Week of 8-2-2021

Inside this issue

• PSERS announces near-record investment return
• Send us pics of your classroom setups!
• PSEA pays tribute to long-time AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka
• Manheim Township School District teacher named Pennsylvania History Teacher of the Year
• PSEA’s Center for Professional Learning summer schedule
• PSEA Member Benefits spotlight: Free College Credit!

On Wednesday, the Public School Employees Retirement System’s investment committee announced that PSERS’ preliminary net investment return rate for the 2020-21 fiscal year was more than 25 percent.

The 25 percent return rate is the third highest in the last 51 years and the highest since 1986.

The return rate significantly surpasses PSERS’ assumed rate of return for the year, which was 7.25 percent. The near-record number will generate more than $12 billion in investment income for the fund.

As of March 2021, PSERS had approximately $65.9 billion in assets an served more than 500,000 active and retired school employees.

No doubt the back-to-school butterflies will feel different yet again this year with so many unknowns still to be determined. But what we do know is that many of you are already hard at work prepping your schools and classrooms for the big return.

Help PSEA showcase your hard work and creativity by sending us pictures of your school or classroom as you prepare to go back to school.

Email them to news@psea.org

Richard Trumka, a Pennsylvania native and long-time AFL-CIO president, passed away on Thursday. Working people everywhere are saddened by his passing but are grateful that he dedicated his life to improving the lives of countless others.

Congratulations to Olivia Good, an eighth-grade history teacher at Manheim Township Middle School who has been named the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s 2021 Pennsylvania History Teacher of the Year.

“History is my passion, and I am so fortunate to be able to share my love of history with my students,” Good said. “I love helping my students connect with and understand a past that can feel distant to them, and also develop the skills of independently finding and analyzing original historical sources.”

State winners receive a $1,000 prize, an archive of classroom resources, and recognition at a ceremony in their state, according to the Gilder Lehrman website.

The statewide award puts Good in the running for the National History Teacher of the Year award that will be announced in the fall.

PSEA’s Center for Professional Learning summer schedule

Summer is flying by. Don’t let the remainder of our Center for Professional Learning summer series go with it.

Webinars

• Creating a Virtual Classroom (App) with Google Slides
• Aug. 10, 5-6:30 p.m.
• Taking care of the teacher self to prepare mentally for the gaps in student ability/learning next year
  
  • Aug. 17, 5-6:30 p.m.
• Educator Evaluation in 2021 and Beyond
  • Aug. 19, 5-6:30 p.m.

Book Discussions

• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You - Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
  • Aug. 11, 4-5 p.m.
• Pedagogy Book Study: SEL and the Brain
  • Aug. 12, 10-11 a.m.
• Pedagogy Book Study: Implicit Bias in Schools
  • Aug. 17, 11-12 a.m.
• Author Study: Blue Balliett
  • Aug. 18, 4-5 p.m.
• Pedagogy Book Study: Everyday Anti-Racism Part III
  • Aug. 19, 10-11 a.m.

Wellness Sessions

• Mindful Monday
• Aug. 9, 8-8:45 a.m.
• Wellness Wednesday – Caring Capacity for Equity – Gina Gullo
  
  • Aug. 11, 9-10 a.m.

PSEA has teamed up with Edinboro University to offer you college credit for your hard work!

Here’s how it works:

STEP 1: Explore PSEA/NEA Micro-credentials at www.psea.org/collegecredit

STEP 2: Submit your work

Complete the requirements of the Micro-credential and submit along with the requisite supporting artifacts and evidence to be evaluated.

If your Micro-credential submission is accepted, you can get one Edinboro University credit!*

*The single college credit is offered in lieu of the five Act 48 hours of Micro-credential credit (and equivalent to 30 Act 48 hours) from Edinboro University for a fee of $70 per credit.