As the voice for Greater Minnesota Education, MREA works to elevate the teaching profession and the role of public education in Minnesota. Teacher Appreciation Week is May 5 – 9, and we’re thrilled to share a resource that highlights the peaks, valleys and everything in between. We invite you to use this tool as a way to celebrate educators and their role in making a difference.
Chasing Green Lights was created by Melissa Oberg, the 2024 National Rural Teacher of the Year and 2023 MREA Educator of Excellence. Melissa is a Special Education teacher at Cook County Public Schools and pours her heart and soul into her classroom every single day. Melissa delivered Chasing Green Lights as part of her acceptance speech at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education last fall and at MREA’s Greater Education Summit in November.
Melissa’s speech captures the all-to-real struggles and doubts of teaching, along with the immense rewards that come out of the journey as well. We are grateful for Melissa’s willingness to share her deeply personal reflections and the insights she provides. There’s no doubt you and your team will be moved by Melissa’s story.
Sharing Melissa’s Story
MREA invites you to share the video below with your staff, school board, parents/families and community, encouraging them to take time to reflect and recognize the public education staff who are dedicated to chasing green lights.
Here are a few ways to share the video:
- At a staff gathering (not a meeting), but a gathering to watch the 20-minute video and connect with each other personally. Celebrate the yellow and red lights that have turned green. How can this video be part of your ongoing staff recognition work?
- By asking staff to share and recognize peers who have been part of green lights.
- By suggesting staff share the video with students, letting students know when they have been a green light for them.
- By watching this video as part of your next school board meeting. Highlight how the themes of the video align with your mission, strategic plan, and your efforts to celebrate the human context of education. Is your school board meeting broadcast live or recorded? How can this help tell your district’s story?
- By encouraging parent, caregiver and family connections. We all strive for the same thing – for students to be cared for. Share this video with families and caregivers, along with a message of caring, hope, resilience and the critical role school staff plays, establishing the need to work closely and collaborate in the best interest of students. How can this video help your district work in more partnerships with parents and caregivers?
- By highlighting teacher successes, using social media and asking for stories of how teachers have been a green light for their student.
We encourage you to take this video and integrate it in into your efforts to elevate the work being done in your district and public education as a whole as you plan for celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week.
Sample Letter to Staff to Introduce the Video
Below is a sample letter to staff that introduces the video and the heart behind it. Feel free to use this letter as inspiration, making it your own and adding your own voice and sentiments.
Dear Staff,
Teacher Appreciation Week is a time to honor the tremendous difference you make—often far greater than you know and especially for students who rely on you more than you know. This year, we’re sharing MREA’s Chasing Green Lights, a short video featuring Melissa Oberg, the National Rural Teacher of the Year, and her deeply personal reflections on her struggles and doubts, and most importantly her green light realizations.
Her story illustrates how yellow and red lights are inevitable on our journey—but like her, we can choose to keep chasing green lights by pushing ahead and finding renewed purpose. My heartfelt request is that you don’t just watch Chasing Green Lights—I urge you to set aside time this week to watch it with your colleagues, reflect on your shared challenges, and celebrate the resilience that carries us all forward.
Teaching demands resilience and hope, and our students need your steady courage. Thank you for your devotion, determination, and for choosing every day to move ahead, even when faced with life’s red and yellow lights. You are to be admired as the teaching profession is a truly noble profession.
Thank you for your dedication and thank you for continuing to chase those green lights.
With gratitude,
Thank you for partnering with MREA to elevate the incredible people who dedicate their lives to public education. It is our honor to recognize and celebrate their work.
Special thanks to MREA Platinum Member Captivate Media and Consulting for creating this video and helping tell the story of rural educators
