Hi, I'm Emma Veach, and I've been teaching math at Andersen since 2014. I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this fantastic community daily. I am a member of our strike committee and we are raising funds to help support our colleagues during this strike! Here is a message from the educators:

"Hello! We are the educators of Andersen Middle School, joining other Minneapolis educators on strike to demand safe and stable schools for our community. There are over 120 of us at Andersen currently on strike. We are teachers, social workers, counselors, special education assistants (SEAs), associate educators (AEs), behavior deans, bilingual associate educators, family liaisons and many more. All of us on strike are not receiving income. Many of us, especially ESPs, were already struggling financially before we went on strike. We are deeply moved and thankful for the public support and generosity in donating to our MFT Strike Fund. However, the Andersen community of strikers has immediate financial needs and needs that may not be covered by the official strike fund. We, as an informal group of Andersen workers, are organizing this GoFundMe separate from Minneapolis Public Schools or MFT59 with the hope of supplementing the main strike fund’s support so that we can continue this fight as long as necessary.

All funds will be distributed directly to Andersen workers on strike. We will prioritize the following people in the following order:

People who are striking but cannot access the official strike fund and supports

ESPs

Self-identified need

Any extra funds raised will be given to ESPs in honor of their historically undervalued service.

Thank you so much for your commitment to safe and stable schools."