2002-09 September

NEA Today: Inside Scoop - September 2002

Sat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Reader Services
Archives
NEA Today Table of Contents: September 2002
Cover Story
s	My First Year
News
s	Debate
s	Textbook Democracy, NEA-Style
s	Quite Simply, an Issue of Fairness
s	School Funding Adequacy--What It Costs To Do the Job Right
s	Rights Watch
s	Interview
Learning
s	In Focus
s	Problems & Solutions
s	Reading
s	Inside Scoop
s	ESP On the Team
s	Tips for the Wired Classroom
Departments
s	Letters
s	President's Viewpoint
s	My Turn
s	Health & Fitness
s	Money
s	People
s	NEA RA
s	Resources
s	In the Light Lane

Inside Scoop
Who Profits When For-Profits Run Schools?

Money changes hands-but student achievement doesn't budge.

When education management organizations (EMOs) emerged in the 1990s, proponents vowed that private firms could successfully manage public schools, earn a profit, and teach the public education "monopoly" a few things in the process. With Edison Schools, Inc., possibly the best-known EMO, dogged by financial and management problems, let's look at these firms' track record.

How many schools are being managed by EMOs?
National data are scarce. Edison Schools, Inc., the nation's largest EMO, runs more than 130 schools with more than 75,000 students. Its size would make it one of the 50 biggest school districts.

EMOs have acquired considerable business from charter schools. Of the nation's 2,400 charter schools, between 250 and 400 are estimated to be managed by EMOs.

Have EMOs introduced innovative techniques to schools?
Proponents of privatization argue that EMOs would innovate and that other public schools would reap the benefits of their breakthrough ideas. In fact, most of the ideas proffered by EMOs-such as increased use of technology, integrated curriculum, or team teaching-already exist in the public schools.

"Without question, there is no evidence of 'revolutionary' breakthroughs by EMOs with respect to curriculum, instructional strategies, or use of technologies," notes Henry Levin of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

Moreover, many contracts between EMOs and districts stipulate that instructional models and materials are proprietary, so schools may have to pay for any good ideas and techniques.

Are students in schools managed by EMOs learning more?
In its last annual report, released in fall 2001, Edison reported on 74 of the 113 schools it operated that year. Sixty-two of them had raised their scores, eight had declined, and four were unchanged. Although EMOs such as Edison frequently cite higher student achievement in the schools they operate, other analysts offer a different conclusion.

Gary Miron and colleagues at the Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University reviewed results at 10 schools Edison had operated for more than four years. They found that student achievement at the Edison schools began at levels below national norms and did increase-but no faster than student achievement in other district schools.

One of the most carefully controlled studies was carried out in Miami/Dade County, Florida, where Edison managed the Henry Reeves Elementary School from 1996 to 2001. The achievement of pupils at Reeves did not exceed those of students in other district schools over the course of the project-even though Reeves students received 30 more instructional days per year.

Moreover, a study by Miron and Christopher Nelson found that Michigan charter schools run by EMOs actually scored worse than those not run by EMOs on all measures save one.

Are private management firms more efficient?
Levin says EMOs have tried three basic strategies to cut costs: 1) hire less experienced teachers, 2) provide a bare-bones pedagogy and implement standard operating procedures across sites, and 3) recruit and retain students who are less demanding of resources, meaning fewer students with moderate to severe behavioral or learning needs.

In addition to cutting costs, privatization was supposed to make operations run more smoothly and earn profits for shareholders. "The paradox is that the EMOs' costs are considerably higher because of generous staffing, salaries, and benefits in their central headquarters-with stringent cost controls at school sites," says Levin.

How do EMOs serve the unique needs of local communities?
To successfully operate multiple schools, EMOs have to develop and market a system of teaching and learning that it can export to far-flung sites. In business, this becomes known as the company's "brand." But "the whole concept of creating 'brand' is inimical to the notion of local control of schools," says NEA staffer Heidi Steffens. "The central control required to create schools that look and feel and educate like all a company's other schools contradicts the need for every school to respond to its students and community."

What's the future of EMOs?
It's impossible to predict, but the path to profits has been turbulent and-so far-unsuccessful. Edison has seen its stock drop from $36 to a dollar per share. Steffens notes that Edison has lost, or is about to lose, a total of 22 schools under contract because of low test scores, declining student enrollment, or high teacher turnover.

The New York Times summed thesituation up best. "The only way to improve public education is to provide every student with a bright, well-trained teacher and an orderly, well-run school. That tends to be labor-intensive-and expensive-and may never be profitable on the scale that the stock market requires."

--John O'Neil

For more:

Visit the Edison Project homepage at www.edisonschools.com.
Read What's Public About Charter Schools: Lessons Learned About Choice and Accountability (Corwin 2002), by Gary Miron and Christopher Nelson. The book lists details of the role and effects of EMOs in Michigan's charter schools. For a summary or to order, go to www.corwinpress.com.
Check out the Miami/Dade study at www.dade.k12.fl.us/edeval/edison.pdf.

NEA Today: Rights Watch - September 2002

Sat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Reader Services
Archives
NEA Today Table of Contents: September 2002
Cover Story
s	My First Year
News
s	Debate
s	Textbook Democracy, NEA-Style
s	Quite Simply, an Issue of Fairness
s	School Funding Adequacy--What It Costs To Do the Job Right
s	Rights Watch
s	Interview
Learning
s	In Focus
s	Problems & Solutions
s	Reading
s	Inside Scoop
s	ESP On the Team
s	Tips for the Wired Classroom
Departments
s	Letters
s	President's Viewpoint
s	My Turn
s	Health & Fitness
s	Money
s	People
s	NEA RA
s	Resources
s	In the Light Lane

News: Rights Watch
Supreme Court Says Yes to Vouchers, Drug Testing

Despite a legal setback, NEA's voucher battle will continue. On another front, the Supreme Court upholds student drug testing and nixes privacy lawsuits.

It came down to a single vote. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court in June upheld private school vouchers, rejecting NEA's argument that such schemes violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

Addressing the NEA Representative Assembly on July 2, outgoing NEA President Bob Chase vowed that the battle over vouchers is just beginning.

"To the voucher ideologues, we make this promise: We will expose your false promises. We will lay bare your lies," Chase said. "And as we have done in California, Michigan, and everywhere else that vouchers have been on the ballot, we will defeat you!"

NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, declared, "This does not end the legal battle," in part because voucher programs can still be challenged in state court. According to the Congressional Research Service, 38 states have clauses in their constitutions prohibiting the use of public money to aid religious schools.

