Each day during the nine-school-day statewide school employee strike, Rita Robinson’s grandchildren wanted to support their teachers.
“Every time we’d pass by the teachers [picketing] outside, they’d say, ‘Blow it, Nana. Blow the horn,’ †Robinson, who helped watch her grandchildren during the strike, said while waiting for two of her grandchildren outside ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s Horace Mann Middle School on Wednesday. “They were anxious to get back to school — they were happy to get back. I talked to them about it, and they were very supportive of their teachers, too.â€
After nine days, students weren’t the only ones who were eager to get back into the classroom.
Horace Mann Middle School Principal Shandon Tweedy greeted her students with hugs and smiles when they arrived back at school Wednesday morning.
“It was great,†she said, smiling. “Everyone was really energized.â€
Tweedy joined other Kanawha County administrators at the Capitol on Monday and said the teachers at her school spent time picketing at the Capitol and outside the school during the strike.
“Even though we still have the issue of PEIA to address, the raise, for the morale of the teachers, has really given a boost of energy to people. That’s an investment in keeping people here. The possibility of a future for education,†she said. “And having the support of the superintendents was super important. It’s been a very unique situation this time, and it’s nice to see the push and the commitment toward trying to energize education.â€
Seeing her staff members fight to secure their 5 percent raises was not only a win for teachers, but Tweedy said the historic strike also served as a positive lesson for the students at Horace Mann.
“They felt their voices do have some power. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in this line of work, with all the demands and pressures,†she said. “I have a lot of respect for them. They’re on the front lines of the battle, if you will. It’s been a great civics lesson for the kids.â€
Amber Ullman, who teaches eighth-grade West Virginia history, said she made a lesson out of the strike on the first day back.
Ullman said she spent time at the Capitol and outside the school throughout the strike. The whole time, she said she kept thinking “I am part of a history lesson. I am living a West Virginia history lesson.â€
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On Wednesday, she said she let her students each write up to three questions about the strike, and she did her best to answer them.
Questions ranged from “Why does this matter to me?†to “Who was that Gideon kid?â€
Gov. Jim Justice said in a speech that a sixth-grader named Gideon Titus-Glover showed him the light on investing in teachers, leading him to propose the 5 percent raise for school employees to end the strike.
She spent most of each of her 70-minute class periods answering questions and trying to explain the strike and why teachers were fighting for better pay and health care. She even made a mock budget on a teacher’s current salary to show students how difficult it can be to make ends meet.
“They were like, ‘I wouldn’t stay here either,’ †she said.
Students in Ullman’s class typically watch a 10-minute news segment called CNN 10, and the West Virginia teacher strike was featured on Wednesday’s edition. She said her students got to see a national news segment about their own state.
“I said, ‘If you grow up and live in West Virginia — this is part of your history. If you are going to have children — this is part of your history. If you want to be a teacher when you grow up — this is part of your history,’ †she said. “I explained to them how important it is that they understand why we’re doing this. And that it’s for them; it’s for the future.â€
Ullman also helped lead efforts at the school to make sure students were fed during the strike. She put a call out on social media, asking the teachers at her school to rally together and help pack food bags for students during the first two planned days of the strike.
With the help of school staff, her softball team, the National Junior Honor Society, some food trays from Sam’s Club and a U-Haul, the school was able to put together bags for every student — and seconds for several — before the strike began.
“They were so happy. They were taking them and thanking us. It was so worth it,†she said. “It was just something that we wanted to do. Our kids get free lunch, and they weren’t going to get it those two days. We just wanted to make sure they had it.â€
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