NC Education Newsroom – North Carolina Teacher Academy

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May 16th 2018, North Carolina teachers rallied together to make sure our legislators were listening. While some closed their doors hoping we would go away, others opened their doors to hear what we had to say. Many said this was just to line the pockets of greedy teachers. Others have said this was an effort of left wing politics, some said the NCAE was completely responsible. I even heard one say it was about wearing blue jeans on Fridays.

The truth is, teachers have been reaching out to each other in specialty groups as a means of support since the dawn of Facebook. Teachers may join a grade level specific group to get ideas for lesson planning, strategies for improving reading, ideas for summer work to extend a paycheck, and yes…even post a story about the joys our students bring us daily in our classrooms. Teachers have been rallying around each other via social media for over ten years. The discrepancies in education are nationwide. Teachers decided to rally to support each other. This was not about right or left. It was about right and wrong. For me, it was about best friends. Best friends that are democrat and republican riding in a car together, sharing stories about our kids growing up, us not having enough time in our lives to catch up, and teaching tales from two different districts that mirrored stories of divide. May 16th was beyond blue jeans. It was beyond higher pay. It was even beyond the working conditions which we endure on a given day. May 16th was about children. It was about the education of our children being the great equalizer.

Two best friends walking blindly in the rain looking for their car, tired yet inspired, coming together for a reason beyond blue jeans.

North Carolina Teacher Academy is my “beyond blue jeans”. It is my way to share my gifts with teachers, which in turn I hope will be shared with children.

What will your “beyond blue jeans” in education be?