Oct 20, 2021 | Blog
When I applied to work in Jeffco School District’s Preschool, I intended to immerse myself in the classroom to see if I would enjoy teaching. I never would have envisioned that within my second year, I would be fighting to join the union. There wasn’t really one thing that made me feel like I wanted representation, instead the reason behind my motivation was more due to an ongoing build-up of unacceptable working conditions for both myself and the kids in my classroom. It was the lack of direction, organization and communication from the Early Learning Office; our inadequate class budgets and the expectation for teachers to pay for supplies out of our own pockets; my kids eating off copy paper on the dirty floor during the height of COVID-19; and after being ignored by the Early Learning Office for months, being told indirectly that I would be called on to sub in any classroom around the district during the most dangerous point of the pandemic.
The disrespect, isolation, and suppression that I felt, along with watching my students endure conditions that could’ve been avoided, pushed me to reach out to the teachers’ union. I knew that they did not represent classified staff, but I pled with them to let me in anyway. While I waited for a response and debated quitting my job, I sent out an email over the district’s preschool distribution list, hoping to find anyone else in preschool who felt as fed up and frustrated as I did. The responses that I received shocked me. There were preschool educators all over the district who shared their stories with me. Many of these stories felt familiar, but many of them were much worse than my experience. I started by fighting for myself and my students, but by this point I was fighting for the preschool educators across the district.
Alizay Furtado, an organizer from the Jefferson County Education Support Professionals Association (JESPA), reached out and told me that they wanted to create a new chapter for preschool, but first a majority of support from our work group was needed. JESPA staff and I canvassed schools and through that process, I came to meet six of the strongest women I’ve ever known: Nikki Wilson, Tonya Toller, Morgan Canjar, Sarah Smith, Carrol Barreras, and Kathleen Mess. Each represented countless other educators who felt unheard, bullied, scared, fed up, and angry at the state of their work environments. Together we created an unstoppable organizing team of delegates that we jokingly named “The Pre-K 7”. With JESPA’s help, we stuffed envelopes, met with preschool teachers, and made phone calls seeking others who wanted to join our fight. Within a few months we had enough signed union cards to present majority support to our new superintendent.
Getting recognized was a much more complicated task than any of us had imagined and to top it off, we only had a few weeks left in the school year to get it done. We were met with one roadblock after another, but each time we encountered resistance, Alizay and our delegate team would power through by marching, rallying, and teaming up with Coloradans for the Common Good who helped us connect to educators, parents, community leaders, and school board members. The most common thing we heard from preschool educators was that they felt unheard and neglected by the district so you can imagine how powerful it felt to find out that our supporters were flooding voicemails and sending hundreds of emails to district officials demanding that they recognize preschool educators. In the end, we were forced into an election that was held over the last days of the school year. Within the first six hours of the election, we gained majority support of our work group and by the end of the election, we had a supermajority. On Jun. 6, the Jefferson County Public Schools school board voted to recognize preschool educators.
Sitting on the brink of watching preschool educators written into the JESPA contract, I find myself feeling hopeful. The fight for fair working conditions and good learning environments for our students is never-ending and my biggest hope is that more educators and support staff join a fight of their own. Of course, the more people that join the union, the stronger we become, but I hope every person that feels devalued working in a school district starts to speak up. I can’t fully explain the transformation I have experienced by standing up and saying enough is enough, but I can say that I no longer feel unheard. I have found an entire community of influential people who care about improving the school district for both the employees and the students. I would love for more people to experience this reality. As far as preschool goes, those educators can achieve anything they put their minds to and I have no doubt that with the power of our union, they will continue to move mountains for years to come.
Hannah Mauro is an Early Childhood Instructional Partner in Jefferson County and proud member of JESPA.
Jun 20, 2021 | Blog
Jennifer Muñoz is a real life Wonder Woman. She is a secretary at the Title I office for Jeffco Public Schools, recently celebrating her 8th anniversary. She is a student pursuing a degree in social work. She is a single mom raising a daughter. She is 2nd Vice President of the Jefferson County Association of Education Office Professionals. And, she is a fierce advocate for students and public education.
Her round-the-clock work in all of these roles led to Muñoz receiving the 2021 CEA Education Support Professional (ESP) Award, as well as the Robert H. Johnson Jr. Memorial Scholarship. She hopes to be the voice of ESPs and empower others to stand up and be strong leaders. “The union isn’t 1 or 2 people, it’s everyone,” she said. “We stand stronger together and fight better together.”
A proud member of the Jeffco Education Support Professionals Association (JESPA), she has stood alongside her colleagues in Jefferson County — in full Wonder Woman costume — to share her message at a rally last fall about the importance of a safe reopening of schools amid the COVID pandemic.
“Since the day Jennifer got involved in the Union, she has been a shining example of the value of solidarity, guided by strong values for justice and fairness. It is because of leaders like Jennifer that our Union is strong. Jennifer, in her many roles, is truly leading the fight for the schools our students deserve,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, CEA President.
