Week of 1-1-2024

Inside this issue

• Soapbox: What’s the best part of your job?
• Congratulations to Pennsylvania’s 2024 Teacher of the Year!
• HealthCare-PSEA Retired member crochets blankets for newborns
• PSEA remains focused on your legislative priorities
• PEARL and upcoming Center for Professional Learning events
• Member Benefits spotlight: Voluntary Vision

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has named Ashlie Crosson, a Mifflin County High School English teacher, the 2024 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year.

As a teacher of English, Journalism, and AP Language, Crosson strives to engage students intellectually and creatively while ensuring they are prepared for college and career. She is also a strong advocate for independent reading, helping her school to build classroom libraries with diverse books for young adult readers.

As Pennsylvania’s Teacher of the Year, Crosson will meet and collaborate with other educators and represent the commonwealth in the National Teacher of the Year competition. Look for an essay by Crosson in the next issue of Voice.

Every year, Terry Myers (above, center), a HealthCare-PSEA Retired member from Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, spreads warmth and joy to the newborns at Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC). Myers uses her crochet skills to craft beautiful nursery blankets for newborns.

To Myers, these blankets are more than just pieces of fabric; they are hand-woven symbols of comfort, welcome, and a community’s collective embrace. Her dedication exemplifies the spirit of compassion that makes our HealthCare-PSEA community shine.

As we head into the new year, PSEA remains dedicated to chalking up more legislative wins for our members. We closed out 2023 with a strong finish that included multiple bills approved by the state House that directly benefit PSEA members. These bills are now in the state Senate and we are encouraging senators to act on them. They include:

• A cost-of-living increase for pre-Act 9 retirees.
• A “Grow Your Own” bill that will create a program to help paraprofessionals and other school support staff go back to college to earn their teaching credentials
• A scholarship program for aspiring educators that will establish the Pennsylvania Teach Scholarship Program, which will create an affordable pathway for people to become teachers.
• A healthy schools initiative that will extend OSHA protections to school and other public sector employees, ensuring that state and local government entities receive the same occupational health and safety protections as their counterparts in the private sector.

Another PSEA priority was signed into law in December. This new program includes $10 million in stipends for student teachers and mentors, which will remove a heavy financial burden on the way to becoming a teacher. State agencies have several months to finalize details about how the program will work. As soon as they do, we will share the latest information.

PSEA’s legislative priorities are your priorities. Your hard work yields real results in Harrisburg. These are just some of the examples of that. Learn more about PSEA’s legislative priorities in the link below.

PEARL

Visit the new, improved PEARL today and choose from more than 95 asynchronous courses available for Act 48 credit and Chapter 14 verification.

You can find multiple courses that interest you in any of these tracks: 

• Book Studies
• Educational Equity
• Pedagogy
• Policy
• Pupil Services
• Special Populations
• Technology in Education
• SEL & Wellness

Webinars

• Certification, Tenure, Induction, and Act 48 (ECE Series)
  • Jan. 23, 7-8 p.m.
• Special Education Q&A (2023-24 Academic Year)
  • Jan. 30, 7-8:30 p.m.
• The Future is Happening as We Speak: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Classroom Today
  • Feb. 7, 7-8:30 p.m.

Book Discussions

• Science Cross-Cutting Concepts Picture Book Study
  • March 5, 7-8 p.m.
• Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day (Revised Edition)
  • April 3, 7-8 p.m.
• Good Different (Poetry)
  • April 11, 7-8 p.m.

Postgraduate Credits

Earn postgraduate credits from PennWest University for $70 each!

More than 150 postgraduate credits are available across a wide range of teaching and learning topics.

These postgraduate credits (microcredentials) can count toward the 24 credits required for a Level II certificate and also may count toward salary advancement.*

For support professionals, these courses may meet Chapter 14 requirements.**

*Check your contract to determine if you can apply standalone postgraduate credits for column movement.
**Seek approval from your employer prior to completing hours to apply toward Chapter 14 requirements.

The PSEA Voluntary Vision Plan offers low monthly payments, great frame and contact lenses allowances, exam coverage, fitting fee coverage for contact lenses, and the choice of 12-month or 24-month coverage. The plan is available to all PSEA members and eligible dependents to age 26. Enrollment opens the first of each month.

The 12-month plan highlights include a $300 frame allowance or $150 contact lenses allowance with monthly premiums of only $12 for single coverage, $24 for two-party, and $35 for family coverage.

The 24-month plan highlights include a $300 frame allowance or $175 contact lenses allowance with monthly premiums of only $8 for single coverage, $16 for two-party, and $23 for family coverage.

For more information on the vision program please visit https://pseahwf.org/voluntary_vision/ or call the PSEA Health & Welfare Fund at 800-944-7732 ext. 7024.