New teachers union president puts experience in teaching and communications to work

For Carol Mowen, becoming the new president of the Washington County Teachers Association is a culmination of putting her years of experience in teaching and communications jobs to work.

"I've always enjoyed communication," an aspect that is a large part of her new position, said Mowen, 59, who lives in the Greencastle, Pa., area.

Mowen has 25 years experience with Washington County Public Schools, including as a teacher and public information officer. She also taught for other school systems and worked for the National School Public Relations Association in Rockville, Md., for two years in the 2000s.

"Even as a PIO, I always thought of myself as a voice for teachers at that table," Mowen said.

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The local teachers union elected Mowen its new president for the next two years; her first day was July 1.

She succeeds Neil Becker, who served as union president for eight years and had to step down from that position due to a four-term limit.

Mowen served with Becker, as the union's vice president, the past four years.

Becker said Mowen has been active on committees and the association is "well-positioned to continue doing great things under Carol's leadership."

Becker, 52, of the Halfway area, said he will be a community schools specialist at Western Heights Middle School in Hagerstown's West End. The school system currently has a few such specialists, who serve as liaisons between school staff, students, families and community organizations to bring those groups together to enhance students' educational opportunities, he said.

He continues to serve on the Maryland State Education Association's board of directors.

Becker said he was "humbled" to serve as WCTA's president. The local union's board and school system leadership, in conjunction with the school board, have "really enhanced the collaborative spirit that benefits students and staff," he said.

The WCTA has almost 1,400 members and represents more than 1,800 school system employees, according to Mowen.

Getting involved with the union's leadership

"I got really invested in association leadership during COVID because the teachers really wanted to be involved more in some of the decisions being made," Mowen said.

The way to do that was to be at the leadership table with the union and school system, she thought, not receiving decisions after they'd been made.

There were discussions about how long students should be engaged via a computer screen and how teachers could best deliver instruction during remote learning as well as during hybrid learning, when teachers had both students in the classroom and students learning remotely.

She also could see how to improve working conditions and fairness for teachers through contract negotiations.

That includes helping to advocate for more early dismissals so teachers have additional planning time to communicate with parents, do grading work and collaborate with other teachers.

Mowen also is heavily involved in discussions about how to implement parts of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future.

The blueprint, passed by state lawmakers in 2021, increases funds for education and aims to tackle five pillars. Four of the pillars focus on early childhood education, college and career readiness, strengthening wraparound services to provide students more resources to help them be successful, and establishing an Accountability Implementation Board to hold the state and local school systems accountable for implementing the Blueprint, according to the Maryland Department of Education's website.

The other pillar is about elevating the stature of teaching through competitive salaries, improving starting pay, providing financial incentives for teachers who get National Board Certification and creating a career ladder.

"I have a lot of years of experience that I can bring to bear to help in navigating what this is going to look like locally for our teachers," Mowen said.

Mowen participates in a Maryland State Education Association work group about the Accountability Implementation Board. WCTA members are part of the state association, which is an affiliate of the National Education Association.

The career ladder, still being developed, is aimed at attracting more teachers to Maryland schools because there's a growing teacher shortage.

"People are not entering the field of education to become teachers like they used to, for many different reasons," Mowen said. "One way to attract people to be teachers is to make sure they are rewarded with professional competitive salaries."

Finding her path with a career change

Originally from Mississippi, Mowen hadn't planned on becoming a teacher.

She earned a master's degree in English from Mississippi State University and planned to go to law school.

To help pay for graduate school, Mowen said she worked as a teaching assistant for college freshman composition and was "pretty good at it."

She worked as a paralegal after grad school, but after six months realized she didn't like legal work. In a grocery store, she ran into her college Latin professor who encouraged her to apply for a Latin teacher position. Mowen said she received an emergency certification and taught Latin and English for two years.

"Then I had the bug and wanted to do it," she said.

Mowen moved to the local area in the mid-1990s so her husband, Nick, could be closer to family in the Greencastle area.

Her tenure with WCPS includes teaching English at Springfield Middle School in the late 1990s and serving as public information officer in the early 2000s. She was teaching English at the technical high school before becoming union president.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County Teachers Association has new president