Category: Mobley’s Monday Message

Happy New Year 2024 and welcome back, SEA! 

Hope you enjoyed having the last two weeks off.   Attached are the results from the Region 35/SEA elections we had before break.  Thank you to everyone who put their name on the ballot to attend the IEA-RA in Rosement in March and for those joining us as Region 35 council representatives!

Here is the January 8 edition of the Monday Message. 

You will find information about a Region 35 discussion on the Netflix documentary called Stamped from the Beginning.  We will be gathering later this month based on your feedback of the date, time, and location that works best. If you are interested in participating in our group discussion, please fill out this Google Form by this Friday, January 11. 

Some of the other highlights is listed below:

• SCORE Grants from the IEA – due January 15
• 2024 SEA Award Nominations – due January 19
• Living a Hip Hop and Abolitionist Life – Dr. Bettina Love – January 24 
• Jason Eliasek Scholarship Applications – due March 18

May your week back be great one!

Good morning, SEA!

You made it to our last four school days in 2023.  Just like many of you, I am very looking forward to a little bit of down time during out winter break just right around the corner. 

But before then, here is the December 18th Edition of the Monday Message for you.   

Highlights you will find this week…

• Nominate a colleague for an award from the SEA
• Apply for a SCORE Grant from the IEA
• 2024 Jason Eliasek Scholarship is now available 
• December Contract Tidbit – Language around the School Calendar

We do have our monthly SEA Meeting today after school in the PLC starting at 3:30 PM.  All members are welcome to attend either in person or virtually.  The link to request the Zoom link is in the Monday Message for you.   SEA Building Reps, please remember to bring your ballots from last week’s election to the meeting today.  If you can help us with ballot counting, please email Kelly O’Reilly. 

Cheers to a happy, healthy year in 2024!  

Good morning, SEA!

Looking forward to seeing you today at our Feed My Starving Children event starting at 4:30 PM.  Please read through the December 11 Edition of the Monday Message for some last minute reminders about our volunteering event today. 

Thank you to the building reps for running today’s SEA/Region 35 Election in your buildings today.  You should have receiving voting information location and times.  Reps, hold on to the ballots in a secure location until next week’s building rep meeting.   I reattached the SEA Candidates information for everyone to read before voting.   If you are interested in being a ballot counter, please contact Kelly O’Reilly. 

Also attached to this week’s email is information about the Jason Eliasek Scholarship.  We will also post the scholarship information on SEA’s website. 

Lastly, we are looking for nominees for the SEA Awards we present at the annual SEA/SEEO General Meeting.  Here is a link to the award nomination form.  The three awards have been described within that form. 

Two weeks until Winter break!

Happy National Inclusive Schools Week, SEA!

Shoutout to the many schools across our district that are participating in National Inclusive Schools Week.  I’ve included a few links on page three of the Monday Message to a website and an Edutopia article with ideas of ways in which to discuss inclusion with your students. 

Here is the link to the December 4th Edition of the Monday Message.  You’ll find information about next week’s SEA Elections, including the candidate biographies of those running to be delegates to the IEA-RA and Region 35 Council Representatives.

If you are thinking about joining us next Monday, December 11, at Feed My Starving Children, please register today.  I will be releasing the remaining spots so there is an accurate count of our attendees from the SEA and SEEO.   Visit the FMSC sign-in page and use join code 1DVVN2.

The countdown has begun as we are just three weeks away from winter break!

Good morning, SEA!

Hope your conferences went well and you enjoyed your Thanksgiving break!  

Here is the November 27th Edition of the Monday Message for you to read through. 

You’ll find some of our SEA Highlights from American Education Week, as well as information about Workplace Solutions (our Employee Assistance Plan).

It’s not too late to join the SEA and SEEO at our Feed My Starving Children night on Monday, December 11.  We do have some volunteer spots available.  Feel free to invite your family and friends to join us.  Here is a link to our sign-in page or use join code 1DVVN2 on the FMSC website. 

That’s it for now. Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Good morning SEA,

Hope you enjoyed that extra hour of sleep this weekend!  Thanks for everyone’s patience as the district continues to work through the pay check debacle. I am just as stressed as some of you just waiting for that check to be deposited as the bills are sitting and waiting to be paid.  

