“Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.”
~A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Hope everyone is enjoying their President’s Day and has had a nice long weekend after completing last week’s student-led conferences!

SEA Nominations Forms Due Next Week

If you are interested in being a delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly this summer in Houston, Texas, nomination forms are due next Monday, February 25^th. Also, we have five open positions (both one-year and two-year terms) available to our Region 35 Council. For more information about Region 35, contact our Region Chair, Kara Zielinski, or Vice-Chair, Adriana Caballero. Copies of the nomination forms have been attached to this email. Nomination forms may be submitted by interoffice mail, fax, or scanned into an email with actual signature, and sent to Kelly O’Reilly at the Rafferty Administration Center.

3% Salary Cap Repeal
Thanks to educators across Illinois for taking time to sign the 3% Salary Cap Repeal Petition. The House Personnel and Pensions Committee moved the 3 percent repeal bill out of the committee last week, so it can now be heard on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives. No date has been set for that debate. The committee vote was 6 to 3. It’s not too late to sign the petition. Visit IEA’s website for more information.

SEA Awards
We are still accepting nominations through the end of February for the following SEA Awards: The Felicia Cichy Award, The Friend of SEA Award, and The Lifetime Achievement Award. The Felicia Cichy Award is given to recognize SEA members who have demonstrated service and leadership in SEA, IEA, and/or NEA. Their names appear on a plaque displayed outside the Board Room at District Office. The Friend of SEA Award honors an individual who is not a member of SEA, but who has contributed or assisted members of our association in a meaningful way. Finally, the Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has been an integral part of SEA, IEA, and/or NEA during their career in District #54. It is meant to show appreciation for a lifetime of dedication, leadership, and service to our members. The award is given when the individual is retiring, or has retired, from teaching. Here is the link to if you have someone in mind to nominate: SEA Awards Form.

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this week:

February 18^th: President’s Day

February 19^th: National Chocolate Mint Day (Have your ordered your Girl Scout Thin Mints yet? I’m picking up my Girl Scout troop’s cookies tonight!)

February 20^th: National Love Your Pet Day

February 21^st: National Sticky Bun Day

February 22^nd: Skip the Straw Day

Important Dates in February:

February 19^th: Member Benefits visit to Hoover (during lunch) & Frost (afterschool)

February 20^th: Member Benefits visit to Hanover (during lunch)

February 21^st: Member Benefits visit to Enders-Salk (during lunch) & Fox (afterschool)

February 25^th: Member Benefits visit to the ELC & RAC (during lunch) & SEA Building Rep Meeting

February 26^th: Member Benefits visit to Fairview (during lunch); Retirement Meeting for TRS Employees @RAC (contact Diana Peters if you are attending)

February 27^th: Member Benefits visit to Eisenhower (during lunch)

February 28^th: Member Benefits visit to Einstein (during lunch)

Lori Mobley

Schaumburg Education Association President

lorimobleysea@gmail.com

Cell: (847) 344-5249

Office @IKE: (847) 357-5450

www.sea54.org

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” ~Lucille Ball

You made it to your second round of conferences of the year! Enjoy preparing your students to get ready to show off some of the work they are most proud of this year. Consider taking a moment to allow your students to share some gratitudes towards their loved ones accompanying them at conferences. And when it’s all over, take some time for yourself on this long weekend!

Parent-Teacher Conference Hours

As a reminder, here is the information sent out to your administrators regarding the amount of time work this Thursday and Friday during Parent-Teacher Conferences:

1. At least one and one-half hours　must be worked　on Friday,　February 15　by all full-time employees except all instructional　assistants and registered nurses.
2. Everyone must get a “dinner break”.
3. The total work hours (not including meals) over　February 14 and 15　are as follows:
   1. Licensed　Staff (this includes　CIA’s, OT’s, PT’s, Floor Time Specialist　and Signing Interpreters) -at least 12 hours, but enough to complete conferences.
   2. Elementary Fine Arts and PE -　work their regular school hours on Thursday and 1.5 hours on Friday.
   3. Paraprofessionals, registered nurses – work their regular hours on Thursday.　Because this is a conference and student nonattendance day you may leave a half hour early.　Friday,　February 15　is not a scheduled work day.
   4. Secretaries, LRAs – 14 hours (Two 7.5　hour days minus 30 minutes　early dismissal on Thursday and 30 minutes　early dismissal on Friday, because these are conferences and student nonattendance days.)

