Erinn Parker

IRON MOUNTAIN — Delta Kappa Gamma, Beta Sigma Chapter at its last meeting heard about current teaching challenges plus got a “visit” from the first teacher in Menominee County in the 1850s.

Erinn Parker has been a teacher in Stephenson for eight years — three in middle school social studies and now in high school history. She was featured in the NEA Magazine as she became a Michigan chair of the Union Coordinating Council after she had negotiated a contract and became active. Her motivation? “Teachers should be paid a living wage,” she said.

She shared that one of the present issues plaguing the profession is protecting educators from workplace violence due to escalating student behaviors and lack of administrative and parental support. Another problem is lack of educational funding. Teachers at her school had $150 to spend for the year. She urged members to write to elected officials/become visible at board meetings and to advocate for young teachers.

When asked, Parker shared that approximately one-third of a classroom of 30 youth have some kind of legal accommodation with money selectively distributed to those students. Social worker days have been cut to two per week on staff. Parker also revealed that history textbooks have been affected, limiting her teaching revelations of significant events such as slavery, the Civil War and 21st-century political movements.

A question/answer period drew immediate Beta Sigma attention, including a challenge to leave Parker with some classroom money, which members donated, a desire to contact younger teachers for needs, including other donations and a listening ear. Beta Sigma emphasized that these teachers need to join an organization like Delta Kappa Gamma to keep them in the loop and offer support.

Sue Skowronsk

An additional speaker, dressed in “old-time garb,” related experiences gleaned from history.

The first teacher in Menominee, known as Aunt Sue (Douglas) or Menominee Sue, came to celebrate Beta Sigma’s 52nd birthday through the representation of Sue Skowronski, herself a former elementary teacher in the area.

She told the group that Douglas’ supervision began in an old mill with 13 students: German, Irish and English. In 1858 the first school was built near the Menominee dam: therein, she made $14 per month. She married in 1862, which excluded her from teaching. Regardless, she taught her own four children and received the State Woman of Distinction Award.

Noreen Johnson distributed the useful information to contact area representatives through the Congressional Switchboard in Washington D.C. at 202-224-3121.

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. Beta Sigma is a chapter of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. It includes Delta, Dickinson, Menominee and Schoolcraft counties in Michigan, plus Marinette and Oconto counties in Wisconsin.