Here is the November 6 edition of the Monday Message. 

You will find information about our upcoming parent-teacher conferences.  The information in the Monday Message is what was shared with your building administrators as well. 

Today is the last day to sign up for next Monday’s TACOS & TRIVIA event.  We are excited to be able to kick off American Education Week with our members with food, fun, and friends!   Hope you can join us.  Dinner will be from 5-6 PM followed by trivia at 6 PM.  

It’s also not too late to sign up for IEA’s Fall Fest on Saturday, November 18, from 8 AM – 12:30 PM.  So many great PD sessions are being offered!  The event is free to our members and is being held right in our own backyard…at the PLC.  

Other opportunities for our members include the following:

• Feed My Starving Children – Monday, December 11, 4:30-6:15 PM (Join Code: 1DVVN2)
• Early Leadership Institute – For our Early Career Educators
• We Want to Do More Than Survive – Loveworks Book Study
• Be a Delegate at the IEA-RA

Speaking of the IEA-RA…are you a teacher of a musical group who may be interested in performing for us at the IEA-RA?  The IEA is looking for either live performances or recordings.  Please email Robin Ehrhart (robin.ehrhart@ieanea.org) at the IEA by January 15. 

Don’t forget, this Wednesday, November 8, is a District 54 Education Foundation Fundraiser at Lou Malnati’s Pizza.  For phone orders, call (847) 985-1525 and mention that you are with District 54 Education Foundation before placing your order.  For online orders, use the promo code GRPRSFUND23 and 20% of your meal’s price will be donated back to District 54 Education Foundation.

Hope you enjoy the week ahead, SEA!

Good morning SEA!

Can you believe you have made it to the end of October?  Hard to believe!

Here is the October 30 Edition of the Monday Message.  

Be sure to check out the following opportunities for you as a member of the SEA:

• Are you an early career educator who wants to develop their leadership and advocacy skills?  Check out NEA’s Early Leadership Institute (ELI) that the SEA is fortunate to be one of five locals in the state selected to participate in.  SEA’s ELI coaches Michelle Mason (Frost) and Brandon Bolger (Churchill) are looking for 15-20 SEA members to join the journey with them. Here’s the link to find out more information.
•  Join us for our SEA/SEEO Member Appreciation Event, Tacos and Trivia, on Monday, November 13, immediately following the SEA Building Rep meeting from 5-8 PM.  Not interested in trivia?  Sign up anyways to join us for the TACOS from 5-6 PM! Registration will close next Monday, November 6.  Sign-up today!
• Did you watch the psychological thriller GET OUT?  We’d love to have you join us for a discussion this Wednesday, November 1, at 8 PM via Zoom.  Sign-up here to get the link for our discussion. 
• Registration is still open for IEA’s FALL FEST on Saturday, November 18.   We are excited about the various professional development sessions that will be offered!  We are fortunate to have some of our very own SEA members as presenters for this event.  It’s not too late to register!  

That’s all for today!  Hope you enjoy all those Halloween parades and parties taking place across the district tomorrow

Good morning SEA!

Today will be the October Building Rep Meeting taking place in the PLC from 3:30-5:00 PM.  As always any member is invited to attend.  If you wish to join the Zoom, you must fill out this form by 3:15 PM. The link will be emailed to you by 3:30 PM.  

If you are at Frost and Hale, your building is having a special election today.  Be sure to connect with your reps today for the vote. 

Attached to this email you will find SEVERAL resources and important pieces of information for our SEA membership, many of which will also be discussed at today’s building rep meeting.  There is an election notice for our December 11 elections.  If you are wanting to be a delegate at the IEA RA in Rosemont on March 14-16, 2024, you can fill out the nomination form.  We are also seeking six more Region 35 Council representatives.   To find out more about what either of these positions entails, feel free to contact me or Kelly O’Reilly, our elections chair.

