By Michael Peacy

When I was in college preparing to become a teacher, I was pretty apathetic about unions. At home, my wife and I had many conversations about how I would be a union member because I had to be. I agreed to pay my dues but initially had no interest in union involvement; other people could do that. Then, during my first year of teaching, one of the retiring teachers asked me to take a spot on the negotiations team for our district. At first, I was reluctant to do so, but after thinking about it I decided to check it out. Now I’m extremely glad I did. I’ve now had the opportunity to participate in the union at both the local and state levels, including attendance at the WEAC Convention. Those experiences have opened my eyes and changed the way I view unions and the purpose of unions.

I’ve been a member of the negotiations team in our district now for three years. During that time, I helped settle two contracts and found the experience very rewarding. Every year, I attend our UniServ’s Representative Assembly to see how the union works on the local level. Originally, I thought that the purpose of unions was to make sure I got a fair contract. Now that I’m actually involved in the union, I see that it’s not just there to support teachers financially but also to support them professionally.

I’ve been involved on the state level by writing for WEAC, which is a great professional organization to belong to. After all, they allow me to write these articles, which I really enjoy. Where else can I ramble on about what I do at work to an audience? Through WEAC, I also had an opportunity to wet my feet in the public speaking pool. This past November, I spoke to more than 250 future teachers at the Student WEA convention in Wisconsin Dells about “The Joys and Fears of the First Year Teacher.” It didn’t take much to convince me, just passes to the water park. While I was sweating it out in front of all those college students, my son was having a blast riding the Flyan Myan Zip Coaster. I shared some of my experiences such as how I got my job, to how important it is that students know you care about them.

The rest of the conference was filled with great workshops designed to advise future teachers on various aspects of the job and the challenges that they will face. They also got acquainted with how WEAC is willing to help them in the “real world.”

Back in my first year of teaching, I attended my first WEAC Convention. When the WEAC booklet arrived in the mail, I was surprised to see how many different workshops were offered. After scanning the catalog, I settled on one workshop on the JASON project. The JASON Project, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Geographic Society, is designed to help give educators more tools to get students excited about science. I learned a lot and picked up some fun activities to teach my students about ocean currents. But one of the biggest bonuses came from the trade show. The free stuff was overwhelming – I couldn’t grab the goodies fast enough.

I’ve been to Convention every year since. Each year, at the trade show, I get my year’s supply of pens and pencils, enjoy the freshly shined apples, and of course, my favorite…the candy. Oh, and I learn about tools to buy for my classroom and trips available for field trips or professional development. Everything at the Convention is designed to help me become a better educator.

This year, I finally decided to listen to the speakers at the welcome ceremony. This was a fantastic experience, and I was glad that I was part of the audience. The first person we listened to was WEAC President Mary Bell, speaking about “No Child Left Behind.” She made many great points about the lack of funding or other support to carry out NCLB. State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster followed with a wonderful speech about the challenges facing educators today. But Tavis Smiley, the keynote speaker, stole the show. An amazing speaker, he emphasized that we need to love children if we intend to lead them. I left feeling that anyone in that room who was not motivated by him to become a better educator should have his or her pulse checked. It is wonderful to listen to speakers who really support and encourage teachers.

I’m grateful that WEAC is there to provide us with a lot of tools to help educate students and make our lives in education better. I've seen the help it provides on various levels and I encourage people to tap into WEAC as a resource.

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Posted February 19, 2008