In fact, NEA is sponsoring a state court challenge to Florida's statewide voucher program on the ground that it violates the religion clause of the Florida constitution, which provides that "no revenue of the state" can be used "directly or indirectly in aid of...any sectarian institution."

And, under a continuing new business item, NEA is committed to initiate a court challenge to any voucher plan enacted into law.

In an all-too-familiar pattern, the Supreme Court justices in the Cleveland voucher case, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, were sharply divided along ideological lines. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion for the conservative bloc, including Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor.

The majority reasoned that the voucher program is permissible because it does not provide direct government aid to religious institutions. Rather, the money flows through parents and thus "reaches religious schools only as a result of the genuine and independent choices of private individuals."

Writing for the four dissenters, Justice David Souter warned that using taxpayer funds to pay for religious indoctrination will increase tensions among religions.

He also suggested that this decision could be overturned by a subsequent Supreme Court, writing, "I hope that a future court will reconsider today's dramatic departure from basic establishment clause principle."

In another June decision, the Supreme Court ruled that school districts can require students to submit to random drug tests in order to participate in extracurricular activities.

In this case, students covered by a drug testing policy included members of the Future Farmers of America, Future Homemakers of America, Academic Team, band, and choir. The court reasoned that the school's interest in deterring drug use outweighed students' rights to be free of suspicionless drug testing under the Fourth Amendment.

In addition, the court ruled that students do not have the right to sue school districts, colleges and universities, or school employees for violating their rights under the federal privacy law, known as FERPA.

That statute prohibits educational institutions from disclosing a student's "educational records" to a third party without the student's permission.

The court held that Congress intended that the only remedy for a FERPA violation should be the cutoff of federal funds, and not lawsuits for damages by individual plaintiffs.

--Michael D. Simpson
NEA Office of General Counsel

Federal Appeals Court Bans Pledge of Allegiance in Schools

In a decision that stunned the nation, a federal appeals court in June ruled that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because the pledge contains the words "under God."

In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said that the phrase violates the First Amendment's prohibition on the establishment of religion.

Said the court: "A profession that we are a nation 'under God' is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation 'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a nation 'under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion."

The court added, "The coercive effect of this policy is particularly pronounced in the school setting, given the age and impressionability of schoolchildren."

If allowed to stand, the court's ruling would ban classroom recitations of the pledge in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

To date, however, the decision has had minimal impact; the court postponed the ruling from taking effect pending appeal.

Atheist Michael Newdow-who has a law degree and is representing himself-filed the lawsuit because he didn't want his second-grade daughter to be pressured into saying the pledge at her Sacramento, California, school.

Newdow's lawsuit challenges Congress' decision in 1954 to add the words "under God" to the pledge, which originally contained no religious references.

The Ninth Circuit concluded that the sole purpose of the 1954 law was to "advance religion" as a means of differentiating the United States from the "communist" Soviet Union.

This decision conflicts with a 1992 Seventh Circuit decision upholding classroom recitations of the pledge, finding that the pledge's reference to God was mere "ceremonial deism," akin to the motto on coins "In God we trust."

The case, Newdow v. U.S. Congress, will be appealed to the full Ninth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. Most legal experts anticipate that the ruling will be overturned.

At the 2002 Representative Assembly, the NEA Board of Directors voted to support the current version of the Pledge of Allegiance.

--Cynthia M. Chmielewski
NEA Office of General Counsel

NEA Today: Resources - September 2002

Sat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Reader Services
Archives
NEA Today Table of Contents: September 2002
Cover Story
s	My First Year
News
s	Debate
s	Textbook Democracy, NEA-Style
s	Quite Simply, an Issue of Fairness
s	School Funding Adequacy--What It Costs To Do the Job Right
s	Rights Watch
s	Interview
Learning
s	In Focus
s	Problems & Solutions
s	Reading
s	Inside Scoop
s	ESP On the Team
s	Tips for the Wired Classroom
Departments
s	Letters
s	President's Viewpoint
s	My Turn
s	Health & Fitness
s	Money
s	People
s	NEA RA
s	Resources
s	In the Light Lane

Departments: Resources
Finding Hope in Tragedy

A collection of art and poems by New York City public school children serves up compelling food for thought on this first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Messages to Ground Zero: Children Respond to September 11
Collected by Shelley Harwayne and the New York City Board of Education
176 pp. $14.95 paperback; Heinemann
To order, visit www.heinemann.com or call 800/225-5800.

It would be difficult to ponder the cruel impact of last September 11 without thinking foremost about children. Children now without parents. Children trying to make sense of a tragedy even adults haven't fully grasped. Children in disbelief that hatred could manifest itself so wretchedly.

Yet, as Messages to Ground Zero reminds us, children have a remarkable knack for understanding the nuances of tragedy-and more profoundly, for expressing creatively what they know. It is what they do here, valiantly, in a collection of images, poems, and essays that speak as much to the pain of that horrific day as to its hidden promise.

The children of the New York City Public Schools bear witness in this sparkling volume. For them, especially, the task of crafting these works could not have been easy. As the World Trade Center towers fell, they were the ones who smelled the smoke and heard the human wails- the ones who would watch the daily cleanup and suffer the nightmares.

Yet one senses from this collection that perhaps the very act of writing and drawing became these students' footpath to healing.

We hear the angst and, of course, feel the sadness-lots of it. But we also are bowled over by expressions of patriotism, peace, love, and hope.

In one essay, a 13-year-old Russian boy pretends to go back in time and stand face to face with Osama bin Laden, the child. "I look into his eyes and try to ask him, 'Do you need help? Do you need love?'" In his imaginary world, the boy has the power to kill little bin Laden. But recalling his war-torn years in Russia, he decides: "I cannot...I am not an evil person who can kill another."

It's all good stuff-and a blaring affirmation of the essential role of the arts in children's lives. Shelley Harwayne, the superintendent of New York School District #2 who assembled the book, says the students' impulse to write and paint was natural and immediate.

After the attack, so much "incredible" poetry and art poured into her office that she suggested the chancellor put out a call to all the city's superintendents. They received an overwhelming response and quickly earmarked profits from the resulting book to benefit children who lost friends or family that day.

"When people are coping with tragedies," Harwayne says, "they create beautiful things."

The desire, of course, is for others to be inspired by these works, talk about them, muse, and in the end, be hopeful. After all, if the children of New York can live through the deadliest terrorist act on American soil and still see promise, doesn't this say something about our own resilience?