SEA Awards
Each April at our SEA/SEEO General Meeting, we have like to present three awards: The Felicia Cichy Award, The Friend of SEA Award, and The Lifetime Achievement Award. The Felicia Cichy Award is given to recognize SEA members who have demonstrated service and leadership in SEA, IEA, and/or NEA. Their names appear on a plaque displayed outside the Board Room at District Office, which is currently being updated with last year’s recipient. The Friend of SEA Award honors an individual who is not a member of SEA, but who has contributed or assisted members of our association in a meaningful way. Finally, the Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has been an integral part of SEA, IEA, and/or NEA during their career in District #54. It is meant to show appreciation for a lifetime of dedication, leadership, and service to our members. The award is given when the individual is retiring, or has retired, from teaching. We are now accepting nominations for these three awards. If you have a nomination, please fill out the following SEA Awards Form by Thursday, February 28^th.

School Visits
Throughout the months of January and February, I’ve been visiting various schools to attend SEA Building Meetings and 1^st year mentor meetings. Additionally, I’ll be visiting various classrooms to see not just the innovation taking place, but to enjoy seeing members in action doing what they love…teaching! Feel free to reach out to me and invite me to your class anytime. Have a great week!

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this week:

February 11^th: National Clean Out Your Computer Day

February 12^th: National Plum Pudding Day

February 13^th: National Tortellini Day

February 14^th: Valentine’s Day & National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day

February 15^th: National Gumdrop Day

Important Dates in February:

February 11^th: Member Benefits visit to Armstrong (at lunch)

February 12^th: Member Benefits visit to Aldrin (during lunch) & Link (afterschool)

February 13^th: Member Benefits visit to Addams (during lunch)

February 14^th: Early Dismissal; Parent-Teacher Conferences (PM)

February 15^th: Parent-Teacher Conferences (AM)

February 25^th: SEA Building Rep Meeting

February 26^th: Retirement Meeting for TRS Employees @RAC (contact Diana Peters if you are attending)

Lori Mobley

Schaumburg Education Association President

lorimobleysea@gmail.com

Cell: (847) 344-5249

Office @IKE:　(847) 357-5450

www.sea54.org　

“Be someone else’s sunshine when skies are gray.”   ~Unknown

Time to Thaw Out for the Time Being

Imagine that, we survived the POLAR VORTEX and the buses are now feeling better! The unfortunate news is that we all need to mark a new last day of school on our calendars. As of now our last day with students will be Thursday, June 6^th, with the student non-attendance day (formally known as “Record’s Day”) on Friday, June 7^th. Regardless of any other snow days or emergency days, Friday June 7^th will be the last day for members to attend. You may officially schedule your vacations to begin on Saturday, June 8^th.

From One Capitol to the Next

The cold unfortunately kept cancelling my flights last week to Washington DC where I was to attend a NEA Conference for new local presidents. However, with the change in plans, I was able to attend the Grassroots Political Activists Mini-Convention in Springfield this past weekend with several members from the SEA instead. Thanks to Michelle Mason (Frost), Region 35’s GPA, for recruiting our GoTeam which consists of Kara Zielinski (Region 35 Chair, Enders-Salk), Vicki Mikos (SEA Vice-President, Blackwell/Lakeview), Katherine Plata (ELC), Rachel Martin (ELC), and myself.

TRS Retirement Meeting

Dr. Hannigan sent out information last month regarding a presentation on the district’s current retirement guidelines being held on Tuesday, February 26^th, in rooms 105-106 of the PLC. This meeting is for TRS employees who are considering retirement, but who have not already committed to retire in 2019. Please email Diana Peters if you are interested in retiring. I will be attending (not that I am retiring anytime soon), but just to be able to get hear the information that is being presented so that we can all clearly understand our pensions.

NEA Member Benefits Visits

Justine Sallee, our NEA Member Benefits Representative, will continue to visit schools throughout the entire month of February. She is working on rescheduling her visits to the many schools that have missed her visits due to our cold weather. I will continue to post the schools she will be visiting below in the section of important dates. Please check to see when Justine will be in your building. Kuddos to Justine for making the trip in to our district from Rockford each day!

