TVEA Spotlight to TVUSD Board of Trustees

Good evening members of the Board and staff,

Proud to represent TVEA with the spotlight today.

With me today are executive officers of TVEA:

Amy Eytchinson, Temecula Elementary teacher and TVEA secretary

Alan Underwood, Vail Ranch Music Teacher and TVEA Vice President

It was a pleasure (HOT), but a pleasure to go out and feel the buzz at sites as educators in all capacities prepared to welcome students to class in a feeling reminiscent of a few years ago. I popped in at the Leadership Team development for elementary sites and quite a few site meetings prior to students returning.

While the culture and needs were different at every site, I witnessed collaboration between site admin and TVEA members to resolve first day issues that percolated to the top.

TVEA members were ready to make an impact on students on day 1. They are committed to developing a safe learning environment for students, creating connections, forging strong relationships with students and parents, and utilizing a scaffold of support to enable student confidence to reach and achieve. It’s all about the relationships.

That is the art and magic of teaching. There is no book that can help you learn how to do this. It is earned through trials, failures, and successes. Yet we crave it. Witnessing a student reach a marker feeds our enthusiasm to continue the work we do. This is the reason why I chose education. Working with a network of parents, support professionals, and educators to realize the emotional security to increase academic success with each student. Teachers are doers. We identify a situation and quickly develop a plan to address the situation at hand.

[Amy]

Those are the highlights of our profession. Teaching is in fact an isolating task. For long hours you are working alone, making decisions as fast as a group of students can throw them at you. The best thought out learning experiences can immediately go on life support. Your enthusiasm may wane as you look for support from colleagues.

That is why we join a union like TVEA. As a union we are able to tackle problems that are difficult to see as an individual teacher in a room, a counselor in an office, or as a support teacher catching glimpses of the classroom experience. We lift ourselves up, help others stand on our shoulders, and identify how we can improve learning and working conditions. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a teacher who noticed on the schedule that there was 4 ½ hours after the start of school before they could use the restroom. With problem solving consulting with her colleagues and administration, they were able to put in practice a schedule that works for now.

Alan Underwood, TVEA VP:

As a Union we always have someone to lean on, to link arms with, and to foster community. TVEA has the power to gather our voices and continue to be doers outside of the classroom. I ran for TVEA president to foster these relationships. We are part of the Executive Board because of these relationships. To provide support and to lean into our educator community. To gather our voice and amplify the needs of parents and students to access a quality education.

Over the last few months and years, TVEA has fostered a line of communication with you, the TVUSD Board of Trustees. You have shown that you have a vision for the education community in Temecula to provide multiple pathways post-graduation, supports students’ social emotional health, foster positive connections with staff, peers, and school, where students WANT to come to school. None of this is feasible without a robust program of communication with parents, students, and staff. Now I am not saying we agree on everything, but there is a channel of communication where we can sit and discuss the landscape to come to terms on how to proceed. Cuz you know what? It’s all about those relationships!

It is for these reasons, that TVEA proudly endorses you, Allison Barclay TA1, Barbara Brosch TA3, Sandy Hinkson TA2, and Adam Skumawitz TA4 as candidates for the 2022 election.

Thank you for your time.