By Kevin Parker
When asked to explain the NJEA’s Early Career Network (ECN), Haddonfield Education Association (HEA) and ECN member Johnathan Maxson begins with the expected: “The Early Career Network is about networking, connecting with other members across the state, the county, and even just in town.”
Then he moves into something more philosophical.
“It’s about bringing people together about contracts, sure, but also because they have a common purpose,” he says. “If we want to keep education as the bedrock of our democracy, it’s important that unions remain intact.”
But that networking and sense of common purpose also led to something greater and longer lasting for Maxson and, ultimately, NJEA. In addition to networking, the ECN is creating new leaders for NJEA.
Maxson, a social studies teacher at Haddonfield Middle School, started teaching in 2015. His introduction to the ECN began several years later when, in the spring of 2019, a fellow HEA member extended an invitation to an ECN conference.
The conference was a revelation for him.
“Seeing members from all over the state—early career members—coming together and hearing of the advocacy work they were doing that we didn’t realize we were also doing was an inspiration,” Maxson recalls.
This became the springboard into multiple leadership positions for Maxson. He is currently both the Legislative Action Chair and Elections Chair for Camden County, and he has just won a seat on the Mt. Ephraim Board of Education.
In addition to crediting ECN for his start, Maxson adds, “Without my time in ECN I wouldn’t have realized all the connections. There are so many teachers, members, parents, bus drivers, custodians, etc. that make up the whole puzzle. I wouldn’t have realized what makes public education work. A lot of that is unionship.”
For Sofia Capinha, Sterling Education Association member and Spanish teacher at Sterling High School, the ECN meant something a little different. Capinha has been a member since 2008 but found herself staying with the ECN as she moved from district to district in search of a permanent position.
“Because I was starting new and in different places, I was a new teacher in the building even if I wasn’t a new teacher,” Capinha says. “I was always getting value from the ECN meetings. There’s such an openness, a willingness to listen to ideas. People were heard when we had our meetings. We created great groups of friends, and I still talk to other members. It was a wonderful consistency when my job would change again.”
Like Maxson, Capinha moved from being a member of the ECN to a leader of both the ECN and NJEA. Currently treasurer for the Camden County Council of Education Associations, Capinha has also served in leadership positions with the ECN Team South. And, like Maxson, participating in the ECN was the catalyst: “It helped me understand the different parts of NJEA—the difference between UniServ and other staff members—and how organizing works. It helped me see where I could be useful, where I could contribute.”
The success and longevity of any organization—unions included—requires a degree of succession, where younger members assume leadership positions as older members step away or retire. In addition to helping younger members navigate their difficult first years in the profession, the ECN is also providing that new generation of leadership.
But there is a place in the ECN—whether they be new to the profession or, like Capinha, new to their schools—even if they have no interest in taking leadership roles. What is most important is participation.
“Don’t be afraid to get involved,” Capinha urges. “There are a lot of different spaces to get involved in.”
Kevin Parker is an English teacher at Washington Township High School in Gloucester County and an NJEA Communications Consultant. He can be reached at kparker@njea.org.