NEA Today – App

You know that magazine called NEA Today that gets mailed to you house? Let me guess, it gets thrown into the pile of bills on your table or gets thrown into the recycling bin? There are some great reads for educators available in NEA Today. As someone who has already joined IEA-Retired (in order to get the low life-time rate now), I was reading through my NEA Today for NEA-Retired Members and found an article called “Inspiring Children to Walk in their Own Dreams” which discussed the need for teachers to develop a ‘cultural competence’, as NEA calls it, to reach every student, no matter who they are or where they’re from. There was even a section that allowed me to measure my own cultural competency.

I know you are thinking you don’t get the issues of NEA Today for NEA-Retired Members, but no worries…you can download the NEA Today app now. You’ll have access to three versions of NEA Today (for K-12 educators, for Aspiring Educators, and for NEA-Retired Members). Excellent reads…all part of your membership.

Building Rep Meeting Today

As a reminder to my building reps, our meeting from last Monday has been rescheduled to today afterschool from 3:30 – 5:00 PM in the Board Room. The agenda will remain the same. See you soon!

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this week:

February 4^th: National Homemade Soup Day

February 5^th: World Nutella Day

February 6^th: National Girls and Women in Sports Day

February 7^th: National Send a Card to a Friend Day

February 8^th: National Boy Scouts Day (or is it Scouts BSA Day now?)

Important Dates in February:

February 4^th: Member Benefits visit to Dirksen (at lunch)

February 4^th: RESCHEDULED SEA BUILDING REP Meeting – 3:30 – 5:00 PM

February 5^th: Member Benefits visit to Dooley (during lunch) & Collins (afterschool)

February 6^th: Member Benefits visit to Churchill (during lunch)

February 7^th: Member Benefits visit to Campanelli (at lunch) & Nerge (afterschool)

February 8^th: Member Benefits visit to Blackwell (at lunch)

February 11^th: Member Benefits visit to Armstrong (at lunch)

February 12^th: Member Benefits visit to Aldrin (at lunch) & Link (afterschool)

February 13^th Member Benefits visit to Addams (at lunch)

February 19^th: Member Benefits visit to Hoover (at lunch) & Frost (afterschool)

February 20^th: Member Benefits visit to Hanover (at lunch)

February 21^st: Member Benefits visit to Enders-Salk (at lunch) & Fox (afterschool)

February 25^th: SEA Building Rep Meeting; Member Benefits visit to the ELC (& RAC) (at lunch)

February 26^th: Retirement Meeting for TRS Employees @RAC (contact Diana Peters if you are attending); Member Benefits visit to Fairview (at lunch)

February 27^th: Member Benefits visit to Eisenhower (at lunch)

February 28^th: Member Benefits visit to Einstein (at lunch)

Lori Mobley

Schaumburg Education Association President

lorimobleysea@gmail.com

Cell: (847) 344-5249

Office @IKE: (847) 357-5450

www.sea54.org

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Extreme Weather This Week

Happy Snow Day…will it be the only day schools are closed this week? I know there are a lot of us looking ahead and wondering what is going to happen later this week, especially on Wednesday, an Inservice Day. SEEO President Kathy Jesuit and I have already been in communication with Superintendent DuRoss this past weekend. As soon as a decision is made, you will be notified. We thank you in advance for your patience. He is also talking with administration about what is the best way to run Bus Duty on extreme days.

Building Rep Meeting Rescheduled

Due to the snow day, today’s Building Rep meeting will be rescheduled to next Monday, February 4^th, from 3:30-5:00 PM in the Board Meeting. Because next Monday was originally an Exec Board meeting, I will be sending out information to the Exec Board via email. Thank you for your flexibility!

Food 4 Thought

Did you know District 54’s Education Foundation has committed to raising enough money to fund breakfast programs in all of our schools? $1 buys breakfast for a student for a day. $200 buys breakfast for a student for a year. $10,000 sponsors an entire school for a year. To learn more or donate to “Food 4 Thought” visit the Foundation’s website at www.d54foundation.org.

Transfair

Last week Dr. Hannigan sent out information about this year’s Transfair on Monday, April 1^st, at Keller Jr. High. If you are interested in attending, the deadline to notify Dr. Hannigan via email is this Friday, February 1^st. Many teachers in the district submit their interest in participating just to make sure they are on the list. Even if you don’t end up attending, it at least allows you to see what other positions in our district are available to you.   I realize February 1st seems early to be submitting this information, but it is based on our contract: Any tenured or non‐tenured teacher requesting a change in teaching assignment for the following year must make a written request to the Assistant Superintendent by February 1.