Also, SEA’s Racial and Social Justice Committee will be hosting a special movie discussion of the film “GET OUT“.  We are asking interested members to stream the movie on Netflix, Hulu, or Peacock and watch this psychological thriller through an equity lens.  Then, based on members feedback of the date and time that works best, we will host a discussion via Zoom.  Please fill out this form if you are interested.

Other information you will find in the October 23 edition of the Monday Message:

• IEA’s Fall Fest – November 18, 8 AM -12:30 PM, held in the PLC – REGISTER TODAY!
• October Contract Tidbits – Sick Leave/Inappropriate Sick Leave
• Leaders for Just Schools – Join a Cohort today!
• Feed My Starving Children – December 11, 4:30-6:15 PM – Join Code: 1DVVN2
• Tacos and Trivia – SEA/SEEO Membership Appreciation Event – Nov. 13, 5-8 PM – FREE! Register today!

There is definitely more news to share in the Monday Message to take a peek!  If you didn’t notice, there was an error with District 54 payroll beginning our dues deductions with our last paycheck, so now the deductions will start on the 11/03/2023 pay and end on the 06/27/2024 pay.  Hopefully the spooks aren’t getting too real this week!

Good morning, SEA!

We are already at about the halfway mark of October and getting closer towards the end of trimester one, believe it or not!

This week’s October 16th Edition of the Monday Message has a lot of the same information from last week as there is A LOT of valuable information for all of our members:

• IEA’s Fall Fest (November 18, 8 AM – 12:30 PM) – Registration is now open
• Volunteer with the SEA/SEEO/D54 at Feed My Starving Children (December 11, 4:30-6:15 PM) – Register here  Join Code: 1DVVN2
• IEA’s Loveworks Book Study – Registration is still open
• Leaders for Just Schools – Join a 2023-2024 cohort
• Do Not Fear the Fight Ahead – Virtual Conference (October 20-21)
  • Register Here
  • Apply for Funding from the SEA here (SEA/Region 35 will be sending up to 15 members)
• IEA’s EMELT Conference (November 3-5)
  • Register Here
  • Apply for Funding from Region 35 here
• Tacos and Trivia – SEA/SEEO Membership Appreciation Event (November 13, 5-8 PM)
  • Form your team and register here!
• Bite-Size Professional Development Series (from the Partnership for Resilience)
  • For more information or to register visit https://tinyurl.com/Bite-SizeSeries

If you have any questions on how to receive funding to attend any of the conferences, definitely reach out.  

Just a reminder that dues deductions will begin with the next paycheck.  Please be sure to check that there are no discrepancies.

That’s all for this week!

Happy Monday SEA!

Hope you are having a great 3-day weekend!  This week’s Monday Message is FILLED with so many opportunities for our SEA (& SEEO) members.  Please take a moment to look through all that is available to you.  From conferences to professional development to volunteer opportunities, as well as TACOS!  

Here is a just a little list of some of those opportunities you can find in the October 9 Edition of the Monday Message:

• IEA’s Fall Fest (November 18, 8 AM – 12:30 PM) – Registration is now open
• Volunteer with the SEA/SEEO/D54 at Feed My Starving Children (December 11, 4:30-6:15 PM) – Register here  Join Code: 1DVVN2
• IEA’s Loveworks Book Study – Registration is still open
• Leaders for Just Schools – Join a 2023-2024 cohort
• Do Not Fear the Fight Ahead – Virtual Conference (October 20-21)
  • Register Here
  • Apply for Funding from the SEA here (SEA/Region 35 will be sending up to 15 members)
• IEA’s EMELT Conference (November 3-5)
  • Register Here
  • Apply for Funding from Region 35 here
• Tacos and Trivia – SEA/SEEO Membership Appreciation Event (November 13, 5-8 PM)
  • Form your team and register here!
• Bite-Size Professional Development Series (from the Partnership for Resilience)
  • For more information or to register visit https://tinyurl.com/Bite-SizeSeries

Guess it wasn’t a little list after all!    If you have any questions about any of these opportunities or how to request funding from the SEA or Region 35, please let me know. 

Now that so many of our members have our #RedForEd shirts, let’s wear them on Wednesday, post on social media and include the hashtags #RedForEd and #SEAourMembers.