Surrey Teachers' Association
#201 9030 King George Blvd V3V 7Y3 Surrey, BC, Canada

Everyone welcome to our Virtual Town Hall being held October 14th, 7 pm. Register for your zoom invite via surreyteachers.org Let's get to know what the three main parties (NDP,BC Liberals, Greens) are offering on education issues. Parents! Teachers! Community members! All welcome! Come with your questions! Get some answers!

Watch your email for this opportunity https://www.bctf.ca/summerconference/ https://bctf.ca//Opportun/16%20-%20Summer%20Conference.pdf

Worth a listen... After shedding the racist implications of Dixie, the country-pop trio will now simply be, the Chicks. But their new song, "March March," is a stand-out.

On Thursday, June 25, from 6:00-7:30 pm, Surrey youth will be hosting and moderating an online conversation with three of Surrey's elected officials about Canada's Green & Just Recovery. The town hall will be an opportunity to ask your representatives questions about what a #GreenandJustRecovery might look like, particularly in this region. What do you want a #GreenandJustRecovery to include? Teachers! Let’s have a presence there, and support youth climate activists! Sign up here: https://www.forourkids.ca/surrey_greenandjustrecovery_town_

The police murder of George Floyd and the subsequent outpouring of demands for racial justice has focused many peoples’ minds on racism, not just in the US but in Canada as well. Recently in our community we have seen an increase in racist acts against Asian Canadians and Black Canadians. These events have brought to the forefront the racism that Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour face every day. We are appalled by racist violence that is prevalent in Canada and in Surre...y. Teachers in Surrey are role models to our students and in the community. The Surrey Teachers’ Association condemns and denounces all incidents of anti-Black and anti-Asian racism and the continued racism and oppression that are directed at other People of Colour and Indigenous communities. We are willing to examine our own practices, traditions and professions to rid our schools and lives of the scourge of racism. We teachers have power in our individual and collective voices. It is one responsibility as educators to condemn the devastating behaviour of those who seek to hold others down. It is also our responsibility to teach kindness and compassion for all humans, and to raise up those who continue to be knocked down. In these traumatic days of racial tension, our students, our colleagues and our neighbours who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour need extra support and care from all of us. Since racism is learned, as teachers we know we can all learn to change. A place to start is to study and then teach directly about White supremacy and racism. We can transform the education system to model a different kind of community one where we embrace differences and work to build each other up while enacting values of dignity, mutual respect, and justice.

Gentle reminder: Local Bargaining Agreement Townhall today! Agenda: Acknowledgement Presentation ... Q and A / Comments Reminders: Mute yourself unless you want to say something or ask a question. Hold questions until the end or type it into the chat (your answer may already be coming). - Chat feature will only be for asking questions/comments type your name to get onto speakers list. E.g. Amrit to ask question. - If you don’t want to speak but ask a question type your question in chat and Dana will read aloud for you. Matt Westphal President - Main Spokesperson Jatinder Bir - Vice President2 Host Erin Coleman & Dana Neidig Speakers List Carolyn Saxby- Operations/Office Manager - [email protected] (604) 592-8399 technical support for attendees. We would like to recognize and express our gratitude for all the hard work of the STA bargaining team: Matt Westphal, Kevin Amboe, Violette Baillargeon, Samara Bassett, Jatinder Bir, Laura Barker, Erin Coleman, Isaac Louie, and Dana Neidig. Please be reminded of the Ratification Townhall meeting today, May 14, 2020 at 3:30 pm via Zoom, check your work email for the Zoom link.