Online Learning Portal

As a reminder to you, one of the benefits of being a member is you have access to IEA’s online learning portal which you can access by signing into the Members Only page. This is FREE professional development at your fingertips that can be completed at any time and at your own pace. A complete list of course offerings can be found on the IEA Online Learning Portal. Some of the topics I saw which may be of interest include managing student behavior, social emotional learning foundations, understanding rigor in today’s classrooms, positive discipline, project based learning for student engagement, communicating with families using technology, and much more! Login to Members Only to get started!

Community Closet Volunteers

Thank you to the team of teachers from the SEA who volunteered at Addams’ Community Closet this past Saturday. I enjoyed having the opportunity to serve with Cynthia Dressler (ELC), Lin Hsieh (Campanelli), Steven Kitowski (MacArthur), and Lu Temoczuk (MacArthur). It’s nice seeing how many members across the district have filled the volunteer slots for the entire school year. If you have never volunteered, the SEA has two more dates reserved: Saturday, April 27^th (10 AM – 12 PM) & Tuesday, May 14^th (6-8 PM). We would love to have you join our team those days!

Out of the District Later this Week

I was fortunate to be one of 15 local presidents across the state to be selected to attend a National Education Association conference for new presidents in Washington DC this Thursday, January 31^st and Friday, February 1^st. I will still have access to my email. If you need immediate assistance on those days, please contact our Vice-President, Vicki Mikos, at vamikosSEA@gmail.com or at x. 1902.

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this week:

January 28^th: National Have Fun at Work Day (oops, guess we will be having fun at home instead!)

January 29^th: Plan for Vacation Day (don’t take one yet, just plan for it…and don’t forget to be add up to five snow days to the end of the school year)

January 30^th: National Croissant Day

January 31^st: National Inspire Your Heart with Art Day (thank you art teachers!)

February 1^st: Decorating with Candy Day

Important Dates in January/February:

January 28^th: SNOW DAY!

January 29^th: Member Benefits visit to ELC (during lunch) & Fairview (afterschool)

January 30^th: Half-Day Teacher In-Service & Member Benefits visit to Eisenhower

January 31^st: Member Benefits visit to Einstein (at lunch)

February 1^st: Member Benefits visit to Dooley (at lunch)

February 4^th: SEA RESCHEDULED Building Rep Meeting

February 25^th: SEA Building Rep Meeting

February 26^th: Retirement Meeting for TRS Employees @RAC (contact Diana Peters if you are attending)

Lori Mobley

Schaumburg Education Association President

lorimobleysea@gmail.com

Cell: (847) 344-5249

Office @IKE: (847) 357-5450

www.sea54.org

“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”   ~Albert Einstein

Happy Monday! Happy MLK Jr. Day! Hopefully everyone is finding some ‘me time’ today. I had the opportunity to have lunch with a great mentor and advisor to me, IEA President, Kathi Griffin. She gave some of our early career teachers some great advice at SPARKS this past weekend, “On Monday, do something that’s good for you! Take care of yourself!” Something we all need reminding of every once in a while.

Feed My Starving Children Recap

Thank you to the members or SEA and SEEO who volunteered at Feed My Starving Children last week. Our totals for the evening were 157 boxes packed with 33,912 meals which fed 92 children for an entire year. It was nice having Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, as well as School Board President Mary Kay Prusnick, Dr. Knoll, and Superintendent DuRoss join our group that evening.

SPARKS Recap

What an amazing time I had this past weekend at our SPARKS event! I wanted to take a moment to thank the SPARKS planning committee (Kara Zielinski, Vicki Mikos, Michelle Mason, Kelly O’Reilly, Crystal Bush and myself) for all the behind the scenes work and for being willing to present various sessions on special education, classroom management, and all about our association. And to the SPARKIEs in attendance, thank you for not only attending, but for helping both groups escape from the escape rooms on Friday night! It was a pleasure to meet you!   A special shout-out to our IEA President, Kathi Griffin, for attending on Saturday and being a part of our Discussion Panel. Also, thanks to our NEA Member Benefits representative Justine Sallee and financial planner Danielle Rovner for braving the snow on Saturday morning to attend.

Instructional Materials and Supplies Credit for Educators

When you begin to file your taxes for the 2018 year, an ‘Instructional Materials and Supplies Credit’ is allowed equal to the amount paid during the year for instructional materials and supplies, of $250, whichever is less. This is provided to any educator who was employed at least 900 hours during a school year.