Throughout the pandemic, Muñoz has attended legislative roundtables and other rallies to share her story and advocate for students, colleagues and public education.
Recognizing the need for reliable internet access for Jefferson County students during remote learning — a need that was not being met by her district — Muñoz connected with Coloradans for the Common Good and was an integral part of their efforts to free up stimulus money for broadband expansion and to push Comcast to open up remote learning centers in Jefferson County. Her efforts also led to a local tech firm donating 25 laptops to students in need.
“Time and time again, I have seen Jennifer take on directors to challenge them to do the right thing for students and has not let intimidation stop her from organizing to improve the school district,” said Brock Grosso, an organizer with Coloradans for the Common Good (CCG).
Muñoz was among those who spoke at the virtual bill signing with Gov. Jared Polis in December that granted $20 million to improve internet infrastructure for Colorado students and educators.
When Jeffco announced a large cut of food service sights for remote students just two weeks before Christmas, Muñoz again jumped to action. “When is it ever a good idea to take a meal away from a kid?” she said. JESPA rallied and the district responded by opening more sites for meal service and used bus drivers to deliver food.
Like many educators, one student had a tremendous impact on her early on in her career. This student’s dad’s girlfriend wouldn’t let her do laundry because she didn’t want the girl to use the detergent. She came to school with dirty clothes and “it just broke me.” She thought “Let’s just buy her some soap,” but was told that’s not allowed. “What do you mean we can’t do this? I thought we were here for kids.”
When she gets her degree in social work, she hopes to work with students at a Title I school, providing for their social and emotional needs.
“Jenn is an unapologetic advocate for students in Jeffco, but especially Title 1 students who need more support, not less from the public school system,” said JESPA President Lara Center.
It’s not always easy speaking up, but it’s something Muñoz knows is important.
“My voice shakes sometimes because yeah, I’m scared, but I know I’m doing the right thing.”
Jennifer Latham is a paraeducator and member of the Durango ESPA and the CEA Education Support Professional At-Large Director.
Feb 20, 2021 | Blog
The CEA Education Support Professionals (ESP) Advisory Council members are ready to kick off this year by elevating the voices, stories and important work of our association’s amazing ESPs!
ESPs go above and beyond cleaning and maintaining our schools, transporting students, monitoring their health, cooking hot nutritious meals for them, and educating and serving them in so many other ways, and we want EVERYONE to know!! We also want to ensure you know about the role of the ESP Advisory Council, which is two-fold: to advise the Board of Directors on issues of importance to our constituency, and to provide input on CEA’s legislative issues and/or agenda.
Be on the lookout for more frequent news and updates via email and social media on important ESP issues including webinars, conferences, regional town halls, and news. If you have items of interest to share or want to get in touch, please contact us at cea-esp@coloradoea.org. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Eddie Chacon
Eddie Jay Chacon was born and raised in the San Luis Valley and is a proud ESP who serves students as a Health and Attendance Clerk at Fort Logan Northgate 3-8 School in Sheridan School District 2. He co-sponsors the Pride Club, Stand Up For Courage, PBIS team, is the founder of the Secret Self Care Squad. He also coaches volleyball at Abraham Lincoln HS.
“Throughout my educational journey, ESPs played a major role. My hope is to give back to our youth what was given to me and more. I am honored to serve on the CEA ESP Advisory Council and I am committed to advocate for our ESP. I look forward to working with you all to identify ESP leaders within Colorado and to support the growth of your leadership toolkit.”
DéJoneé Iarussi
DéJoneé Iarussi has been working as an ESP for the last 8 years in the Boulder Valley School District. She was recently appointed as the Vice President of the Boulder Valley Paraeducator Association and is now serving on the CEA ESP Advisory Council.
“It is my dream that school districts across the nation recognize the amazing, hard, invaluable work that ESPs do every day for their school districts and the students they’ve had the honor of working with.”
Jennifer Latham
Jennifer Latham is a proud 9-year paraeducator in Durango, the chair of the CEA ESP Advisory Council and the ESP At-Large Director on the CEA Board of Directors. She is a past president and treasurer of the Durango ESPA, and is a member of NEA’s ESP Leadership Institute. She also serves on Durango’s Community Relations Commission and is a fierce advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Together, we can grow and strengthen CEA through our collective action, which includes engaging and empowering ESPs! I look forward to opportunities to raise our #ESPvoices and for us all to speak them loud and proud!”
JoAnn Owen
A resident of Firestone for 16 years, JoAnn started working as a school bus driver for St. Vrain Valley School District in 2007. In 2014, wanting a change, she became a special education assistant on a Sped Bus. She loves all of her kids on the bus and sees them as a real blessing. She has been the president of the St. Vrain Valley ESP Association since May 2018.
“Our goal is to work with the District to support and bring awareness to everything our ESPs do for our students. We are the Foundation which the school district is built on.”
