“The camaraderie at CEA’s Summer Conference is the best,” says Suffield Education Association President Mark Janick. “I really enjoy the way it brings people together and the way people from different districts look forward to seeing each other every year—sharing ideas, sharing thoughts.”
Janick has been a member of the CEA Membership Training Conference Committee that works to plan CEA’s Summer Conference, as well as other trainings for members, for many years. Members who attend CEA conferences are sure to recognize him from his role as MC at many events.
Today is the second and final day of CEA’s Summer Conference, which has brought more than 500 members to Foxwoods Resort and Conference Center. (Read about day one.)
[Pictured above are CEA Secretary Gail Jorden, President Kate Dias, Vice President Joslyn DeLancey, and Treasurer Stephanie Wanzer.]
“The sense of community you get when there are so many educators together with a common cause—I feel like we’re moving the profession forward,” says Glastonbury Education Association President Kristen Basiaga.
She always encourages Glastonbury teachers to attend, especially newer educators who are not as familiar with or knowledgable about their union. She recommends tracks on understanding your contract, legal issues for educators, and financial literacy for teachers.
Karen Pfeffer and Tracy Jenkins met at CEA’s Summer Conference two years ago and have become fast friends.
Karen Pfeffer and Tracy Jenkins are also on the conference planning committee and can trace their friendship back to their first meeting at a CEA Summer Conference two years ago.
“She’s a Danbury elementary special education teacher and I’m a library media specialist at the Gilbert School, which is a secondary school,” says Pfeffer. “Under what other context could we have met?”
Pfeffer says she enjoys meeting new people at Summer Conference every year.
“Tracy and I have staffed the CEA Pride table for a couple of years now, and it’s amazing the number of people who come back and say, ‘Hey, you spoke to us last year,’ or ‘We really enjoyed talking with you last year,’ so I really appreciate meeting new people and feeling that I am part of a much larger community.”
Jenkins says she enjoys talking to teachers from other districts and finding out what it’s like working in other schools.
“I like learning about the things that they’re going through on a day-to-day basis,” she says. “We all face many of the same issues. Seeing that it’s not so different across the state reinforces that we’re all in this together.”
Union solidarity
The teachers say Summer Conference is just one example of the power that the union has to bring people together for an experience that’s larger than themselves.
Darien teachers at CEA’s Summer Conference.
“We are all in this together—we can’t do it alone,” Jenkins says. “We need to support one another, because if we just wait for somebody else to do it, we’re going to be alone for a long time. The only way you can get things done is joining and coming together. I’m a building rep, so I always encourage our new members to join together to get involved. It’s the only way to get our mission accomplished.”
“I always explain to our new members that the union is there for them in so many different ways,” says Basiaga. “The union represents our rights and makes sure that our voices are heard at all levels, whether it’s the state, national, or even within the local.”
“Teaching is not just a job, it’s a career and a way of life,” Janick says. “Being part of a union, being part of something bigger means you’re part of a group that is going to project your job and your future.”
Learn more about a new CEA campaign that focuses on the importance of union membership.
