American Education Week

American Education Week (AEW), which is always held the week before thanksgiving, highlights the importance of bringing together teachers, school staff, parents, students, and communities in a unified effort to build great public schools. The MTA, Staples and Saturn award $5,000 to educators during Americam Education week.

American Education Week:

• American Education Week is always celebrated the week before thanksgiving and is a way to give thanks for all the hard work that is done by educators in local school districts throughout the United States.
• Helping students achieve is the cornerstone of our work as parents, educators and public school employees. We're proud of our work, and American Education Week is the time to celebrate this work.
• This year marks the 83rd annual observance of American Education Week--a time for celebrating the American dream of our public schools and the relationships between educators, students, and parents.
• We use this occasion to celebrate the many unsung efforts and interactions that take place between children, parents, and educators. This work cannot be underplayed. If partnerships between educators and parents are strong, children's chances of success skyrocket.
• Today's educators do more than teach basic skills. They nurture and inspire children despite obstacles. They help students learn essential skills not always measured in testing, such as critical thinking, conflict resolution, cooperation, and problem-solving, which help students throughout life.

MTA Staples and Saturn award $5,000 in school supplies to local educators to celebrate American Education Week

    “American Education Week is an opportunity to recognize the educators and school staff who keep our children safe and healthy, as well as help them achieve,” says Catherine A. Boudreau, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
    The MTA’s national affiliate, the National Education Association, in collaboration with the American Legion and other organizations, established American Education Week in 1921 as a way to draw public attention to the needs of schools.
American Education Week is always celebrated the week prior to the week of Thanksgiving.
    The $5,000 worth of Staples gift cards are awarded to teachers, education support professionals around the state. The winning educators will be selected from entries in the MTA Red Sox Reading Game in which students who pledge to read nine books were entered into a drawing to win free tickets to Fenway Park.

What is America Education Week?

    Its designed to recognize the educators and school staff who keep our children safe and healthy, as well as help them achieve. Wednesday (Nov. 17) will be a special day to honor the school bus drivers, cafeteria workers, teachers' aides and other education support professionals who positively impact our school communities. Friday (Nov. 19) will be a special day to honor the work of substitute educators.
    History: The National Education Association, the MTA’s national affiliate was one of the creators and original sponsors of American Education Week (AEW).
NEA and the American Legion were distressed that 25 percent of the country's World War I draftees were illiterate and 29 percent were physically unfit. Both groups met in 1919 to generate public support for education.
    The conventions of both organizations subsequently adopted resolutions of support for a national effort to raise public awareness of the importance of education. In 1921, the NEA Representative Assembly in Des Moines, Iowa, called for designation of one week each year to spotlight education. In its resolution, NEA called for: "An educational week . . . observed in all communities annually for the purpose of informing the public of the accomplishments and needs of the public schools and to secure the cooperation and support of the public in meeting those needs."
    American Education Week was first observed December 4-10, 1921. NEA and the American Legion were co-sponsors. A year later, the U.S. Office of Education joined as an additional cosponsor. The National PTA followed in 1938.