AFT president Randi Weingarten visits MAST Academy

Union leaders speaks of importance of community, cutting through “noise”

Anthonie Page and Kamilah Gurdián

August 24, 2023

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten speaks to staff members in MAST Academy’s media center on Aug. 24, 2023.

This afternoon in the MAST Academy media center, the American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and representatives of AFT visited MAST Academy staff to recruit new members into the union.

Weingarten spoke to the school’s staff and wanted to start the 2023-2024 school year strong by cutting through the “noise” of politics and talking about what really matters, reinforcing to teachers the importance of forming a community.

Topics of the meeting included issues in the Florida school environment and the teaching landscape as a whole.

“Teachers want to reach the needs of the kids,” Weingarten said, concluding the meeting with words of wisdom to unite and foster the bond and support between teachers.

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“We’re here for you, you’re here for the kids” Weingarten said.

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About the Contributors

Anthonie Page, Live Editor

Anthonie Page is a staff member for the MAST Academy student paper, The Beacon, based in Virginia Key. Part of the graduating class of 2024, this is Page’s 4th year at MAST Academy. When Page is not studying for his many AP classes or working on college applications, he enjoys writing and watching stand up comedy. Page is an active basketball player, and he spends his summers as a volunteer basketball coach for a youth basketball club. “I love playing basketball, and being a coach allows me to share the sport I love with future generations,” Page said. Page has a European background, with his family being from Greece and Italy. He aspires to study astrophysics after he finishes his final year at MAST.

Kamilah Gurdián, Editor in Chief

Kamilah Gurdián is a senior at MAST Academy. As of 2023, she is starting her third year as a student at MAST at the age of 17. She used to attend iPrep Academy North during her freshmen year, but wanted to attend MAST since she was in Grade 5. Along with her, her younger brother who’s in Grade 7 attends MAST as well. She a first-generation immigrant in America and her mom is from Colombia and her dad is from Nicaragua. She is interested in math as a future career and takes multiple math classes.