Community Closet Volunteers

This Saturday, January 26^th, from 10 AM – 12 PM, is our first of three SEA volunteer days at Addams’ Community Closet. We still have two openings available to join us. If you are free and able to help out, please email me or sign-up on our Volunteer Doc by clicking here. We still have openings for our April 27^th & May 14^th Community Closet dates as well.

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this week:

January 21^st: Squirrel Appreciation Day….squirrel!

January 22^nd: National Blonde Brownie Day

January 23^rd: Library Shelfie Day (post a picture of your library #LibraryShelfieDay)

January 24^th: National Compliment Day

January 25^th: National Opposite Day (so we can actually use the phrase, “It’s opposite day!”)

Important Dates in January:

January 22^nd: Member Benefits visit to Frost (at lunch) & Hoover (afterschool)

January 23^rd: Member Benefits visit to Hanover (at lunch)

January 24^th: Member Benefits visit to Hale (at lunch)

January 25^th: Member Benefits visit to Fox (at lunch)

January 26^th: Community Closet (Addams) 10 AM – 12 PM

January 28^th: SEA Building Representative Meeting – 3:30-5:00 PM

January 30^th: Half-Day Teacher In-Service

Lori Mobley

Schaumburg Education Association President

lorimobleysea@gmail.com

Cell: (847) 344-5249

Office @IKE: (847) 357-5450

www.sea54.org

Thank you to all that helped make this event a success!

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”
~Anthony Robbins

Feed My Starving Children

I am looking forward to attending this week’s Feed My Starving Children event. There are just a few spots available so check out their website (or email me) if you are still wanting to attend. Superintendent DuRoss and Dr. Knoll will be serving with members of the SEA & SEEO at this event.

If you are signed up, it is this Wednesday, January 16^th, from 6-7:30. Arrive 10-15 minutes early to confirm your attendance. Wear your SEA gear or show your school spirit! Feed My Starving Children has a strict jewelry policy, so be sure to remove all jewelry (earrings, watches, rings, necklaces, pins, etc). Wedding bands are permitted by if your band has a stone, you will be required to wear a glove. Lockers are available for your personal belongings. If you cannot attend, consider making an online donation to Feed My Starving Children.

GPA Mini-Convention

The 2019 GPA Mini-Convention (Feb. 1-2 in Springfield) is an opportunity for GPAs (Grassroot Political Activists) to bring their GO-Teams for a fun, hands-on training.  The convention will also focus on legislative updates and how to engage members and influence legislators. Please email Michelle Mason (michellemason@sd54.org), our GPA for Region 35, for more information or to be included on our GO team and attend this convention. Expenses to attend would be paid for and you would receive a half day of union leave on Friday, February 1^st for travel.

Retirement Workshops

The Palatine Office is hosting a set of retirement workshops taking place February 7th (TRS), and February 19th (IMRF) in the Palatine IEA-NEA Office, 553 N. North Ct., Palatine, IL 60067 – Suite 205, from 4:30 pm until 6:00 pm. Workshops will be conducted by representatives from two Illinois Retirement Systems – TRS (for Teachers/certified faculty) and IMRF (for Education Support Personnel).

Information is geared for all members seeking information about their Illinois Retirement System benefits whether considering retiring soon or desiring to learn about this benefit. Click here to register, but hurry — space is limited!

I am excited to be attending our upcoming SPARKS event this Friday and Saturday, and then getting to enjoy our day off on Monday! Have a great week!

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this week:

January 14^th: National Clean off Your Desk Day

January 15^th: National Hat Day

January 16^th: National Nothing Day (yep, that’s what it is!)

January 17^th: National Kid Inventors Day (perfect for our Maker Spaces!)

January 18^th: National Winnie the Pooh Day

Important Dates in January:

January 14^th: Member Benefits Visit to Muir School (at lunch)

January 15^th: Member Benefits Visit to Mead (at lunch) and MacArthur (afterschool)

January 16^th: Member Benefits Visit to Link (at lunch) & Feed My Starving Children – 6-7:30 PM; Join Code: 76G1ZZ

January 17^th: Member Benefits Visit to Lincoln Prairie (at lunch) & Lakeview (afterschool)

Lori Mobley

Schaumburg Education Association President

lorimobleysea@gmail.com

Cell: (847) 344-5249

Office @IKE: (847) 357-5450

www.sea54.org