Creative Travel

Over the Rainbow?

Tired of tripping down the same old brick road? If your travel horizon is as flat and gray as Kansas in black and white, it's time to banish that wicked witch of a travel agent and upgrade your vacations to technicolor.

By Sabrina Holcomb

Another frenetic school year is coming to an end, and you probably feel like somebody has dropped a house on you, too. But things are looking up, because NEA Today has found some fun and unusual vacation spots that give a whole new meaning to somewhere over the rainbow. No matter what your budget, a little imagination and information can go a long way. Tour NEA Today Extra for specifics, but read on for ideas to get you started.

Life Is a Buffet

Food Fantasies

Traveling by sea? Chocolatier Magazine sponsors special chocolate cruises that offer seminars on everything from chocolate sculpturing to the history of chocolate, and passengers on Norwegian Cruise Lines to the Caribbean can nosh on treats like chocolate pizza and chocolate sushi from an afternoon chocolate buffet. Then there's Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, where visitors can make their own chocolate products and the truly sybaritic can indulge in a chocolate spa with whipped cocoa baths and chocolate sugar scrubs. At home? Order chocolate products online for your own spa treatment. Get together with friends for a chocolate potluck and share recipes for chocolate appetizers, entrees, and desserts.

Vegetarians, are you tired of being an afterthought on the dinner menu? There's a cornucopia of options, if you just know where to look. The Vegetarian Resource Group in Baltimore, Maryland, helps vegetarians and vegans with their travel plans. Spiritual Guides' Vegetarian-Restaurants.net lists vegetarian restaurants and natural food stores in all 50 states, and VegDining.com has a world map of vegetarian restaurants. The Vegan Passport, published by Vegetarian Guides, explains in 38 languages, with accompanying photos, what vegetarians and vegans can and can't eat. At home? Treat yourself to products from Fresh Body Market, a vegan line of skin products packed with real fruits and vegetables.

If you're looking for a combination culinary & cultural experience, you can visit the Food of the Gods Festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, for cooking classes, wine receptions, craft tours, ice cream and exotic fruit tastings...you get the idea. And if your favorite fare is traditional home cooking (called legacy cooking by food historians), there are "To Grandmother's House We Go" cooking tours through Mexico and Italy. At home? Have relatives contribute to a family cookbook filled with recipes, photos, and journal entries, then pack the car for a visit to your very own grandma.

Call of the Wild

Adventure Quests

So you've been on a sled before, but have you been on a dogsled? If you're looking for a cool new ride, Alaska Dog Sledding in St. Michael specializes in small-group dog mushing trips into remote Alaskan wilderness, and Wintergreen Dog Sledding Vacations in Minnesota offers a variety of dogsled vacation packages and workshops. closer to home? The next time you're on a ski vacation, visit a nearby kennel for a tranquil dogsled ride through the woods.

If you have the soul of a romantic and a taste for the exotic, you may want to kick up a little dust on a camel safari in India's Thar Desert, where you'll explore palaces, ancient fortresses, and medieval cities. At night, you'll camp at an oasis, count the brilliant stars, and listen to the haunting music of a sitar. closer to home? You don't have to travel to India to ride a "ship of the desert." There are camel safaris in California, Utah, Nevada, Texas, and even Michigan.

Go to the Head of the Class

Teacher Specials

Nature lovers, if you own a tent or an RV, you can camp for three "free" months at the John Pennekamp Coral State Park in Key Largo, Florida, where you can enjoy kayaking, canoeing, glass-bottom boat rides, snorkeling, and scuba-diving—all in exchange for helping to maintain the park for 20 hours per week.

There's No Place Like Home!

Virtual Vacations & Other Stuff

"Most of our kids and families are constantly on the go. We're never at home to enjoy the fruits and labors of what we spend our working lives to build. How many historical sites or resort areas are right around the corner from your own home? How about picnics in your own backyard? What happened to badminton, family dinners, sitting on the back porch listening to crickets in the evening, nature walks, county fairs, fireworks, evening ice cream rides—or just enjoying home? This is the true vacation of the 21st century!"

