September 13, 2019
WEAC Region 3 represents public education employees in a large territory stretching from Florence to Port Washington,
and from Menominee to Washington Island.
GRANT DOLLARS ARE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR LOCAL!
Dennis Muehl Public Relations Grant
Your local can plan a public relations event/project that reaches outside your membership to promote your union and/or public education. Grants of up to $300 are awarded.

Click here for an application.

WEAC Microgrants
Locals that want to welcome new hires and ask them to join the union can apply for grants up to $1500.
Partner Local Requirements:
  • Create and share a qualifying membership & new hire orientation plan;
  • Submit a simple, line-item budget;
  • Offer two networking or professional development workshop opportunities, (fall and winter/spring);  
  • Collect Interest Cards from new hires; and
  • Participate in a membership or organizing training program.

Click here for an application.
Click on the image above for a flyer that you can use to advertise the
UP Connection in your Local. Click here to register: https://forms.gle/p9oWt6yaAKrzeiQ7A  
WEAC


WEAC Offers
Presidents' Meeting
Location: WEAC building in Madison


Friday, October 11 – NEW PRESIDENTS
Saturday, October 12 -- ALL PRESIDENTS

Click here for details and registration information.
Region 3/GBEA National Board Support Sessions

WEAC, Region 3 and GBEA have organized ongoing monthly National Board Support for the 2019-2020 cycle. Generally, the first portion of the session will feature a presentation on a topic or issue and the second portion of the session will be reserved for working with candidate concerns and questions. Sessions will be held at the WEAC Region 3 Office, 1136 N Military Ave, Green Bay. At our first session on September 19, you'll work with our new facilitator, Sarah Johnston (Marinette), and WEAC's Instruction & Professional Development Director, Jeff Baas, will also be in attendance.

We have added the option of joining us via Zoom if you are unable to
attend in person! Pre-registration is not required but appreciated - light dinner will be served.

Fall Member Professional Learning Opportunities
As the 2019-20 school year kicks off, WEAC is highlighting fall union led professional development opportunities available to members:

The New Teacher Institute will bring members in their first 5 years of teaching together on Saturday, October 5 for a day of professional learning and networking in New London. More details and a registration link can be found here: https://weac.org/new-teacher-institute/

The WEAC Professional Development Institute (formerly the Professional Issues Conference) format allows Aspiring Educator, ESP and teacher members to select from over 30 sessions applicable to their practice. This year the Institute will be in Oshkosh, November 1-3. Details and registration can be found here: http://weac.org/calendar/professional-development-institute/

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking is a statewide virtual book study. Details can be found at: https://weaacademy.org/product/quiet/ .

Micro Credentials continue to be a popular option for self-directed, specific professional learning. There are 100s of options including a recent release of micro credentials specific to ESP work categories. Details can be found here: https://weaacademy.org/online-courses/micro-credentials/

National Board support cohorts in Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Brookfield, Madison, Racine, Eau Claire, and possibly Watertown. A full day NBCT facilitator training will be held on Saturday, October 12 at the WEAC Building. NBCTs interested in supporting candidates can register here: https://weac.org/forms/professional-learning-facilitator-training/

Degrees Not Debt! is a self-guided course which provides an overview of student loan forgiveness programs. Registration can be found at: https://weaacademy.org/product/degreesnotdebt/

Defense Against the Dark Arts: The Science of Happiness continues to be one of our most popular courses. It is a blended learning course with 4 online modules and 1 face-to-face session. Fall semester face-to-face sessions have been scheduled for Madison, St. Croix Falls, Rhinelander, Baraboo, Janesville, and LaCrosse. Course registration is at this link: https://weaacademy.org/product/science-happinessfree-weac-members/

Two Courses Coming Soon: Heart Health for Educators & FoRT Preparation . Both of these courses will launch in early September on the WEA Academy website. Check out the WEA Academy site from time-to-time to see what’s new.

The WEA Academy Calendar is a resource available to all MEMBERS: ( https://weaacademy.org/events/ ). It is updated regularly to reflect professional development opportunities around the state.
The 2020 NEA Convention will be held July 2-6 in Atlanta, Georgia; the 2021 NEA Convention will be held July 2-6 in Denver, Colorado; and the 2022 NEA Convention will be held in Dallas, Texas. Members of WEAC will elect delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly for a three-year term in February 2020. Members planning to seek election as delegates are required to file their declaration of candidacy in the office of the WEAC Executive Director, postmarked no later than December 1, 2019. 

NEA
PAC Rebate
Notification
For those of you who are dues-paying members, but do not wish to contribute a small portion of those dues to the political action efforts of our union, this notice (required by Federal Law) is for you:
 
A PAC contribution of $5.00 has been added to your WEAC Region 3 dues for 2019-2020.

The Region 3 Board of Directors utilizes these funds to make contributions to: 

  1. The political campaigns of candidates for local or state office who have been recommended by our members for election because they are friends of education; AND
  2. Committees that advocate for passage of school referenda.

Any member wishing a rebate of the contribution must request such in writing by November 1, 2019. Each request must be a separate letter including your name, address and local association name. All requests must be postmarked by November 1, 2019. Once a member requests a PAC rebate, no PAC dues will be drawn in future membership years unless the member specifically requests in writing to reinstate PAC dues participation.
 
For a refund of your WEAC Region 3 PAC contribution, write to: WEAC Region 3 PAC, 1136 North Military Avenue, Green Bay, WI 54303. Telephone requests, multiple requests in the same letter, letters postmarked after November 1, email requests, and letters missing any of the required information (name, address and local association) will not be honored. They will be discarded.

Hello all,

I signed up to take an online class some months ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Online - easy to schedule, right? Find some free time, log in, look at lectures or videos and maybe chat with some folks.

Well, apparently, when the Harvard Kennedy School gives you a certificate for completion of one of their courses, they expect some rigor! I'll be "attending" live lectures for 1.5 hours every Tuesday at a specific time and "attending" a session for 1.5 hours every Thursday at a different specific time. Plus reading and writing assignments. The class starts next week and I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about the time commitment.

But, I'm excited too! The class is called: "Public Narrative: Leadership, Storytelling, and Action." Over 100 participants from all over the world are attending this class that is conducted by the organizing guru, Marshall Ganz. If you've ever received an email from me, you'll notice my signature contains a quote from Mr. Ganz. I've read a few articles, dabbled in storytelling in a couple different workshops, and tried to teach the art of telling your story to union members. Now I'll be getting a thorough immersion in the art of storytelling - - telling stories for the purposes of sharing the belief, that we, as individuals, can act together to make a difference in our world. I look forward to sharing my learnings with you here.

Peace!
--Kathy Rohde
Uniserv Director
Region 3 WEAC