The Latest from VEA

• Daphne Tamara Fulson of the Chesapeake Education Association, Virginia’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, and a second grade teacher, gave a high-energy presentation. “When one of my kiddos finds something in their experience that they can make a real-life connection to what we’re doing in our classroom—and then feels comfortable enough to talk about it, I live for those moments!” she told attendees.
• Eric Carbaugh of James Madison University was the keynote speaker, calling on educators to carefully examine their practices and the thinking behind using them, including in their grading, relationship-building, authenticity for educators and students, assessment, and curriculum.
• During a “Member Moments” segment, Bailey Collie of the Montgomery County Education Association shared how being at the IPD conference in 2019 dramatically changed her outlook on teaching, leading to the launching of her YouTube channel about dealing with trauma in the lives of her students. “I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t been at that conference,” she said.
• Members chose from a menu of breakout sessions with topics including micro-credentials, emotional health for both students and educators, trauma-informed teaching, teacher evaluation, legal issues, collective bargaining as a tool for improving professional practice, project-based learning, equity, and more.
• The statewide winners of VEA Mini-Grants were announced.

Pryor is glad for the networking opportunities at the conference and what they will mean when she returns to Norfolk. “One of the great things about being part of a statewide organization,” she says, “is seeing what’ working in other districts.”