‘MEA Weekend’ is Back…Officially

As kids across southeastern Minnesota are getting ready to head back to school, or are back in school already, another Minnesota fall tradition is also set to make a comeback: MEA weekend.

Yes, 'MEA weekend,' that three-day break from school that usually falls on the third week in October, never really went away. Just the name did. But after nearly 20 years of trying to get the 'new' name -- 'Education Minnesota break' -- to stick, the teachers' union announced earlier this week that they're now calling the yearly conference, 'Minnesota Educator Academy.' Which means the term 'MEA weekend' is once again accurate. Which is good, because it seems everybody still called it that anyway.

According to this Pioneer Press story, even though the official name changed in 1998 to the Education Minnesota Professional Conference, "Most people still called it 'MEA weekend,' dating back decades to when the union for public school teachers was called the Minnesota Education Association."

BringMeTheNews offered a little more background on why the name changed -- without much luck -- back in 1998: "Its official name has been “Education Minnesota break” since 1998, when the old Minnesota Education Association and the Minnesota Federation of Teachers merged and renamed itself Education Minnesota."

Ah, so they're finally throwing in the towel and calling what everybody else had still been calling it-- 'MEA Weekend.' Growing up in central Wisconsin, while we still had that traditional school break in October, our break didn't have a snappy nickname like it does here in Minnesota. If I recall, we just said we didn't have school because of the 'teacher's convention.' Pretty boring.

When I first moved to Minnesota, I heard the term 'MEA Weekend' and had no idea what it meant. After some online research, I finally figured it out, even though, back then, they were still trying to get people to call it the 'Education Minnesota break'. Doesn't matter now, though-- MEA Weekend is back, people! Enjoy it as you see fit.