UNION EDUCATORS SHOWED that an injury to one is an injury to all in January, coming together to support each other and the greater Los Angeles community after devastating wildfires that destroyed more than 18,000 structures and chased 200,000 from their homes.

In all, 19 school districts closed and a dozen schools were destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires. Our union mobilized immediately, with local associations in the impacted areas supporting members on the ground and CTA coordinating relief efforts to help support those in need.

“During this challenging time, I’ve been so proud of our union,” CTA President David Goldberg said. “I’ve been so moved by how we’ve carried on together, wrapped our arms around each other for support, reached out to check on our colleagues, students and neighbors, and helped raise money and provide mutual aid.”

In Pasadena, it’s estimated that 10% of school district staff lost their homes, as well as one in six students. As students, educators and community process their grief and start their recovery, United Teachers of Pasadena President Jonathon Gardner told the New York Times that the months ahead will be unpredictable.

“There’s not going to be anything resembling normal for the rest of the semester,” he said.

Arcadia Teachers Association (ATA) President Kevin Fox says six of the local’s members lost their homes while as many as 12 endured significant evacuation situations, where it was unclear how soon they would be able to return. Fox says that ATA utilized their existing site representative structure to identify members in need, so they could let the school district know. Using phone trees and word of mouth, ATA members donated personal necessity days to their impacted colleagues and donated and collected items and other resources for those in need.

“The outpouring of support was gratifying. It made me feel so happy about all the work we’ve done over the years,” Fox says. “More than winning a raise, this made me feel good about us — about turning our attention to each other and our needs instantly. It just means the world.”

Members of Rosemead Teachers Association (RTA) came together to support one of their own whose neighborhood was severely impacted. While the member’s home was safe, she was unable to return for a lengthy period, according to RTA President Cami Case. The outpouring of support included gift cards, cash, clothes for work and even a dress for Lunar New Year.

“Someone cooked for her for two weeks and another member brought her coffee,” Case says. “During this awful disaster, we got to see the good in people. There are people who care and love and it’s a good example that we all can learn from.”

Help Fellow Members
CTA members are working hard to support their students and families impacted by January’s devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County — even as they suffer from life-changing losses themselves. Help us share the healing power of our solidarity and visit cta.org/LAwildfires for links to donate to the CTA Disaster Relief Fund, as well as GoFundMe accounts set up to support affected CTA members.

Share Your Wildfire Story
Have a story about your experience in the LA County wildfires? Did you get much-needed support from your local or were you working to help fellow educators and our communities during this time of need? Record a video and share your story with us at stories.cta.org.

Teacher serves on search team in Sierra Madre

Grumm in her classroom pictured with her mother Coyla Grumm, a retired teacher who volunteers there every day.

“EVERYONE IS RALLYING around and supporting each other and I’m just glad I can do my part,” says Carolyn Grumm, second grade teacher and member of Arcadia Teachers Association. “I just felt lucky that there was a way I could help.”

For eight years, Grumm has helped lost and injured hikers as part of the all-volunteer Sierra Madre Search and Rescue team — a commitment that saw her thrust into a leadership role in ongoing rescue
efforts for the Eaton Fire.

Grumm said her team was originally called to help with evacuations related to the Palisades fire and were enroute when the Eaton fire broke out and required their immediate assistance. At first, Grumm says the team helped evacuate seniors with mobility issues, providing initial response and support in their home area.

Her role then shifted when all eight of the Los Angeles area’s search and rescue teams converged on the Pasadena area to do search and recovery and assist with the effort to reopen neighborhoods. Grumm was assigned a leadership role in a command post set up at the Rose Bowl, where she would work for the next 10 days helping guide a multidisciplinary team of 60 from a litany of public agencies through heavy 12-hour days.

“This was a massive event and not like anything we normally do, so it was like building an airplane while we were flying it,” Grumm says. “I was able to develop procedures for how we were going to handle repopulating areas.”