--Marilyn Milloy

New from the NEA Professional Library

The First-Year Teacher: Teaching with Confidence (K-8)
By Karen A. Bosch and
Katharine C. Kersey
168 pp. $16.95 NEA members
$20.95 nonmembers
#2014-6-00-FN

Written by experienced teachers and recently revised-with 24 new pages of material--The First-Year Teacher offers step-by-step plans for the critical first four weeks of school. New teachers will find tips for communicating with parents, strategies for dealing with paperwork, solutions to common discipline problems, and activities to acclimate elementary and middle school students to their new classrooms. If you're new to teaching or merely new to your school, let The First-Year Teacher be your guide to a confident and successful year.

To order, call 800/229-4200, or check the Web at www.nea.org/books.

Excerp
Your school's open house is a valuable opportunity for making a good first impression with parents. Here [is] a great idea for making parents feel welcome and getting your students involved in the event.

Prepare a video depicting the school day to show to parents. Show students involved in various activities-academic subjects, special activities, lunch, getting on the bus. This is an excellent way for parents to learn what life is like for their kids, and it lets you "off the hook" from having to stand up in front of parents the entire night.

Books by NEA Members

Beyond the Bus Stop
By Robert Weyhmuller, Jr.
Parents obviously play a vital role in children's education, but sometimes they don't know the best ways to help their kids. Beyond the Bus Stop offers 180 tips on how parents can guide children to succeed in school. With 22 years of classroom experience, the author provides practical, jargon-free tips on working with teachers, homework, social skills, keeping kids healthy, and more. 198 pp. $11.95 from Heinemann. Order online at www.heinemann.com.

Here's How to Reach Me: Matching Instruction to Personality Type in Your Classroom
By Judith A. Pauley, Dianne F. Bradley, and Joseph F. Pauley
This guide for effective classroom management describes six personality types present in students and uses narratives to show teachers how to motivate each type. The concepts can bring new efficiency to staff and parent collaboration. 216 pp. $24.95 from Brookes Publishing Co. Order online at www.brookespublishing.com.

Look Again! Appealing Bulletin Board Ideas for Secondary Students
By Judy Serritella
Tired of putting up the same bulletin board every year? Then peruse this book for some new ideas. Choose from more than 200 suggestions, grouped by subject, that are simple enough to create quickly and designed to make students and faculty take notice. $36.95 from Linworth Publishing, Inc. Order online at www.linworth.com.

Using Journals with Reluctant Writers
By Scott Abrams
A language arts tool for teachers who want to persuade students to start the flow of ideas, this book demonstrates how to effectively lead students through critical thinking and relevant and proficient writing. Each chapter begins with a quote, offers questions for reflection and prompts for essay writing, and ends with a list of suggested videos and related readings. 146 pp. $29.95 from Corwin Press, Inc. Order online at www.corwinpress.com.

Primary Science Readers' Theatre
By Sharon Solomon
Get students reading with the 11 original scripts in this book. Each piece deals with science topics including habitats, nutrition, space, energy, dinosaurs, and the food chain. Scripts have enough parts for all to participate. Suggested songs reinforce concepts, while follow-up activities develop higher level thinking skills. 112 pp. $14.95 from Pieces of Learning. To order, call 800/729-5137.

TVTips

On September 11, all of the major networks-NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX-will air special programming to commemorate the tragic events of last fall. Check local listings for specific programs and time.

Accidental Hero: Room 408
PBS, September 19, 8 p.m., ET, check local listings.
NEA member Tommie Lindsey, a San Francisco East Bay high school teacher, changes the direction of students' lives by introducing them to forensics-competitive speech, debate, and oral interpretation. In a school where fewer than 38 percent of students go to college, almost 100 percent of Lindsey's classes continue on with post-high school education. This documentary follows Lindsey's racially diverse class for two years-from the classroom to the state forensic championship-and captures how Lindsey creates champions by guiding students to become confident competitors, who articulately confront issues of race, poverty, and cultural awareness in front of large audiences.

Looking Back to 9/11
The History Channel, September 2-14, check local listings.
The History Channel will air several programs focusing on the World Trade Center, the war in Afghanistan, and the history of Islam. The programs inlcude:

The World Trade Center: Rise and Fall of an American Icon--focuses on the building and the destruction of the towers from an engineering perspective;
The Day the Towers Fell--the first photographers at the site when the towers collapsed recount their stories;
Inside Islam--an in-depth look at the world's fastest-growing religion;
War on Terror--A Year in Review--A look at the war on terror.

Many programs will air more than once; check local listings for a complete schedule.

Teaching Civics After September 11
CNN, CNN Student News, September 10-14, check local listings.
CNN's four-part series looks at American students coping with last fall's tragedy. Part I explores how K-12 students feel about their world. Are they more patriotic or pessimistic about the future? Part II asks publishers, historians, and teachers if the civics curriculum has changed. Part III examines civics outside the classroom. Are students more interested in voting and political activism? And, Part IV compares the United States' past and future regarding constitutional government. At what other time in our history has our country faced a similiar challenge, and how did we respond?

A Tragedy Remembered
A&E, September 11, all day, check local listings.
A&E looks at last fall's events with these programs:

Investigative Reports: Anatomy of September 11--the story of the 100 minutes that changed the world;
Minute by Minute: Attack on the Pentagon--first-person accounts of the day's events with archival footage;
Biography: Rudolph Guiliani--the former New York City Mayor's reflections on his upbringing, political career, and September 11.

In Memoriam: September 11, 2001, New York City
HBO, September 11, check local listings.
HBO will rebroadcast this documentary that follows Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and his staff through the events of September 11-from the first realization of what happened, through smoke and fire, rescue and recovery, and despair and tears to a newfound strength. The program combines archival documents, eyewitness accounts, and news footage.

The Aftermath of Terror
MTV, Monday mornings, 4 a.m., ET, check local listings.
Examine the sorrow, suspicion, and fear that haunt a New Jersey town following September 11. The film presents the experiences of Arab-Americans in the town and one family's sorrow over the loss of their son. It also looks at the community that unwittingly harbored six of the terrorists, as it tries to overcome discrimination and prejudice.

In Search of America
ABC, September 3-8, primetime, check local listings.
This six-part series, hosted by news anchor Peter Jennings, takes viewers on a journey through modern-day America. The show examines areas of American life, such as religion, government, culture, and immigration, and relates them to history and the ideas of our nation's founders. In Search of America, which will also appear in book form, features a companion website (www.abcnews.com/America) with an online teaching guide for educators on each part of the series.

Classrooms in Crisis
A&E, A&E Classroom, September 12, 7 a.m., ET, check local listings.
Studies predict that within the next three to five years, half of the teachers hired today will quit. As these teachers turn to careers in other fields, the overall number of understaffed schools and overcrowded classrooms continues to grow. In this special, teachers, administrators, and parents reflect on what is happening in their schools and how the ensuing crisis can be averted.