Check out links to the "vacations" in this article and more travel adventures from NEA members.

Pulpit Chorus: 'Fix NCLB'

Illustration: Photodisc

It's no secret that education and community groups are joining hands in increasing numbers to press for improvements to the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). But what about religious leaders? Should they keep hands off? Absolutely not, says Jan Resseger of the United Church of Christ (UCC). Indeed, she feels that working to fix the law is a religious duty. "Public education is the largest civic institution in this nation," Resseger notes, "so it's important that 'love our neighbors as ourselves' be embedded in that institution."

Resseger, who works for the UCC Justice and Witness Ministries, has been mobilizing religious groups to join the alliance of organizations working together for common sense changes in the law—and she's making progress: the 53-member alliance now includes the National Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church, and several other Christian and Jewish organizations.

Resseger says she and her colleagues are alarmed at the growing resegregation of our schools, made worse by NCLB because urban schools are targeted as failures even when they're doing a good job. The way to really leave no child behind, Resseger argues, is to "invest in policies that we know matter, like small classes and incentives for the best teachers to come into the most challenging areas. We need to invest more in places where children face the challenges of poverty."

Read more at NEA Today Extra. Find out about NCLB myths.

Good News!

Today's teens are having fewer babies and are less likely to die in an accident, homicide, or suicide, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual Kids Count report. Births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17 have fallen from 38 in 1994 to 23 in 2002, the most recent data available. And deaths occurring because of accident, homicide, or suicide among 15- to 19-year-olds dropped from 68 in 1994 to 50 per 100,000 in 2001, the most recent data for those numbers.

Notepad A Benefit That Isn't Proponents of 401 (k)-style retirement plans often say these plans are better suited to today's mobile employees, who might not stick around long enough to vest in a traditional defined-benefit pension plan. A recent study by Hewitt Associates hints at the downside: many workers with 401 (k)s use the portability to raid their own nest egg. A whopping 42 percent drained their retirement account as they cleaned out their desks—even though it meant they had to pay taxes on the funds and an additional penalty. Even among those ages 50–59, who should be coming down the home stretch to retirement, one-third cashed out their 401 (k)s when they changed jobs. Defined-benefit pension plans not only offer more retirement security via a guaranteed monthly check, they often allow you to purchase service credit, in case you move from one retirement system to another during your career. Check with your pension system for details. But many states are considering forcing public employees into 401 (k)-style plans. For more, see the April NEA Today cover story or go to retirement publications. Have a great idea? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Belle of the Ball

Illustration: Digital Vision

Ah, prom night—the time teenage girls don pretty gowns and fancy themselves princesses. But what does an aspiring Cinderella do if she doesn't have a dress for the ball?

She turns to her fairy godmother, of course. At least that's what hundreds of girls in Clark County, Washington, are doing, thanks to the Vancouver School District Foundation. Last year the foundation began Operation Fairy Godmother, a program to collect used and new formal and semiformal dresses and accessories, for the county's high school seniors. Girls either donate their used dresses to select a different one at no cost or simply purchase a gown for $10. Students who don't have a formal to donate or the $10 to buy one may be eligible to receive a dress voucher. The program collected more than 500 dresses the first year.

Liana Brown, a senior at Mount Vancouver High School who helped with the dress campaign last year, estimates that 65 girls donated dresses from her school alone. "That's 65 girls who'll be able to get an affordable dress for the prom this year," she says, "and that's great."

No glass slippers, though.

—Maya T. Prabhu

Helping Hands

Illustration: Greg Hargreaves and Levan/Barbee

When mammoth waves destroyed lives and schools in the Indian Ocean last December, educators around the world opened their wallets to help their colleagues rebuild. As of NEA Today's press deadline, NEA members had donated more than $104,000 to the tsunami fund established by Education International (EI), the world federation of educators' unions. Meanwhile, members have given $6,000 to the EI Fund for Beslan, Russia, where a very different, human-made disaster hit in September: 20 teachers murdered in a school hostage takeover. The fund will guarantee that their children can complete their educations.

It's About Time!