Grumm’s class at Baldwin Stocker Elementary School was under the care of her mother, a retired teacher who volunteers there every day, while Grumm was “helping with the fire.” Her students know about her volunteer job and Grumm says they are proud of her work.

“I hope they kind of feel part of what I did. It’s good for them to know what volunteerism is and the importance of giving back to your community,” Grumm says, noting that her school was closed for three days. “Hopefully my classroom is a safe and comfortable place for them to come back to. Having familiarity and routine is comforting for kids.”

Grumm has felt supported by her union and her school district, saying that she has felt the power of community on a large scale, with people across the state asking how they can support and help. “Everyone in the area knows someone, had someone staying at their house or had to take showers at a friend’s place. Even if you weren’t impacted, there’s so much going around and everyone is helping out where they can,” she says. “I feel very supported by my school and my union. I feel that people are here and ready to help.”

Supporting community college students in recovery

Jones is faculty advisor for the Genshin Impact Club.

Casey Jones is an adjunct faculty member at multiple community colleges in LA County, including Pasadena City College and Glendale Community College. She is the current social media consultant
for Community College Association and a former bargaining team member for Rio Hondo College Faculty Association.

How has the Eaton Fire impacted the PCC community?
The fires reinforced how close we all are both in distance and also as a community. Pasadena Community College has a vibrant, diverse campus and it struck me how unified we were in terms of reaching out in the classrooms and the community to help and support.

How are you working to support impacted students?
I have several students who lost everything in the Eaton fire and that has collided with the time of year when letters of recommendation are needed and scholarship applications are due. It can be stressful on a normal day, let alone during a time of crisis. I believe that everyone is affected at some level, so flexibility and grace combined with giving all students space to express how they are feeling has been helpful for them as they try to regain momentum academically. Thoughtful personal letters of recommendation not only help students to get those scholarships and acceptance letters but remind them that they are amazing — and while this is a defining event to be sure, they have what it takes to recover and create more incredible moments.

What advice do you have for educators supporting students and co-workers as they recover?
Stick to the schedule as much as possible and encourage students to collaborate in their communication about the events of January. This is basically true every semester but even more so when something extraordinary happens. Students are a great resource for one another and it’s amazing to see how empowering it can be for students to help others succeed. In one of my public speaking classes, we took an inventory of what was needed and how we, as a class, could contribute, and that turned into a great exercise for student engagement. Flexibility, grace, communication and collaboration are great for educators too!

What has it meant to you for your union to come together to support educators, our students and communities?

CTA has been next level. Our union is always quick to offer support and updates, which made navigating local resources much easier than it might have been. CTA did a good job of navigating what was needed in the LA area while still staying connected with educators around the state. CTA has been a consistent presence, and I expect this will play out even more in the coming months. It’s a relief to be a part of an organization that supports us not just as educators but as people.

Palisades ESP helps students’ recovery as she embarks on her own

Wendy Najera

FOR WENDY NAJERA, Pacific Palisades has always been like a second home.

As a child, she accompanied her mother and grandmother when they worked as nannies for families there. While they lived in South Los Angeles, Najera attended Palisades Elementary, Paul Revere Middle and Palisades High schools. A member of Palisades ESP United, Najera currently works as a paraprofessional at Palisades Charter High School, which was destroyed in January in the Palisades fire.

The school switched to a full virtual format on Jan. 22, and Najera works with her students on Zoom every day now. She says while most of her students remember virtual classrooms from during the pandemic, there are a lot of factors to how well they are taking the sudden shift in format. Many students are still displaced from their homes, living in hotels and with family — one of Najera’s students Zooms in from New York despite the three-hour time difference.

“Some kids don’t mind being online; they actually prefer it,” she says. “But some don’t and a big chunk is students in Special Education — they’re the ones that are really suffering.”

Najera says it’s been meaningful to see her union come together to support fellow educators who are recovering from the fires.

“I think it’s amazing [that] our CTA family took immediate action to come together and support us,” Najera says. “We may never meet any of them in person but they still took the time, energy and resources to pitch in and help us stay afloat, emotionally and physically.”