Speed Racer

Photo by David Zalubowski

Colorado member Stacy Kuhn always sets the pace--figuratively and literally. Each day she steers the lives of energetic first graders at Clyde Miller Elementary School, then switches gears to fight for teachers' rights as vice president of the Aurora Education Association. After school, she slips behind the wheel of the pace car for CART (Championship Auto Racing Team), a rare all-female team of professional race car drivers.

As a pace car driver, Kuhn leads the racers around the track at the start of a race and during hazardous conditions, such as after an accident. Racers may not pass a pace car when it is on the track, so Kuhn provides an essential function that helps keep drivers safe during the race.

Kuhn, now 34, developed her interest in cars and racing as a child. Her stepfather, a race car driver, asked her if she wanted to try it and at 17 she started racing competitively. She quickly surpassed the skill of her stepfather, and in 1991 became the first woman to secure the title of Rookie of the Year from the Sports Car Club of America.

Then, after an impressive run as a competitor, Kuhn accepted an invitation to audition for pace car driving. She has spent the past five years driving with the team, which includes accomplished American and Canadian drivers.

Kuhn feels proud that she and her teammates have helped increase interest in racing among young women. "It's still a very male-dominated sport, the good old boy's club," she says. "But, I see a lot more women involved in motor sports, which is great."

--Lorinda Bullock

Battling the Bay

Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay once housed the toughest criminals in the nation. Today, it is the haunt of some of the toughest athletes in the nation, including George Rehmet, a special education teacher at Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland, California.

Rehmet is part of an elite group of swimmers who brave frigid temperatures and swift currents to swim the one-and-a-half mile stretch of water from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shore. He has made the swim not once, but 12 times.

"I was inspired by my late father," says Rehmet of his fitness hobby. "Each New Year's Day he would surf in the cold ocean water of northern California. I first thought of swimming the Bay as kind of a salute to him and because I like the idea of challenging nature."

While Rehmet, 36, enjoys the challenge, he is not reckless. Rehmet attempted the feat only after becoming a successful triathlete. When he makes the swim from Alcatraz, fellow swimmers follow him in an observation boat to warn him of hazards and monitor his physical condition.

"The water can get as cold as 52 degrees and an average swim takes 45 minutes, so hypothermia is a real threat," says Rehmet. "There are currents of eight miles an hour. You also have to know if ships are approaching. You never do something like this alone, or without formal fitness training and a doctor's OK for extreme exercise."

Rehmet's ultimate tribute to his father came this year, when he made the swim from Alcatraz on New Year's Day.

"My father would have liked it," says Rehmet. "It was tough, but not as tough as teaching. Teaching is a whole different level of toughness."

--Matt Simon

Perfect Harmony

Long after students and faculty have left the halls of Garside Junior High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, the sound of heartfelt gospel music often fills the air as night custodian Johnny Wilburn practices a tune or tinkers with the notes for the latest song he's composing.

But Wilburn's performances aren't limited to the empty halls of a junior high school. This up-and-coming contemporary Christian artist has sung with R&B artist Angela Winbush, Michael Bolton, and Grammy award-winners Take 6. He also has opened for gospel heavy hitters Daryl Coley and Commissioned. In December, Wilburn and his group One For All performed on BET's Bobby Jones Gospel show, a popular showcase of new talent and well-established gospel stars.

Bothered by today's popular music--which he believes degrades women and focuses on flashy material possessions--Wilburn set out to write and produce more uplifting tunes. "There's a lot of junk out there. It's time for us to stand up and say, 'I'm not going to do that with my gift,'" he says.

He describes his music style as "laid back." Fans can hear the influence of Coley and jazz and funk artists like Earth, Wind, and Fire in his song "Shine," featured on his online music website http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/103/johnny_wilburn.html. In the song, Wilburn croons over a smooth up-tempo beat reminiscent of his performances with a jazz group, appropriately named Smooth, at a number of Vegas night clubs.

But despite his extensive repertoire, Wilburn remains committed to his true passion, gospel music. "I've got to be a gospel artist. That's what gets me going," he says. "I've seen that kind of music change people more than any other type."

--Lorinda Bullock

Reclaiming Hope

Serving the public doesn't end when you retire. NEA-Retired members like Chloe Giampaolo and Grady Yancey are sowing seeds of hope by tackling some of the toughest issues confronting their communities.

"A man's greatest fear in prison is dying at the hands of another man--and it happens all the time," says Chloe Giampaolo, explaining what draws two dozen inmates to the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), a series of conflict resolution workshops she facilitates at the Maryland Correctional Institute at Jessup (MCIJ).

The project, founded in 1975 by inmates and Quakers in New York state, helps participants shed destructive impulses and build positive attitudes and skills for dealing with others. Maryland member Giampaolo, who taught in public schools for 35 years, has conducted AVP workshops since 1989.

"I'm not a bleeding heart," Giampaolo says, "but I've gained a healthy respect for people who are incarcerated that society has disowned. I've always been in awe of the talent and intelligence of the men I work with."

Some of the best inmate facilitators in the program are "lifers": men who know they will never again walk freely outside prison walls. "These men see that they can make a difference to the younger men coming in," Giampaolo explains.

The program has helped Giampaolo grow as well. "It's hard to explain just how, but it's made me more of a whole person," she says. "It gives me a great feeling to work with men who want to change, and to serve as a vehicle for change. That's what keeps me going."

Whether they are sent by the courts or sign up because they have reached a dead end in their jobs, the students who come to Grady Yancey's adult literacy classes in Atlanta are assured of his commitment to their cause. If they attend class regularly and carry out the assignments, he'll do everything he can to help them read, write, and compute successfully.

"Most of the students are working toward their GED," Yancey says. "Many of the younger ones have not completed school because of poor attendance. The older ones usually come in because they're having problems finding a job, or they've been downsized and are trying to get a GED before going on to junior college and learning additional skills."

In two years of teaching adult literacy, Yancey, a retired social studies teacher, has helped about 80 students improve their literacy skills. Many have gone on to get their GED. Although the program doesn't follow up formally on all graduates, "the students who have finished say that the program has been very helpful for going on to the next step, such as vocational schools or to college," Yancey says. "Some have gotten better jobs and have improved their earnings."

Yancey enjoys the program so much he hasn't missed a day since he started. "It's extremely rewarding for me to work with people so interested in improving themselves," he says. "My greatest satisfaction comes from helping people--period."

--John O'Neil with additional reporting by Mary Kershaw

For more about these members and the NEA-Retired program, visit www.nea.org/retired.

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