Time! What time? We know you don't have enough hours

in the school day to do everything you need to do—take attendance, track and report student discipline, write lesson plans (aligned to state standards, of course), compile Individualized Education Plans, and, oh, what else, maybe teach?

Check out the NEA Teacher ToolKit, where help is just a click or two away. The ToolKit is a suite of Web-based tools designed by your colleagues to help you assemble class rosters, track attendance, report discipline problems, and document academic interventions and their results.

With the ToolKit's seven-step Individualized Education Plan (IEP) module, it's also much easier to develop a student-focused, standards-based IEP, says NEA's Patti Ralabate. Normally it can take three hours per plan, but "if you follow our Web-based tool you can go to the IEP meeting with draft goals, seek the parents' assistance, and make changes to them if necessary, and have the IEP done in an hour—maybe less."

More neat stuff—including online grade books, personalized assessments, and performance tools to show the percentage of students who have mastered each standard—will be available on the site by May 1 at an annual cost of $71.95 for NEA members.

'Sorry, that's mine now!'

Illustration: Chad Shaffer

Somewhere by your knees, underneath the test reports, Individualized Education Plans, and Slim-Fast snack bars, there's a desk drawer with the good stuff. It's a stash of super bouncing balls, singing pens, love-stained notes, and other precious distractions that your students are just dying for—because you snatched them from their hands six months ago.

So give them to us! Share some of the best stories, oddest items, and other excitements from your drawer of confiscated goodies.

Send them to neatoday-reply@list.nea.org.

Global Takes AIDS in Africa More than two-thirds of the nearly 40 million people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa. Already, 11 million children have been orphaned by the disease, and that number is likely to grow to 20 million in the next five years, according to a report in Education Week. Many teachers are succumbing as well. Orphaned children and children with sick parents are much less likely to go to school, where they could learn how to stay clear of the pandemic. Dr. Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, says canceling international debts, lowering Western trade barriers, and cutting drug prices could do more for Africa than aid from rich countries. Dropping out in China While China's cities are zooming ahead, rural areas are falling behind — economically, in health care, and also in education. Junior high school dropout rates in rural areas are rising to nearly 40 percent, reports China Daily. One Chinese education leader says family finances and student boredom both play a role. He says rural education should shift away from preparation for college admissions tests to focus more on preparing students for farm life.   Have a good story? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Remembering One of Their Own

Photos courtesy of Gregory Family

Joyce Gregory and Neva Rogers never met. But they shared a common commitment to their students, their friends, and their colleagues. "She was just an outgoing person," says Jamie Baggett, a special education teacher who worked with Gregory at Stewart County High School in Tennessee. "She cared so deeply [about people] and she loved children."

The same can be said of Rogers, who taught English at Red Lake High School in Minnesota. "She was just very jovial, a wonderful woman," special education teacher Patty Stomberg says in a tribute article from Education Minnesota. "She will be missed."

It's no surprise then that the untimely deaths of these two NEA members have impacted countless people nationwide.

In March, Gregory, a paraeducator and bus driver, was fatally shot by a student during her morning bus route. Barely three weeks later, Rogers died when a student embarked on a shooting rampage at her school.

Friends describe Gregory as a loving woman, strongly connected to her Christian faith, who volunteered with the local Cub Scout troop and youth sports teams. Rogers, meanwhile, loved to garden and bake and often brought fresh flowers and homemade cakes to school for her colleagues. 

To send your condolences, visit NEA Today Extra.

First Amendment's Last Stand?

Nearly half of high school students say newspapers shouldn't be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories, according to a recent University of Connecticut survey. More than a third think the First Amendment goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. And while 97 percent of teachers and 99 percent of principals believe people should be allowed to express unpopular views, just 83 percent of students feel the same way.

Help Wanted

Looking for a new job?

Well, you're in luck, according to an annual report from the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE). Of the 64 education fields surveyed by AAEE, half currently have a shortage of qualified educators. The greatest demand exists for special education, math, science, bilingual education, and English as a Second Language teachers. Educators who teach social studies, elementary school, health, and physical education, meanwhile, face a tighter job market because these areas have a surplus of qualified candidates. Want to improve your odds of finding a job? Check out urban and rural schools. They generally have a greater need for teachers than schools in the 'burbs.

