Gwen Walz uses her ‘teacher voice,’ calling for Michigan educators to mobilize for Harris

Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz speaks to educators in Grand Rapids, Michigan to rally support for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate in the presidential election, Walz’s husband and Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz on September 4, 2024 | Photo Anna Liz Nichols

It’s back to school season and former teacher Gwen Walz can smell the sharpened pencils and fresh paper from the campaign trail.

Walz reminisced Wednesday with educators in Grand Rapids about her time as a high school English teacher in Nebraska, sharing an old choir room that had been split with a divider with a social studies teacher whose booming voice would spill over into her side of the room.

That’s how she met her husband, Tim Walz, who would go on to serve in the U.S. House and as Minnesota governor. He’s now Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Walz remembers the laughter from both sides of the room well.

“Nothing beats that moment when that classroom is filled with our learners for the new year,” Walz told the room of teachers and lawmakers. “There’s unlimited possibilities in the air, possibilities of what is to be at yet another brand new school year and that’s sort of how this election feels to me, too. Right now, it feels like unlimited possibilities, like the beginning of something, like there are clean chalkboards and white boards out there and notebooks without the covers torn off. … We are feeling the joy and the hope, and we are ready for that fresh start.”

The power of teachers should never be underestimated, Walz said, because teachers know how to work hard inside the classroom and advocate for their students outside of school. 

Walz asked for teachers this election cycle to join her in using their “teacher voice” to call for a better future for kids in school and to tell former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, to “mind your own business” when it comes to reproductive rights and telling parents what books their kids shouldn’t read.

With hot dish in-hand for peers who’ve been knocking on doors and with 30 minutes to lesson plan, teachers can and do show up in elections as vocal allies to progress, Walz said.

“Let’s be teacher creative. Let’s find ways that teachers know, that teachers figure out, let’s use our teacher minds to think about this race and this election and to get to people that maybe we couldn’t have gotten to before, that others can’t get to. Let’s be the educators we are, and use our power in the way that we can, in the way that we will, in the way that we know that’s special to our profession, to who we are, to what we know, to what we can do together.”

It’s “game on” for Michigan teachers, Michigan Education Association (MEA) President Chandra Madafferi told the crowd. And although teachers are cheerleaders for their students, no one can afford to be standing on the sidelines this election.

“Our future is at stake this November,” Madafferi said. “We need every educator and student and family to get out there to help our students succeed.”

Democrats have had monumental success in supporting students and families in Michigan, Madafferi said, by securing universal school meals for every student, investing in education in the state budget and bolstering teacher union rights. 

Now is not the time to get tired or to be quiet, National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle said. There is too much on the line in November, as voter rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights and environmental rights are all on the ballot. Pringle said the country needs Harris and a family like the Walzes in the White House to advocate for student loan forgiveness, affordable housing and economic justice.

“We will not be no ways tired. We won’t go back. The only way is forward because our children, our babies are depending on us to be worthy of them,” Pringle said.

Teachers can make all the difference in a child’s life, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) said. And as the daughter of a teacher, she said watching her mom’s commitment to serving students and family instilled in her a sense of duty to her community.

“Seeing her opening her heart, sometimes our home, literally to students and families in need when they struggled, left a deep and lasting impression on me about who the system works for and often who it works against. It made an impression on me and inspired me to commit my life to public service, as well,” Scholten said. 

Michigan is expected to be a pivotal state in the election, as Trump and Harris are battling for the state’s favor. And as this historic election unfolds that will set the tone for the country’s future, Scholten said few things put into perspective as much as the shooting that occurred earlier in the day at a high school an hour away from Atlanta. Two students and two teachers were killed and nine other individuals were wounded as the school year was beginning.

“Donald Trump would rather ban books than assault weapons,” Scholten said. “The choice this November is clear. We are not going back.”

Walz had begun her visit by acknowledging the shooting and noting the implications it has for the health and safety of teachers as a profession to once again endure the terror of another school shooting. 

Throughout Walz’s speech, retired Grand Rapids High teacher Joanne Peterson nodded her head in solidarity for all the stories being told about the craftiness and resilience of teachers and applauded each speaker’s declaration for hope under a Harris presidency.

Retired teacher Joanne Peterson, 76, takes a call from a former student after a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 4, 2024 | Photo Anna Liz Nichols

“Everything she said was true,” Peterson, 76, said “I taught for over 40 years, I’ve been playing teacher since I was 6-years-old. … It’s something inside. … I still dream about it. I had to retire because I had a stupid little heart attack.”

Walz talked about the power of teachers laughing with students, of joy in the classroom. Peterson she remembered asking her students to tell her stories that made them laugh when news of the terror attack on 9/11 reached her classroom in 2001.

“They all came swarming in and they were so frightened,” Peterson said. “Their parents came to pick them up [saying], ‘we knew that Miss P. wouldn’t let anything bother them and they were safe,” Peterson remembered. “I’m old now, but I have dreams. I have dreams of my class. … The kids are sitting on the big brown rug in front of the cozy chair and laughing so much.”

Peterson rattled off the list of the jobs her students, now hold as adults, smiling as she referred to “her children” finding careers that inspire love and service within them. She had to end the interview with the Michigan Advance to take a call from a former student.