Niagara: A History of the Falls
The History Channel, September 11-12, 6 a.m., ET, check local listings.
Located right in the middle of the state of New York and the province of Ontario, Niagara Falls is considered to be one of the most spectacular natural wonders on the North American continent. This show examines the natural and commercial history of the falls, and its role in the development of North American culture.

Hispanic Heritage Month
CNN, CNN Student News, September 15-October 15, weekdays at 4:30 a.m., ET, check local listings.
In September, in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month, CNN Student News will focus on current issues prevalent in the U.S. Hispanic community. An online classroom guide for teachers is available at www.CNNstudentnews.com.

Teenage Suicide: The Silent Threat
A&E, A&E Classroom, September 11, 7 a.m., ET, check local listings.
Teenage suicide incidents have more than tripled since the 1950s. Although they still do not fully understand the reasoning behind it, experts agree that teenage suicide does not discriminate and can affect any home or family. In this special, experts describe the many probable causes of this tragedy, and parents of teenagers who have committed suicide share their stories.

POV: Two Towns of Jasper
PBS, September, ET, check local listings.
Emmett Till was lynched in Jasper, Texas, in 1955. In 1998, another racially motivated murder took place in Jasper. James Byrd, an African American, was chained to a truck and dragged behind it for three miles. This collaboration between an African American and a Caucasian filmmaker documents contrasting views on racial interactions in this Texas town, giving an explicit portrait of race in America.

Between the Lions
PBS, September 16-November 18, ET, check local listings.
The family of lions in this kids' series runs a unique sort of library, one in which the characters from books come alive, vowels sing, and words have minds of their own. Children learn to read through fun activities involving puppets, animation, live action, and music, all from a research-based curriculum. Visit the "Between the Lions" companion website at www.pbskids.org/lions.

Classic Arts Showcase
Classic Arts Showcase provides free programming 24 hours a day of ballet, opera, theater, film, art exhibits, and classical music. To see which stations carry Classic Arts Showcase, or to order it, go to www.classicartsshowcase.org or call 323/878-0329.

Web Winners

Remembering September 11
NEA and the NEA Health Information Network are developing a Septem-ber 11 Remembered website. In one place, teachers, parents, and students can discover ideas, lesson plans, and discussion points to help in sharing and learning from this tragedy. Educators are also encouraged to send in their own best lesson plans and parent-child activities. Go to www.neahin.org/programs/schoolsafety/september11/index.htm.

Why the Towers Fell
At this NOVA and PBS website, you can learn about the construction of the World Trade Center towers and understand how the basic laws of metals and heat transfer all came into play when planes crashed into the towers. The website also personalizes its scientific approach by including a firsthand account of a man who escaped from a floor where the planes struck. Go to www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wtc/.

9/11 Curriculum Tools
A new "9/11 as History" website from the Families and Work Institute provides free, downloadable curriculum tools to help teachers talk with students about September 11. The curriulum comprises 16 lesson plans for pre-kindergarten through 12th- grade students on topics such as safety and fear, values, understanding current events, media awareness, and more. Go to www.familiesandwork.org.

Homework Help
Here's an easy access point that provides teachers, students, and parents a single source for posting and verifying homework assignments for grades K-12. There are no registration fees, and free e-mail and homepages are provided for teachers. Assignments are posted via an easy-to-use template. Go to www.yourhomework.com.

Tech Support
Computer help is only a click away at freeanswers.com. Here you can ask computer-related questions in plain English, and equally simple answers appear within seconds. If you have a printer problem or can't open a file, this site can most likely give you the answers. Go to www.freeanswers.com.

Science Sites
An extensive collection of science websites categorized by subject and grade level, Science Net Links provides reviewed sites for both teachers and students. Subjects include The Nature of Technology, The Living Environment, and Historical Perspectives. All sites are checked for content and accuracy. Go to www.sciencenetlinks.com/resource_index.htm.

Sounding Off
As more students use software such as Microsoft® PowerPoint® to enhance projects, they look on the Internet for clip art and images for their presentations. They also might want sound clips. FindSounds.com has over 100 different sounds from animals to household noises to the sounds of the weather. Visit http://findsounds.com to download some cool sound effects.

Poetry 180
The United States' Nobel Laureate, Billy Collins, selected 180 great poems so kids can read one every day of the school year. Ranging in topic and length, you can read the poems right off the site. Go to www.loc.gov/poetry/180/.

Family Math
Learn practical math with your family at this site, which features 80 10-minute problems on topics such as seeing how far a paper airplane can fly and calculating when people really watch certain television shows. Each activity encourages everyone to think about how math is used in our lives. Go to www.figurethis.org/challenges/toc.htm.

NEA Today: Reading - September 2002

Sat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Reader Services
Archives
NEA Today Table of Contents: September 2002
Cover Story
s	My First Year
News
s	Debate
s	Textbook Democracy, NEA-Style
s	Quite Simply, an Issue of Fairness
s	School Funding Adequacy--What It Costs To Do the Job Right
s	Rights Watch
s	Interview
Learning
s	In Focus
s	Problems & Solutions
s	Reading
s	Inside Scoop
s	ESP On the Team
s	Tips for the Wired Classroom
Departments
s	Letters
s	President's Viewpoint
s	My Turn
s	Health & Fitness
s	Money
s	People
s	NEA RA
s	Resources
s	In the Light Lane

Reading
A Community Rallies Around Reading

In one California town, NEA members reap the benefits of a reading program created and trumpeted by the local newspaper.

In Sandra Ballard's second-grade classroom at Franklin Elementary School in Bakersfield, California, it's not unusual to have a different visitor every day of the week. In fact, Ballard counts on them. That's because these visitors help small groups of her students overcome their frustrations around reading-and make great academic progress, too.

The visitors, employees of local car dealership Jim Burke Ford, adopted the struggling second-grade students three years ago as part of the Community Reading Project, a county-wide tutoring program that places volunteer readers in second-grade classrooms. The mentors rotate reading with students selected by Ballard.

"These students are able to read but struggle to keep up with their peers," explains Ballard. "With the help of these reading mentors, my students are making great progress."

The Community Reading Project began the spring of 1999 when the publisher and staff of the Bakersfield Californian became alarmed by one fact well-known to literacy advocates: If children aren't reading at grade level by third grade, they have only a one in eight chance of catching up. Californian publisher Ginger Moorehead not only recruited her employees as mentors to local schools but also urged area businesses to do the same. The newspaper then promoted the program with a series of articles highlighting schools and mentors.