NCLB Dividends

You probably won't find Elaine M. Garan's book on President George W. Bush's reading list. In Defense of Our Children: When Politics, Profit, and Education Collide (Heinemann, 2004) could be the strongest assault yet on the so-called No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). The beneficiaries of NCLB, she suggests, are not the kids, but the companies that sell the tests and other services required by the law.

Garan, a former reading teacher, takes aim at government-approved phonics and reading programs used to meet the NCLB requirement that methods be researched-based. She disputes the data used for these programs and says such "approved" strategies undermine teaching and learning.

The book, written in question-and-answer format, reveals which corporations are getting ahead in the name of school reform, while taxpayers foot the bill and many children are left behind.

Among the companies cashing in: CTB/McGraw Hill, publisher of standardized achievement tests; Voyager Expanded Learning, a provider of reading programs; and the Sylvan Learning Centers, which offer tutoring.

Garan opposes federal mandates on education including high-stakes testing. She cites data from the federally run National Assessment of Educational Progress that shows 21 percent of fourth graders and 20 percent of eighth graders "proficient" in reading last year—mirroring results from 1992. So much for the No Child Left Behind fast track.

—Thomas Grillo

Two-Minute Tips Homework Check I have an easy way to take attendance and check homework at the same time. I print an 8 1/2 x 11-inch copy of my seating chart on heavy paper, like card stock. Then I staple or tape a write-on transparency over it. As I move around the room row by row, or group by group, I use a wet-erase marker to mark whether the students have their homework.   —Jennifer Etsell Columbus, New Jersey Bulletin Board Hint Interesting and theme-related fabrics work great as backgrounds for bulletin boards. The fabrics don't fade and you don't have to throw away a lot of paper at the end of the year. Just fold up the fabric, store it, and use it again next year. —Susan McCullough Prineville, Oregon Poster Storage If you are looking for an inexpensive way to store your posters, try using the flat boxes that hold tag board. The boxes come in several sizes. Check with your office, art department, or other colleagues who purchase tag board to see if they have any extra boxes. —Mary Jo Hendrickson Walnut Grove, Minnesota Have a good story? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Mid-Atlantic Mobility

Looking for a way to increase your job prospects? Well, a new reciprocal licensing agreement among five Middle Atlantic States and the District of Columbia may give prospective educators the flexibility they need to go where the jobs are. Aspiring teachers can now seek out an optional designation to become a Meritorious New Teacher Candidate (MNTC), which allows them to teach in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia without having to meet additional state certification requirements. (Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia already offer reciprocity to experienced teachers who achieve National Board Certification.)

To qualify for the MNTC distinction, teacher candidates must complete a state-approved teacher preparation program, complete at least 400 hours of supervised field experience (of which at least 300 hours are directed instructional student teaching), earn a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average, and score in the top quartile of students nationally on the Praxis II tests and on the verbal portion of the SAT, GRE, or ACT.

Want to see if you make the grade? Visit their website for more information on how to apply for the distinction.

Photo Faux Pas

Early in my first year as an eighth-grade math teacher, we had picture day for the annual yearbook. During my planning period, I reported to the library (where the photos were being taken), signed up for a picture, received a slip for the photographer, and got in line. When I handed the photographer my slip, she told me to have a seat and asked me what grade I was in. I was so stunned that I just stared at her before asking if she was kidding. The best part? My students were having their pictures snapped at the same time. I got lots of laughs from everyone.

—Amanda Gilstrap
Auburndale, Florida

State Report

May 2005 Table of Contents Cover Story Good News Features Log In and Learn NCLB Myths Taking the Hit Over the Rainbow? Departments Spotlight ESP Money Bulletin Board People Last Bell Editor's Note President's Viewpoint Up Front Leading the Way State Report Rights Watch Debate Resources Books by NEA Members Reader Services Weigh in on Debate Topics Change your address Write a letter View past issues Check out our bonus edition

Advertise in NEA Today!

