Just a few weekends ago, a group of early career educators from regions 4, 5 and 6 converged in the tiny town of Lava Hot Springs. They weren’t just there to soak in the town’s famous pools (though they did) — they were there to learn more about their union and receive support to stay in their careers over the long haul.

These educators are members of IEA Sparks, a program designed to “spark” interest and leadership skills in members who have been teaching for five years or fewer. Kelly Moore, a Soda Springs Education Association member who attended the program, said the retreat was the perfect reset.

“I loved every minute of it,” she said. “I wish I could show you my notebook that I took notes in. I filled the whole thing! I came up with so many ideas and so many things to share … it was an awesome weekend.”

We asked a few attendees to share their Sparks retreat experiences with us, one candid photo at a time. Their answers have been edited together to tell the story.

The Sparks retreat welcoming committee, from left: Jamie Morton, Region 4 director; Caitlin Pankau, Region 5 director; Morgan Hammon, facilitator and Idaho Falls Education Association member; Liz Cornwall, facilitator and Pocatello Education Association member; Alex Hartwig, facilitator and Twin Falls Education Association member; and Beage Atwater, Region 6 director.

Alex Hartwig, facilitator and Twin Falls Education Association member: (The planning committee) would meet every Wednesday and discuss who is going to handle what … it’s quite a bit of planning. A lot of it’s done by IEA staff, where they handle the food and everything. They do the cooking, they buy the food, they buy all the supplies that we need, and the facilitators plan the activities and presentations.

Aubrey Drake, attendee and Shelley Education Association member: Our SCA vice president actually emailed us (editor’s note: Drake’s husband, Brice, is also a union member and attended the retreat) and said, “Hey, there’s this really cool program for teachers who are in their first five years of teaching. It’s down in Lava Hot Springs. If you and your husband both go, then you can get your own room and go all expenses paid. And it’s just fun to meet other people and get some advice.” And so we’re like, “Heck yeah! Let’s go!”

Kris Crozier, attendee and Twin Falls Education Association member: It was a little nerve-wracking at first because I thought there would be a couple of people that I knew, but I guess they dropped out. So it was awesome to just get to know some of these people, because they had such remarkable stories.

Crozier: At the very beginning, it was important for us to have these agreements that basically established how the event was going to go.

Moore: I loved, loved the community agreements. I really feel like every meeting from now on should start with one.

Drake: I thought the environment was really good. I felt like our group clicked really well — it was cool to have a bunch of strangers and then just make those connections and feel like we could be open with each other even though we had just met. That was really cool, too.

Moore: I believe this was at the beginning of the first day.

Hartwig: We had a survey that went out to all the attendees with a list of options that they wanted to focus on … they overwhelmingly chose creativity in the everyday classroom. So we did that, but we ended up integrating technology into the conversation.

Crozier: We were talking about ways to design our curriculum around our students, and just being mindful of their backgrounds. And then we talked about lots of different ways that we can create different lessons, and we heard stories from other educators about what they do … It was helpful to know that there were a lot of situations where we felt like we weren’t the only ones. We were lost in certain situations, so just knowing that we weren’t alone.

Hartwig: This was my opening activity. It was a self-portrait collage. They were provided a bunch of magazines, and they had markers and colored pencils and scissors and glue and some clip art of some of the images … They just jumped right in. And everyone had a blast doing this one. This was a big hit.

Moore: It was nice to have something that was hands on. I mean, not everybody is extroverted, right?

Drake: It was fun just to get to play and be creative. I think it can feel kind of like teaching can sometimes get to be where you just kind of get in the groove of things, and you don’t feel like you have a lot of time or energy to be creative. And I think what a lot of teachers enjoy is that creating aspect. So it was fun to kind of exercise and use that muscle.

Moore: Because I teach British literature, I have some castle ruins and tombstones and things. I have clip (art) that says “All Things Bright and Beautiful” because having a physical space that’s comfortable was really important for my classroom, for me to have the kids feel like an effort was made when they come in. I feel like it’s a cozy, comfortable, kind-of-British study. I have a quote about happiness and a bookshelf with a skull on it, because I love Arthur Conan Doyle, and a cardigan … you never know when you need to get a cardigan, because the temperature in classrooms is never the same.

IEA General Counsel Shane Reichert speaks to the group of legal protections the union offers.

Hartwig: The majority of what he talked about was union protections. I had come up with the idea that with the political climate the way it is, and with vouchers coming out — I asked him to touch on that to kind of put people at ease. … People had a lot of concerns that they wanted to address.

Moore: He was amazing. It was sobering and very helpful.

Drake: It was really cool to get to hear from him and kind of see that other side of things. I know that there’s someone there looking out for us, and to hear some of his stories — that was cool.

Drake: We did a kind of Socratic seminar. The elementary teachers and the secondary ed teachers went into separate spaces and talked about whatever kind of came up.

Moore: The breakouts were great because you go other people’s perspectives. And it was nice to hear from people who maybe didn’t want to speak in front of the entire group. It was nice to kind of go a little bit deeper, because I feel like everybody was contributing, and during this Socratic breakout you’d find yourself going in a direction you didn’t necessarily always anticipate.

Drake: I feel rejuvenated after that conference. I was feeling kind of burnt out and like, “Oh, this is such a drag. Teaching is such a drag.” … But getting to meet and work with other educators helped me realize that it doesn’t have to be that way. There are people who I can turn to who can help me figure out how to make it more enjoyable, because I do think it’s such a rewarding career.

Crozier: Being able to have that connection with educators in our area, to build those connections with people, was invaluable.

Drake: We talked about finding your marigolds.

Moore: Marigolds are flowers that are natural pest relievers — they ward off pests. We can be those marigolds to our other teachers. We can help bat away the negativity during the day, because there are going to be people who want to bring everyone down.

Drake: I think if you have the opportunity to go (to a Sparks retreat) you should definitely take it. I had a really great time just getting to know other people and making those connections with other educators, getting to meet people who weren’t from my school or school district. I thought that was really fun. You know, it’s a good little vacation and a lot of good information.