My name is Pam Lowe and I am from the SE region down in Sikeston, where I teach preschool. I want to first thank you for allowing me to be your current MSTA Vice President. I am so glad to have the opportunity to serve the members of our organization!   

If you are like me, last year was a difficult year full of challenges that seemed to never end. We made it through and are now at the beginning of a new year with new challenges and new promises for the future. We must continue to stand up for the students of our districts along with the staff in our schools. A good education is one of the most important things that we can give our students in hope of a brighter tomorrow for all of us. That doesn’t mean that every student will be a college graduate, but we want every student to be a productive, working member of our society and we hope to train and support quality pre-service teachers to take the places of those of us nearing the end of our career. There are many challenges ahead of us in public education and we must continue to advocate for what we know is best for the future. Improving teacher salaries to retain the best teachers in our classrooms is so important for our state. Charter schools and open enrollment progressed through our legislature this past year and we must continue to speak with our legislators, encouraging them to continue their support of public education and against these initiatives. I ran for your MSTA Vice President last year with the theme of “FAMILY” in mind. Family continues to be a vital component of my campaign. As an active member of MSTA, I value the ideas of a solid foundation, advocacy for our beliefs, members rights, interests of both students and teachers, legislative decisions and most importantly... YOU! I would like to ask for your vote as President-Elect in November. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me and if I don’t know the answer, I promise I will find out for you. I look forward to seeing you in November in Columbia.