National Education Association Representative Assembly 2015

Hey bloggers! I know that I have been away for several days; this is because I have been honored to represent both UT Martin and the Student Tennessee Education Association by attending both the Student Leadership Pre-Conference and the 94th Annual Representative Assembly in Orlando, FL. Students, teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators have all worked countlessly advocating to promote Strong Public Schools for every student through the National Education Association. Picking through Amendments, New Buisness Items, and Resolutions for 2015-2016 has taught me so many things and helped me to appreciate how passionate our educators are to their students and schools. Adding to this remarkable First-Time Delegate experience, President of TEA, Barbara Gray, allowed me to represent and honor our state of Tennessee as I stood with 49 other individuals from our United States of America and sang in the NEA Choir for Independence Day. Carolyn Crowder, our Executive Director, helped as a founding member for this prestigious program in Oklahoma many years ago and we are very lucky to have her with us in Tennessee. Dr. Clinton Smith, a Special Education professor at UT Martin, who is here at the NEA RA dedicating his free time to the Student Delegates has been an exemplar throughout my time at UTM as he has been actively involved in numerous professional programs and community outreach, promoting students to do the same. Rhonda Thompson, Coordinator of Instructional Advocacy, iTeam, & Student Programs,  has been wonderful, as she has worked above and beyond to make sure that we were taken care of and treated fairly as 'teachers' and equal as a delegate. Although we have worked hard, she has helped to make this trip also seem as a vacation as much as she could without cutting into buisness.   I am so thankful for this incredible opportunity that I have been given the relationships that I have made along the way. I will use this professional development to help myself become a more effective educator in the near future. I would also like to think TEA and UT Martin for all of the huge support you have given me! 

GO TO THE LINK AND WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE FLIPAGRAM! 

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