Today, 250 volunteers visit schools throughout the community each semester.

Before entering the classroom, the reading coaches spend time learning precisely how to coach. "We go over cueing systems like taking a child on a picture walk through a book to find out the meaning of the book and how to help children recognize consonants and vowels," explains Teresa Irvin, project administrator and English and language arts coordinator with Kern County School Super-intendent's Office. "They learn how to guide the child's reading and help the child problem solve rather than offering the correct words."

Once trained, the volunteers spend one hour per week in the classroom, working with up to four children. At each school, program coordinators like NEA member Leslie Linney help the mentors settle in. "Many of the children in this program are in danger of falling behind their peers in reading. It's amazing how one hour a week can make a difference in kids' lives," says Linney.

For Ballard, accepting the mentors in her classroom every day was easy. "I know sometimes we teachers are reluctant to have someone in the room every day of the year, but when you realize these volunteers are there for the very same reason you are-to help the children learn-the transition is easy," she says.

"Each child spends time reading and bonding with the mentor," explains Ballard. "That scene is repeated with a different volunteer the next day and the next. By the end of the week, the student has spent time with five tutors who cared enough to help them read."

For her part, Ballard keeps the volunteers organized and on track with the reading. Three years into the project, she's thrilled with the results. "Each year I've had students who were two levels below the rest of the class at the beginning of the year and who brought their reading up to grade level," Ballard says. "I even had one child who was a 'select mute'-she didn't speak in first grade. But with the help of her reading coaches, she built up enough confidence and courage not only to speak, but also to read in front of the class.

"That's the mark of a good collaborative effort," she says. "It's all for the sake of the children."

--Anita Merina

You Can Do It, Too!

If you want to bring reading coaches into your classroom, you don't have to go far. Here are some tips and lessons learned from teachers and coaches.

Start with the research to make your case. Go to NEA's Read Across America website, www.nea.org/readacross for facts about children's literacy and suggested reading activities.

Contact your local newspaper, business, and Rotary or Kiwanis club. Many of these organizations are looking for opportunities to connect with local schools.

Don't forget NEA-Retired. Your local or state NEA-Retired affiliate wants to get involved, and NEA-Retired members make terrific reading volunteers.

Set up a sound training program for reading mentors complete with handbooks on coaching readers.

Organize materials for the mentors. Mentors are much more effective if they are well-trained and have materials ready to use.

NEA Today: Problems & Solutions - September 2002

Sat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Reader Services
Archives
NEA Today Table of Contents: September 2002
Cover Story
s	My First Year
News
s	Debate
s	Textbook Democracy, NEA-Style
s	Quite Simply, an Issue of Fairness
s	School Funding Adequacy--What It Costs To Do the Job Right
s	Rights Watch
s	Interview
Learning
s	In Focus
s	Problems & Solutions
s	Reading
s	Inside Scoop
s	ESP On the Team
s	Tips for the Wired Classroom
Departments
s	Letters
s	President's Viewpoint
s	My Turn
s	Health & Fitness
s	Money
s	People
s	NEA RA
s	Resources
s	In the Light Lane

Learning: Problems & Solutions
Time Machines and Basic Facts

How one Atlanta school meets the challenge of educating low-income children.

Imagine you have a time-traveling parachute and you're about to land in Africa in the 1600s. What should you pack for the trip? Whom will you meet? What will you do if they confront you?

And what exactly does "confront" mean?

Such are the challenges facing first graders in Antonio Coleman's classroom at Burgess Elementary School in Atlanta. In this journey to the past, Coleman teaches geography, history, and tough vocabulary words like "confront," "territorial," and "culture."

Burgess serves a low-income neighborhood-84 percent of its children get free or reduced-price lunches. Some educators say such children need instruction focused on drill and repetition. The staff here disagrees. They don't take multiplication tables or literacy for granted, but they think the best way to teach the basics is to involve children in learning adventures-like Coleman's mission to the African past.

When Atlanta principals were asked to choose a school reform model, Burgess Principal Gwendolyn Carter chose a Massachusetts-based school improvement organization called Co-nect, which "stresses the things we were already trying to do, teaching higher-order thinking through project-based learning."

Carter believes that this approach, besides being best for the kids, will also boost test scores. That's essential at so many public schools these days, and Burgess is no exception. Signs reminding staff of the never-ending effort to meet the state requirements are all over the building. "QCC LA 1.20: Reads with fluency and expression," says one sign, and another states, "QCC LA 1.35: Writes about self-selected topics."

There's also advice posted for children: "Test tip-When you are asked to draw a conclusion, you must make a good guess. The correct answer is usually not written in the article."

To get his first graders motivated for the learning effort, Antonio Coleman starts the year by asking them to touch the ceiling. That's not easy for six-year-olds, but eventually, someone thinks of standing on a chair. Then they try a table. Finally, standing on a chair on a table (with Coleman spotting to prevent falls), the children discover that a very short person can reach a very high ceiling.

This, Coleman explains to them, is what their year is going to be like: He will set high standards, and they will reach them. "Try everything you can, be creative, and you'll find ways to meet my expectations," he says.

Teaching with imagination takes more than talent. It requires on-going professional development and staff support. Using some of the funds allocated for the Co-nect program, Carter hired LaPaul Shelton, an experienced teacher, to provide that support. He is the Co-nect "facilitator" at the school.

Shelton says his goal is to get children so involved in the lesson that they become the leaders and their teachers can be facilitators.

On a typical day, he observes three or four classes, demonstrates a couple of lessons, meets with teachers to talk over what he saw in their work or what they saw in his, and spends the rest of his time making banners, bulletin boards, or whatever else teachers need him to do. "My job is to make their job easier," he says.

Their job is hard. Both the city and the state have given the schools targets for improving many aspects of student achievement and attendance. Each year, the targets are raised. Carter says her school is doing well, meeting or exceeding 68 percent of the targets in the most recent accounting.

Of course, the faculty know more about their students' successes and failures than scores can reflect. Coleman beams with pride about one little boy. "At the beginning, he was at the bottom of the barrel. He cried every day," Coleman recalls. "But he had potential. I took him out for lunch on a Saturday. I invested time in him. By midyear, he was hiding books inside books-fun books inside textbooks. He had gotten turned on to reading. Then he started pulling away from the pack, and by the end of the year he was in the top six."

Has he succeeded with every child? No, Coleman concedes. Two of his children last year did not go on to second grade.

What makes the difference? "Support at home," he says, without hesitation. The student who soared had a mother who brought him to Burgess' Saturday school and after-school program and sometimes stayed and worked with him there.

What will happen to the two who didn't go on to second grade? Coleman will keep working with them.

