ESP Leadership Weekends Strong leaders strong locals
ESP Leadership Weekends Strong leaders strong locals
MTA’s 2018 ESP Leadership Weekends launched on Jan. 19 with the message that building strong ESP leaders helps build strong students, locals and communities.
The course teaches leadership strategies and helps participants strengthen interpersonal skills and build resilience as attacks on unions intensify.
Participants dug in right away, delving into topics such as embracing change, building confidence in their ability to lead, overcoming fear and developing assertiveness.
Roylene Hunte, a classroom paraeducator at the Pierce School in Brookline, said that attending her first MTA ESP Conference last year opened her eyes.
“I was just so inspired,” she said. “It made me want to take on a leadership role at my school.”
The leadership program, which runs through April 7, requires a three-weekend commitment. But participants said the prospect of learning how to become leaders at such a crucial time for unions — while forging strong bonds with their fellow ESPs — was a strong motivator.
Janice McKeown, a special education paraeducator at the Runkle School in Brookline, said she looked forward to building camaraderie with her fellow ESPs and spreading the message that membership is a means of building power.
“Being an ESP is absolutely a career,” she said. “We need to share our stories.”
Susan Markievitz, a paraeducator at Haverhill High School, is new to MTA union activism. She said she was drawn to sign up for the leadership program because she wanted “to find out more, get my foot in the door — and do my best to help out.”
Shannon Smith, a special education paraeducator at the Gates Lane School in Worcester, said that as he has become more involved in his union, he has looked for more opportunities to build his comfort level so that he could “step in and rectify situations” at his school.