Since Monday, there has been much work and collaboration to make our June 2 rally happen. Principals know that you are free to come and participate. If you are unavoidably kept from the start time, please join us when you can. Here is the plan for Friday:

What: Speeches and sign-waving to encourage our community to speak up for fully funded schools
When: Friday, June 2, 1-4PM
Who: You, other SVEA members, support staff, secretaries, principals, administrators, school board members, parents and students (Please invite your friends and neighbors by sharing our Facebook event.)
Where: Snoqualmie Ridge (Parking can be found at Cascade View ES, Ridge Street, and Kinsey Street.)

Timeline

• 1PM - Secondary teachers will arrive, park, and proceed to the Starbucks parking lot closest to the Parkway to collect a sign or create one. The march will go from Center south on the parkway to Douglas crossing the street and heading back up to Center, crossing and the back down again.
• 2PM - The secondary staff will make their way to the Community Park on Ridge Street. The elementary staff will have arrived and picked up their sign at the Starbucks parking lot to join us at the park.
• 2:15PM - The rally will begin at Community Park. We're inviting news media to attend, and there will be a few speeches. Afterwards the elementary staff will march around the same route mentioned above.
• When your normal Friday end time comes, please turn in your signs where you got them and head home for a relaxing weekend.

Spread the word and see you there!

Members met in the Mount Si High School Auditorium on Monday, May 15th to review progress made during the 2016-17 school year and discuss legislative inaction in Olympia. By a vote of 51-0, members decided to hold a rally on June 2 to demand fully funded public schools. More information will follow by the end of the week.

From the meeting minutes: Two years ago SVEA and the District joined forces collaboratively to publicly advocate for education funding for our schools. The district approached us about doing something like this again to make our community aware of education funding issues. They suggested that we go off the clock on June 2nd, a TDD, and rally again up on the ridge. Marcella Murphy (MSHS) moved that SVEA members hold a rally on Snoqualmie Ridge during the TDD portion of the school day on June 2. Ann Heideman (MSHS) seconded the motion. Discussion followed. The motion passed 51-0 with 1 abstention. SVEA will work with the district on planning and logistics.

Slides from the meeting are here and meeting minutes can be found here.

Seattle Teachers Autism Symposium
The FREE Seattle Teachers Autism Symposium will be held at UW's Kane Hall on July 26 & 27. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex disorder that is characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social communication as well as the presence of restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, difficulty with change, and/or sensory hyper-/hypo-sensitivities. Educators will learn the diagnostic criteria and how symptoms may manifest and effect school behavior. The presentation will include how the diagnosis is made, common co-occurring conditions and a brief overview of recommended interventions for ASD.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn about different diagnostic criteria and labels used for Autism
• Participants will learn about methods used to identify Autism
• Participants will learn about common co-occurring conditions in Autism

Clock hours are available for an additional fee. We hope to see you there! For more info and to register, click here.

​Mark your calendar for our May 15 General Membership Meeting (4:15-5:30 @ MSHS Auditorium). In addition to action on local and state issues, NEA Director Pam Kruse will be in attendance. Now is the time to stay united and strong for our students! RSVP today.

‪Congratulations to SVEA member Anne McGavran! She's been awarded the 2017 Washington School Nurse of the Year by the School Nurse Organization of Washington.

Anne goes above and beyond caring for the 1,200+ kids at Snoqualmie Elementary and Cascade View Elementary. SVEA members appreciate her ongoing commitment to keeping all students healthy, safe, and learning!