"I asked for them back because I know them better than a new teacher would," he says. "I'm hoping that by midyear, they will catch up. They're my responsibility."

--Alain Jehlen

For more: Call Burgess Elementary at 404/371-4850. Learn more about Co-nect at www.co-nect.net.

How I Did It

Jack Skrocky
Physics teacher
Omaha, Nebraska

A technique that gives all students a stake in making sure other students learn

For years, my physics students shied away from challenging problems. Given a choice, they would avoid the tougher problems on tests. But now my students tackle and solve these problems.

The solution was "cooperative learning," which differs from group work in one crucial respect: risk. Often in group work, one person does the work (and the learning) while the others just copy. In cooperative learning, each person's work is essential.

I divide my students randomly into groups of four. All four get problems with the same wording but different numbers. The four answers are combined to produce a "check number," which I give them. If their answers don't add up, they have to work as a team to find the errors.

Then comes the risk. I randomly pick a team member to solve the same kind of problem. That student's score counts for the team.

This is extra credit. Students still take chapter tests individually, but it's rare for students to get anything but a perfect score!

I used to see heads down on the desks, kids tuning out. Now discussions are going on in every group, involving every student.

This approach can be used in many other situations besides physics problems.

Dilemma

How do you get a shy or reluctant student to participate in class activities?

Students must feel it is safe to give a wrong answer. It is tempting to call on children whose hands immediately stab the air when you ask a question. I use sticks with student names so they get the same number of chances to respond. And I work like mad to give a student every chance to give a correct answer. I may give a hint. I tell them it is okay to be wrong. We often learn more from wrong answers than right ones.

Denise Brasile
Fourth-grade teacher
Scottsdale, Arizona

I use team activities to let the shy student work with one other person and gradually increase the number of team members. My students give oral presentations, first in a group, then as individuals. My grading rubric gives students useful feedback and allows me to record positive comments-not praise but specific strengths to build on.

Pamela Galus
High school science teacher
Omaha, Nebraska

In "randomly" calling on students, choose shy students in the middle-not first, not last. Structure questions so you can amplify a whispered one-word answer into a complete response. But don't move on without an answer.

Distinguish between three brands of shyness:

a) fear of talking;
b) lack of ability or confidence;
c) coming from a culture that values shyness.

Ask questions that are not too easy for bright students and not too hard for the less able.

Paula Drew
Middle school language teacher
Parsippany, New Jersey

Being a male third-grade teacher, I sometimes have students, especially girls, who are shy. One would not talk to me at all! First, I ask a previous teacher if this behavior is normal for this child. Then I ask the parents for recommendations.

Talk to the child to find out interests that can be linked to lessons. Joke with the child to see if you can get a smile that might open a door.

Persistence is the key! The student will realize that you genuinely care about him or her.

Jason Bowser
Third-grade teacher
Brunswick, Maryland

I had two shy twins. I discovered that they loved WWF wrestling and soap operas. I began talking with them every day about their interests, and they started to respond. (I had to watch the TV shows.) Eventually, l had the class involved in a daily, five-minute discussion led by the shy students.

Their mother told me this has carried over into their home life as well. She is thrilled.

Deborah Southall
Seventh- and eighth-grade special education teacher
Pine Hill, Alabama

I have spent much of this year trying to get a kindergartner to participate in our class activities. He volunteered frequently, but when called upon, he had nothing to say. No amount of rewards or cajoling helped. He would sit at his table and stare.

I thought about the building block of self-esteem-real work. I made him my official plant waterer and the results were noticeable immediately. Now when he held up his hand, he had a response. He began interacting with the other children and doing his papers. He is coming out of his shell. It will take him another year to be ready for first grade, but we are seeing progress.

Sue Sanders
Kindergarten teacher
Kenton, Ohio

Got an Answer?

How do you keep your lesson plans from getting stale?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@list.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Include your name, city, state, and job title. If published, you will receive an NEA Today mug!

Sparking Interest

New members get connected to the profession-and the Association.

Ashley Martinson-Voshell always knew she wanted to become a teacher. Both of her parents were teachers, and she couldn't imagine pursuing a different profession.

But after a year and a half of teaching, the first-grade educator still didn't know much about her Association.

"I knew the people were probably really nice, but I didn't know where to start," says Martinson-Voshell, who teaches at Evergreen Heights Elementary School in Washington. "I wanted to learn more about NEA and our local because I didn't really know what they provided."

That's when Martinson-Voshell discovered Sparks, a Washington Education Association program created four years ago to connect new teachers with their peers and their local Association. After a weekend retreat with Sparks, Martinson-Voshell decided to become an Association representative for her school. She attended the weekend retreat this past spring with 30 other educators.

"I realized we all had the same questions," she says. "The program motivated me a lot. Now I'm going to be a building rep."

Sparks retreats provide a safe environment where new members can share what's on their minds and also build a positive connection with the Association, says Eddie Westerman, a WEA communications field representative and creator of Sparks.

During a retreat, which lasts from a few days to a week, participants don't sit passively in a lecture hall listening to presentations. They're stretched out on the floor and draped over couches in a bed-and-breakfast, discussing everything from classroom management to the role of a building rep.

Teachers and education support professionals with fewer than six years of experience can attend the retreats. Organizers survey the participants beforehand to find out what information the attendees want to learn. Association staff, officers, and former Sparks participants facilitate the sessions, but they always encourage new members to ask questions and share their experiences. The weekends often include outings with former Sparks participants, skits, sessions on stress and wellness, and information about the Association. At the end of the retreat, participants research a topic and present their own session to their colleagues.

"By teaching one another they build this network and they have this confirmation that they are not alone," says UniServ Director Diane Flynn, the program's new coordinator. "They start to find a community within their Association, which I think is an integral part of the union."

More than 600 members have participated in Sparks retreats in Washington, says Westerman. Affiliates in Oregon, Hawaii, Nevada, Idaho, Alaska, California, and Delaware also offer the program.

"Most new teachers are thrown into a building where people already are established, and here there was a group saying 'you are not alone,' so we instantly bonded," says Dee Brastad, a fourth-year teacher at Southridge High School in Kennewick, Washington.

Want to get more involved in your Association? Sparks participants have some advice:

Ask your building rep or local officers for information;
Don't be afraid to ask questions;
Find other young or beginning teachers with common interests;
Attend your local Association meetings.
Try not to get discouraged;
Encourage your local leaders to learn more about Sparks.

"When you're new you spend a lot of time at school just trying to manage your time," says Martinson-Voshell. "The Association has a lot to offer, but to know what it offers you have to get involved."

