September has been a busy month at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators, and it followed a very busy summer. As we come to the end of our first full month of this school year, I’d like to take a “moment of personal privilege” to offer you an introduction.
Thanks to the support of voters in the spring election, for which I was and am extremely grateful, I became president of CMAE on July 1. On that date, I was already serving you as a delegate to the National Education Association Representative Assembly in Houston, Texas. That was followed immediately by the NCAE Summer Leaders Conference, the Instructional Leaders Institute, and the CMS Symposium. Between these events, I worked at our local office in Charlotte, and was called upon to attend meetings at state headquarters in Raleigh.
Just like you, I returned to full-time work in the classroom in August. But I’ve maintained a rigorous schedule of services to CMAE, working at the office and throughout the district, after school each day, and on most weekends.
Two important events come immediately to mind from this month’s schedule of activities.
First, on September 7, we sponsored a training for Association Representatives in Charlotte-Mecklenburg and surrounding school districts. I was pleased to see the great turnout and the engagement of our site-based leaders around the work before us.
And on September 19, the first CMAE Representative Assembly of the year was held at our local office. I was again inspired by the active participation of so many site-based leaders.
Both of these events left me, and I hope they left all of the participants, energized. That energy will prove to be important as we call on one another, lean on one another, and depend on one another to help build and grow the strength and power of CMAE through this year. The challenges we face, in our profession and in our state, are manageable so long as we face them together, in unity, armed with a strategic plan, tenacity, and energy.
If September has been busy, I assure you that it’s a sign of things to come. Your leadership team has already published the dates for an Instructional Professional Development training series, and we will soon announce details of a unique CMAE Leadership Development Academy series. Our Beginning Teachers Organizing Project is well under way, and Education Support Personnel in the region are scheduled to meet in Charlotte next month.
Regardless of where you are in the district, or in your career, there are opportunities for you to participate in CMAE, for your own benefit and for the benefit of your colleagues and co-workers.
You can learn about these and many other subjects at our new online presence, the CMAE Bulletin. I hope you’ll use the communications tools at that website to offer suggestions, ask questions, and communicate directly with me and your other CMAE officers.
Finally, since I haven’t met all of our members and potential members in the district, I want you to know some things about me.
I’m a native of Fort Benning, Georgia, but moved to North Carolina to attend elementary and high schools, because both of my parents were born and raised in Goldsboro. I graduated E.E. Smith Senior High School in Fayetteville, and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. Since 1995, I’ve taught social studies and American government in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, and I’ve been a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.
Early in my career, I was a youth services specialist for the Charlotte Housing Authority before coming to work at Garinger High School, Wilson Middle School, McClintock Middle School, and Harding High School. For the past eight years, I’ve taught at Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology.
My wife, Patricia, has been a Mecklenburg County social worker for more than 25 years. Patricia and I now live in Huntersville and have three children: Kai graduated Hopewell High School last year and now attends UNC-Pembroke; Deity is 17 and attends Hopewell High, and Keira is 16 and attends Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences.
Two years ago, I was honored to be elected to the NCAE Board of Directors, representing District 3 (Mecklenburg, Anson, Cabarrus, Gaston, Kannapolis, Lincoln, Montgomery, Mooresville City, Rowan, Stanly, and Union counties). I also represent the Northwest Learning Community on the Superintendents-Teacher Advisory Council (STAC).
As my students, colleagues, and friends know, I work hard for what I believe is important and right. I’ve invested my life and heart in my family and my profession. I’m committed to making my school, my community, and CMAE the best it can be, and I know that the best way to accomplish all three of those goals is to ensure that everyone in included in the process. With that in mind, I’m accessible and available to you. I intend to ask for your participation and assistance this year, and I hope you’ll call on me, as well.
CMAE’s strength comes from its members, so I thank you for helping to make CMAE strong.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Brinson
President, CMAE
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