Former Wayland High School language arts teacher Andrea Villreal retired at Plainwell last year, but continues to advocate for public education through podcasting and working as a field assistant for the Michigan Education Association.
She has been working on a podcast with another teacher on the subject of classroom violence and threats of violence against teachers.
“The podcast is a hobby,” she said. “I was actually on the podcast as a guest when I was still teaching, and about a year ago, Annette Lang asked me to co-host with her. She is a retired elementary teacher, and I taught high school English for 17 years.
“The podcast is a place for real talk about teaching. As our intro says, ‘it’s sometimes funny, sometimes disturbing, but always honest.’ Our intent is to provide a safe space for educators to talk shop.”
She said the two just recorded their third episode in a three-part series about classroom misbehavior, which will be available in two weeks.
Villarreal retired last year from teaching at Plainwell Public Schools.
“I support two UniServ Directors in the Kalamzoo office, and the three of us work with almost a dozen school districts in Kalamazoo County. We help support teachers and support staff with everything from retirement and insurance questions to bargaining and contract violations and membership organizing. We also work to support candidates, campaigns and legislation (both local and statewide) that’s public-education-friendly.”
Uniserv Director Christine Anderson said episode No. 2 of three in a series about student behavior is available.
Co-host Lang said, “After first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner was shot by a six-year-old student in her classroom several weeks ago, the question that kept coming up was ‘How?’ How did a 6-year-old get access to a gun? How did no one know he had it at school? Why wasn’t something done?
“And then we heard admin knew. It was reported, more than once, and nothing was done.
“Teachers started talking, telling their own stories of violence in their schools. Of worsening student behavior, particularly since the pandemic began. And of administration sending kids back to the classrooms of teachers they had, only yesterday, punched in the face.
This episode contains your stories, your fears, and your overriding question-‘How’?”
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Listen HERE: https://rb.gy/cudrtw