--Kristen Loschert

Nobody Ever Told Me

Dress Code Red
As every high school teacher knows, when the thermometer soars, girls' necklines plummet.

On a particularly hot day I noticed one of my students wearing a revealing top. I was anxious to begin the day's lesson, so I did not send her to her locker for a jacket. In the middle of class, the young girl's breast escaped from her shirt. As I fought to maintain my composure, I scanned the room. No one had noticed the fashion faux pas, including the unsuspecting girl.

My mind raced - to call her name would surely draw attention, but what else could I do? How long would it take her to realize that she had revealed her undergarments to her classmates? Much to my relief, and her horror, the student soon realized her mistake and quickly and discreetly put herself back together. The student and I never discussed the situation, and I never saw the top again.

Erin Barrett
High school English teacher
Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Dilemma

How do you get your students to ask good questions?

In my seventh- and eighth-grade language arts classes, I challenge my students to ask simple and open-ended questions. I ask questions that require some imagination and often have no set answers.

Christian Milord
Junior high English teacher
Brea, California

On the wall in the front of my classroom, I have a sign that says "ASK QUESTIONS." It stretches two-thirds of the way across the wall. The sign is one of the main things I point out on the first day of school. This way, from the very beginning we have open lines of communication.

Toni Roccia
Elementary science teacher
Warsaw, Virginia

I use a list of "wh" words (who, what, when, where, why, how, which) to help students form questions. I remind the class that when we ask questions, we hope to get more information about the subject. I flip through the "wh" words and read them to help stimulate the beginning of some other types of questions.

Karen V. Adams
Kindergarten teacher
Madras, Oregon

If you really want to show your children how to "think about their own thinking" then you must read at least one of these two books: Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman and Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis.

Samantha Duffield
Second-grade teacher
Bristow, Virginia

From the beginning of the year I teach students what a good question is and model it in our writing block. I encourage students to ask questions about the class discussion and to think of questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no.

Cathay Qualls
Fifth-grade teacher
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Got an Answer?

How do you deal with a child who comes to school sick?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@list.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Include your name, city, state, and job. If published, you will receive an NEA Today mug!

Resources

First-Year Fumbles
The NEA Professional Library has released a new revised edition of Pitfalls and Potholes, part of the NEA Checklist Series. This handy guide includes tips for landing a job, managing student conduct, getting along with administrators, avoiding lawsuits, teaching with confidence, and more. To order a copy or for more information, go to http://home.nea.org/books/.

,b>New Teacher Survival Guide
Check out the U.S. Department of Education's Survival Guide for New Teachers. This publication includes reflections from 53 award-winning first-year teachers who talk candidly about their successes and setbacks. The book includes tips for working with colleagues, administrators, parents, and students. For a free copy, go to www.ed.gov/pubs/survivalguide/.

Teach Like a Pro
Looking for lesson plans or a place to share ideas with other K-6 teachers? Visit www.proteacher.net/. This site includes lesson ideas for reading and language arts, science, math, social studies, and the fine arts. Check out the "Busy Board" message board for other ideas from fellow teachers.

Two Minute Tips

Sink or Float
Here's a classroom management strategy that focuses on holistic and individual accountability. Begin each day by drawing a ship on the board. When a student disrupts the class, ask the disruptive student to erase a portion of the ship. This implies that the ship (the class) is sinking. At the end of the day, if part of the ship remains, the class has floated. As the year progresses, you can draw a smaller ship, indicating higher expectations for class behavior.

Kendra Duncan
Memphis, Tennessee

Writing Tapes
When my fourth graders have completed rough drafts of their writing, I always confer with each student individually.

When I can't meet with students one on one, I read through a student's writing exercise and record my comments on an audio tape.

Students then read their rough drafts as they listen to the tape. The students can replay their tapes if necessary. The tapes also come in handy when a student is absent.

Marsha Taylor
Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Have a great idea? You can pass along your tip to NEA Today's 2.7 million readers in one of five ways:

By mail: NEA Today, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036
By phone: 202/822-7201
By fax: 202/822-7206
By e-mail: Ideas@neatoday.nea.org
Through the Web: www.nea.org/neatoday

NEA Today: President's Viewpoint - September 2002

Sat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Reader Services
Archives
NEA Today Table of Contents: September 2002
Cover Story
s	My First Year
News
s	Debate
s	Textbook Democracy, NEA-Style
s	Quite Simply, an Issue of Fairness
s	School Funding Adequacy--What It Costs To Do the Job Right
s	Rights Watch
s	Interview
Learning
s	In Focus
s	Problems & Solutions
s	Reading
s	Inside Scoop
s	ESP On the Team
s	Tips for the Wired Classroom
Departments
s	Letters
s	President's Viewpoint
s	My Turn
s	Health & Fitness
s	Money
s	People
s	NEA RA
s	Resources
s	In the Light Lane

President's Viewpoint
NEA Everywhere

We are the right people, in the right places, at the right time. And we have the right ideas for public education.

I wish first to thank the delegates to the 2002 Representative Assembly for their trust and confidence in electing me NEA President. I am committed to doing all that I can to ensure that our Association steps forward as a focused, united, member-driven, image-enhanced, community-involved, and politically bipartisan leader in the fight to ensure a quality public education for all children and students.

Today's education landscape dictates that we get right down to business. The opponents of public education are engaged in a crusade to destroy trust and confidence in America's public schools. The urgency of this threat dictates that we move beyond polite conversations to meaningful action. We must mobilize an unprecedented response to public education's unprecedented challenges.

The Supreme Court's decision this summer has energized the advocates of vouchers. The Court has given the green light to privatizing public education-turning the education of our children into a commercial, for-profit concern. Let us be clear: Vouchers are bad public policy, and we are steadfast in our resolve to stop the voucher movement through community and political advocacy. We were not successful in the Supreme Court, but we will succeed in the court of public opinion-a court that convenes in our neighborhoods and communities, and whose verdict will carry the day.

This year, we have been presented with a new federal education law-the so-called "Leave No Child Behind Act"-that was developed largely without the input of teachers and support professionals on the front lines. We propose a different approach to education reform: Reform developed collaboratively with those who will be held accountable for its success. Reform that is developed with us, not for us. Reform that will truly succeed in leaving no child behind.

My friends, we are 2.7 million members strong-one in every 100 Americans. NEA is everywhere. We are the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, and uncles in the communities of the very policymakers who have neglected to consult us, to respect us, to support us. We need to seize every opportunity to educate our communities as to who we are as an Association and what we stand for. We must enlist our communities in our defense of public education. And when they respond with active support for public education-especially on Election Day-then we will see positive results from our policymakers.

