Week of 2-8-2021

Inside this issue

• Vaccines for school staff need to be a priority
• CDC releases new school guidance
• This is Black History Month
• Reading is important every month
• PSEA’s Center for Professional Learning schedule
• Member Benefits spotlight: Free College Benefit for you and your family

Vaccines for school staff need to be a priority

On Thursday, PSEA joined eight other education associations representing everyone who works in public schools, strongly encouraging Gov. Tom Wolf to make providing the COVID-19 vaccine to school staff a priority. We believe that this is an extremely important step toward getting all of our students back for in-person instruction – and doing it as safely as possible. 

We all want to be back in our schools and classrooms with our students. But, to get back to full in-person instruction, we need to do it safely.

Twenty-six other states have made vaccinating school staff a priority. And we can do that here in Pennsylvania – if state government decides to lead the way.

CDC releases new school guidance

Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance ("K-12 Operational Strategy") for schools in an effort to guide state and local decisions about how to safely deliver in-person instruction.

PSEA is looking carefully at these new recommendations. Here are some highlights.

Key Mitigation Strategies for All Schools

• Universal, correct mask usage  
• Physical distancing of at least 6 feet
• Handwashing and respiratory etiquette – which must include access to adequate supplies
• Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, which includes disinfecting and ventilation 
• Contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine 

Vaccines 

• Educators should be prioritized for vaccines, following health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities 
• Access to vaccinations should not be considered a condition for reopening schools for in-person instruction 
• Schools need to continue mitigation measures even after educators have been vaccinated

COVID Testing 

• All staff and students with COVID-19 symptoms or who have had “close contact” with someone who has tested positive should be referred for diagnostic testing. 
• Screening testing (regular testing of asymptomatic staff and students) is encouraged as an additional strategy for identifying cases and reducing secondary transmission. 

Stay tuned for updates on this.

This is Black History Month

February is Black History Month. Why is Black History Month important to you?

Let us know on Facebook or on www.psea.org/bhm#tellus.

Reading is important every month

Reading is always important, but in March we celebrate it in a special way - with National Reading Month and Read Across America. 

Be sure to check out some great stories and resources to promote the importance of reading in this month’s edition of Voice magazine (which will be in your mailbox soon). 

And have a look at NEA’s Read Across America resources and toolkit here. 

Let's Keep Learning

Here’s what’s coming up at PSEA’s Center for Professional Learning, your one-stop shop for earning easy Act 48/Chapter 14 credits:

Webinars

• Get organized with a Virtual Classroom!
  • Feb. 16, 6-7:30 p.m.
• Using HyperDocs for Online Learning
  • Feb. 23, 6-7:30 p.m.
• Schoology in Practice: The Essentials for Intermediate users
  • March 2, 6-7:30 p.m.

Book Discussions

• Book 1 - John Lewis & Andrew Aydin
  • March 10, 5-6 p.m.
• Refugee - Alan Gratz
  • April 7, 5-6 p.m.
• Out of My Mind - Sharon Draper
  • May 5, 5-6 p.m.
• New Kid - Jerry Craft
  • May 19, 5-6 p.m.

Wellness Sessions

• Mindfulness for Members 2021-IV – This session includes mindful practices for feeling connected to others.
  • Feb. 22, 5-6 p.m.
• Mindfulness for Members 2021-V – This session includes mindful practices for experiencing joy.
  • March 8, 5-6 p.m.
• Mindfulness for Members 2021-VI – This session includes mindful practices for experiencing calm in the chaos.
  • March 22, 5-6 p.m.
• Mindfulness for Members 2021-VII – This session includes mindful practices for preventing burnout.
  • April 12, 5-6 p.m.
• Mindfulness for Members 2021-VIII – This session includes mindful practices for experiencing gratitude.
  • April 26, 5-6 p.m.
• Mindfulness for Members 2021-IX – This session includes mindful practices for healthy minds.
  • May 10, 5-6 p.m.
• Mindfulness for Members 2021-X – This session includes mindful practices developing awareness.
  • May 24, 5-6 p.m.
• Mindfulness for Members 2021-XI – This session includes mindful practices for experiencing calm, joy, gratitude, self-compassion, and resilience.
  • June 7, 5-6 p.m.

Member Benefits spotlight: Free College Benefit for you and your family

The PSEA Free College Benefit offers working families an accessible, debt-free, and convenient higher education opportunity. You, your spouse or domestic partner, children, daughters- and sons-in-law, siblings, sisters- and brothers-in-law, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, parents, and mothers- and fathers-in-law can all take advantage of this exciting opportunity.

Zero out-of-pocket cost

Members and their families can earn an associate degree online, with no out-of-pocket costs. A last-dollar scholarship covers the difference between any federal grants and your tuition, fees and e-books at Eastern Gateway Community College (EGCC).

Eastern Gateway credits are transferable

Eastern Gateway Community College is a public, nonprofit school in the University System of Ohio and is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Credits you earn can transfer to other schools, potentially saving you thousands of dollars.