May President's Message

Esteemed VTA Members,

I wasn’t sure how to begin this message. But after some deep reflection I have these humble words to offer:

We’re all beyond saddened by the horrifying events that occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, resulting in the tragic loss of 21 innocent lives (19 children and 2 teachers). Many more were gravely injured.  

We Stand
 Against Gun Violence
 
In all sincerity, I want to scream at the top of my lungs: “ENOUGH ALREADY!” Students have gone through enough. Teachers and education staff across the country shouldn’t have to spend countless energy to simply normalize feeling safe at school.
 
When events like this happen, they affect students, families, and educators everywhere. No one is spared from the emotional trauma.  Compounding matters, teacher morale is at an all time low. Something like this reminds us that school safety must be a national priority.  

We want to know your thoughts on Safety Resource Officers (SRO’s). Please answer the survey so we can make sure we’re representing our membership in regards to SRO’s.  
Member SRO and Safety Survey
We need your response so we can advocate for ALL members.  

We’ve had conversations with students about what we’d do to protect them, and what they should do to protect themselves. We’ve experienced lockdowns.  We have a plan of action on what to do if a gunman comes into our rooms.  

This past week has been full of emotion.  One thing that keeps coming to mind is educators constantly being on the frontlines of all sorts of epidemics. As long as there continues to be senseless school shootings and pandemics, we will continue to be essential workers.  We saw that this week when we lost two of our colleagues in Texas who laid down their lives for their students.  
Thank you members for being your students’ heroes.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.  We are almost to Summer Vacation!

Humbly and In Solidarity,
 
Keri Avila    


Election Results
Lance Parrow won for High School Executive Board Rep with 235 votes.

Question of the Month 
Shout out to Laura Whitehouse, last month’s winner of a Belching Beaver gift bag. Congratulations Murry for winning April’s Pizza Party!
Click the link above for your chance to win the final gift of the year by answering :)