A great Back to School Celebration at the Springfield Public Schools. We are always excited to join the event and give away free books to our kids! Thank you to Federation members April Canuel, Elijah Castillo, Ruth Estabrook, Francisco Fuentes, Jennifer Gagnon, Jessica Gomez, Terrie Holly, Betty Jack, Vanessa Lyons, Jo’Von’Da Marshall and Cindy Morin for helping to setup, distribute books and clean up. A special thank you to Jose, Michael and Angie for all of your help. And huge thanks to our fabulous photographer Ruth Moorhouse
Help Pass the Thrive Act! An education bill filed on January 20, 2023, has the potential to transform the educational landscape for generations to come, bettering the lives of students and harnessing the knowledge and assets of local communities to improve schools, according to AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos and other education leaders.
The bill, An Act Empowering Students and Schools To Thrive (or the Thrive Act, for short), would equip local communities with the tools and resources that students and schools need to succeed, and dramatically reduce the harm caused by the high-stakes, punitive use of standardized tests, such as state takeovers and denying students high school diplomas.
“This bill is about lifting up students, lifting up schools, and lifting up communities,” says Kontos. “And it’s about freeing students and educators from the shackles of punitive, high-stakes standardized testing.”
Use our advocacy tool to email your state senator and state representative to ask them to co-sponsor An Act Empowering Students and Schools to Thrive:
https://aftmassachusetts.tiny.us/PasstheThrive
Local 4098 Member of the Month
September 2023
Michael Hanechak
Michael Hanechak has been a Paraeducator in the Springfield Public Schools since March 18, 2015. He currently works at Chestnut TAG where he serves as the Building Representative.
Michael was nominated by Migdalia Rivera-Ortiz. She writes, "I am nominating Micheal Hanechak as paraeducator of the month because he is kind, humble, considerate, respectful with the staff and the students. Mike was working with another teacher, and when I lost the paras in the classroom, he quickly accepted his new assignment to help me. During the time that we worked together, he demonstrated his "thinking outside the box" skills, and helped me help our students. He has a way to relate to students with moderate to severe abilities that is difficult to replicate. I want to thanks to Mike for my successful first year as a SPED teacher. You made an impact in my life and our students, and I will be forever grateful. "
Jessica Velez writes "He is a great person to work with. So kind hearted. Will go beyond his role to help anyone out staff or student."
Congratulations Michael Hanechak and thank you for Making A Difference!
Nominate a Local 4098 Member to be the Member of the Month
Do you know a member of our unit who goes above and beyond? Would you like to nominate that person for recognition within our local?
We would like to acknowledge a single member of our unit on a monthly basis for their contributions to our members and our local.
Use this link to nominate a member and tell us a little about why you think we should recognize them as the "Local 4098 Member of the Month ".
You can watch the School Committee Meetings live on Comcast-Channel 9 in Springfield or on YouTube on the Focus Springfield Channel Focus Springfield Community TV - YouTube