We offer a powerful vision-a vision that is at the heart of the American dream: the right of every child to a quality public education, free from fear or intimidation, in an atmosphere that is conducive to learning. In other words, our vision is that every public school will be as good as our best public schools.

NEA has tremendous potential. We have vast untapped human resources. Now is the time for NEA to become energized, mobilized, and organized. Now is the time for us to flex our full potential as individual members and as a united Association. We are the right people, in the right places, at the right time. And we have the right ideas for lifting up struggling public schools-and for making better the schools where most of us work.

Again, thank you for choosing me to lead our great Association.

It is a great honor. Together we will face great challenges in the years ahead. But I believe with all my heart that when our NEA family is focused and united, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.

Comments? E-mail Reg Weaver at RegWeaver@nea.org.

NEA Today: People - September 2002

Sat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Reader Services
Archives
NEA Today Table of Contents: September 2002
Cover Story
s	My First Year
News
s	Debate
s	Textbook Democracy, NEA-Style
s	Quite Simply, an Issue of Fairness
s	School Funding Adequacy--What It Costs To Do the Job Right
s	Rights Watch
s	Interview
Learning
s	In Focus
s	Problems & Solutions
s	Reading
s	Inside Scoop
s	ESP On the Team
s	Tips for the Wired Classroom
Departments
s	Letters
s	President's Viewpoint
s	My Turn
s	Health & Fitness
s	Money
s	People
s	NEA RA
s	Resources
s	In the Light Lane

People
National Teacher of the Year

The moment he stepped into the classroom, Chauncey Veatch fell in love with his students. He admits he had a few concerns, but he never questioned his decision to teach.

Now Veatch hopes he can share his love of teaching with his peers as he tours the country as the 2002 National Teacher of the Year.

"I never thought I would get it," Veatch says of the award. "But maybe the the rewards I receive from teaching are something I can share."

Veatch decided in 1995 to become a teacher, after serving 22 years in the U.S. Army. He sought advice from his brother and sister, both teachers at the time, then contacted a school district near his home in California about working as a substitute teacher. The school system convinced him to interview for a full-time position. Six days later, he started teaching.

During the next three years, Veatch taught middle school during the day and pursued his teaching credential at night and on weekends. In 1999, Veatch assumed his current position as a social studies teacher at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, California.

Veatch spends much of his free time with his students, attending their sporting events and family celebrations. Of the 34 seniors he taught last year, 17 said they wanted to become teachers.

"Our students are watching us every day, and if they see that we love what we're doing, of course it will be an appealing career," he says.

Preserving the Past In Pewter

Modern conveniences have their place, but NEA-Retired member Dick Graver helps preserve the past as one of a half-dozen master pewterers in the United States.

"I certainly enjoyed teaching, but this is a bit more therapeutic and relaxing," says Graver, who taught industrial arts and technical education courses for 32 years until his retirement in 1997.

The Pennsylvania member developed his interest in pewter while pursuing his master's degree at Millersville University in the 1970s, when he studied under renowned metalware expert Henry J. Kauffman. He now specializes in 18th- and 19th-century reproductions of such items as plates, teapots, candlesticks, mugs, and utensils.

Graver uses traditional methods to create his pieces-casting them in metal molds; skimming, burnishing, and spinning on a lathe; soldering parts together; and polishing.

"It looks relatively easy, but you really have to get the feel of the metal," says Graver. "There isn't a whole lot written on the subject, so you just learn by experience."

Teacher on the Trail

More than 5,000 schools worldwide follow the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on the Web each year. But NEA member Kim Kavanagh, a second-grade teacher in Ellisville, Missouri, experienced the 2002 race in person.

As the Iditarod's Teacher on the Trail, Kavanagh (shown here with one of the race participants) spent a month traveling by plane along the 1,112-mile race through the rugged terrain of Alaska. During her trip, she visited various checkpoints along the trail, interviewed mushers, and helped out wherever she could. She posted pictures, journals, and lesson plans daily on the Web so students and teachers at her home school, Ridge Meadows Elementary, could follow her journey.

Kavanagh communicated with her class daily through e-mail and even conducted a video teleconference so she could speak to students individually. Kavanagh was fortunate enough to have computer access at all of the checkpoints.

"This was such a great way to combine adventure and learning," Kavanagh says. "I missed the kids terribly, but this was a way for them to be included in what I was doing, even if it wasn't directly."

For more information, go to www.iditarod.com.

Teaching from Center Stage

NEA Student Progam member William Mack always knew theater could entertain people. After he joined the theater department at the University of Kentucky, Mack learned that theater could educate them as well.

Mack (shown here on left) belongs to the cast of Afrilachia, a play based on a book of poems by Frank X. Walker. The show's 13 cast members explore various race issues of the Appalachian region by interpreting Walker's poems through drama, dance, and song.

Mack, a senior, joined the cast because he "believed in the message, the focus they had, and the fact that they were trying to raise cultural awareness," he says.

The troupe first performed the play two years ago as part of a program celebrating 50 years of integration on the university's campus. After a season of campus performances, the cast toured the state for a year performing the show. They plan to launch a sequel this fall.

"After I finished Afrilachia I knew I wanted to pursue the dramatic arts," says Mack, who changed his major to fine arts education. "This opened my eyes on how to make theater entertaining and educating at the same time."

For more information about the Student Program, go to www.nea.org/students/.

National ESP of the Year

Don't tell Colorado's JoAnn Falk she can't do something, because she'll prove you're wrong.

During her 27-year career, Falk organized a local Association, won bargaining recognition from her school board, created a district education foundation, and even painted murals in the schools. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. This spring, NEA recognized Falk with the 2002 Education Support Professional of the Year Award.

"To me that is the top prize you can get for support professionals," says Falk, a central office secretary from Pueblo. "It means a lot to me and my Association."

In 1994, Falk and her colleagues belonged to the Colorado Classified Employees Association, but the union did not have bargaining rights. So Falk organized the Association of Classified Employees and approached the Colorado Education Association about the local's desire for bargaining recognition. In the end, she and 13 colleagues switched their memberships to CEA. With CEA support, members of ACE fought for school board recognition, but the district superintendent blocked their efforts.

That didn't stop Falk. The local organized an election campaign for two school board candidates sympathetic to the local's cause. The candidates won the election and the new school board recognized ACE at the board's first meeting. Within six months the system had a new superintendent. Contract negotiations also began that year.

"In my eyes the classified people were so abused under the previous superintendent that they had no one to stand up for them," says Falk, ACE president. "I help organize throughout Colorado and I always tell them, 'don't think it can't be done. If you think it can be done, it can.'"