96f
🍎MSAA Elementary & Teaching and Learning Committees
Reminders
The MIAA Sportsmanship Essay/ Multimedia Contest deadline has been extended to February 5, 2021. Information can be found below.
CONTEST GUIDELINES:
PARTICIPANTS Contest is open to students in grades 9-12 at MIAA Member Schools ESSAY ENTRIES Must be typed, double spaced, and contain no more than 500 words MULTIMEDIA ENTRIES Must be a video that is no longer than 3 minutes
PRIZES:
First Place ($400) and Runner-Up ($200) prizes will be presented in two categories (essay and multimedia) Contest winners will present their entries as honored guests during the 27th Annual MIAA Sportsmanship Summit. First Place and Runner-Up essay entries will be published in a compilation entitled “Sportsmanship: A Game Plan for Life, Volume XX First Place and Runner-Up multimedia entries will be available on the MIAA website
CONTEST DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:
All entries must be received by 12:00 pm on Friday, February 5, 2021 All entries, essay and multimedia, must be emailed to educationalathletics@miaa.net See directly below for the pdf flyer link.
Closing Message from Bill Gaine
On behalf of MSAA and Executive Director, Bill Gaine: Stay safe, stay strong, and take time for yourself.
Warm Regards,
Beth
Beth Wittcoff
MSAA Assistant Executive Director
MSAA Matters Newsletter
Middle Level and Elementary Committee Liaison
Ring Central Gatherings