A Bill of Goods, Not 'Rights'

Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) is opposing a so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) under consideration in the legislature. TABOR initiatives, now being pushed by ultraconservatives in 13 states, usually call for both limits on state revenue—held to the rate of population growth plus the consumer price index (CPI)—and voter approval of all tax increases.

"Taxpayers have a right to know TABOR will mean drastic and painful reductions in government services and will lock public education in the cellar," stresses OEA President Roy Bishop. "It would be difficult to undo the damage the TABOR would cause in Oklahoma."

Connections, Not Quizzes

Minnesota. On a frigid February day, Education Minnesota members rallied at the state capitol with parents and community activists—a bundled-up body 6,000 strong—to urge lawmakers to make public school funding the state's top priority. One speaker, Minnesota Teacher of the Year Tom Keating, questioned how the state can demand that teachers be held accountable while denying them the tools to do their jobs. "We need to make connections with students," he said. "Connections are the key to student learning, not quizzes!"

'All the Creativity is Gone'

Maine. State education authorities are hearing lots from educators about the downside of rigid state accountability and assessment plans: excessive paperwork, long hours, and the loss of "joy" in teaching. In one Nebraska hearing, a teacher reported that continual testing has "brought tears" to the eyes of elementary students. And way up in the Northeast, Maine Education Association member Steve Knight told education department officials: "We are setting one standard to cover an enormous range of kids. All the creativity is gone; there are too many meetings and assessments."

Maine Deputy Commissioner of Education Patrick Phillips has been listening. "The standards-based movement is not about more work for teachers," he acknowledges. "We need to stop doing some things; we need more time; we need a mid-course review."

No Time Even To Complain

Washington In a recent scientific phone poll, 70 percent of Washington Education Association (WEA) members reported concern over problems that take time away from teaching. In a less formal, targeted survey that followed, more than a few responses went like this: "Because of my workload, I don't have time to write out a story. Sorry."

The silver lining: Some WEA locals are tackling workload through creative bargaining. In Everett, for instance, the contract specifies limits on assignments for first-year teachers and requires that each newbie have three release days, at his or her discretion, for planning, observations, or work with a mentor.

A Pay Stub Says It All

New Mexico. NEA-New Mexico is lobbying for a living wage for public school employees. To drive the point home, Las Cruces paraeducators Terry Ybarra and Marcia Brown recently appeared before the House Education Committee, where Brown, a 16-year employee, testified that she earned $14,000 last year. And Ybarra, a 17-year vet, presented her biweekly pay stub—$231.72 after taxes.

"Is this a weekly salary?" asked committee chair Rick Miera.

"No, biweekly," responded Ybarra.

"Last year, my take-home was $233.57."

"I had no idea. I didn't realize...," said Miera. Now he gets it.

Idaho Pay: Small Potatoes

Idaho. In February, Idaho Education Association President Kathy Phelan toured the state to campaign for passage of a Senate resolution to increase starting teacher pay to $35,000 and the average salary to $55,000 by the 2008–09 school year. In one event open to the press, Phelan told southeastern Idaho teachers that many professions requiring equivalent training and degrees pay "tens of thousands more" to start than Idaho's teacher minimum of $27,500.

Trouble for the Terminator

California. The California Teachers Association (CTA) is organizing on all fronts to oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "misguided agenda for public education." Besides calling teachers a "special interest" that the state must battle, the governor seeks to repeal the law voters approved to guarantee minimum funding to public schools. He also seeks to privatize teacher and public employee retirement systems, make it more difficult for public employee unions to get involved in politics, and undercut locally bargained contracts.

We Are Not the Problem

Michigan. Brace for yet more attacks on collective bargaining. At press time, an Ohio state senator introduced a bill to strip bargaining rights from public workers, while the Michigan Education Association (MEA) faced bills to stick public education employees into a state-run health plan and to prohibit bargaining over health benefits. "It's time to take the gloves off," says MEA President Lu Battaglieri, "and proclaim that public school employees are not the cause of the education funding problem."

President's Viewpoint

Heroes Every One

'From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.'

—Arthur Ashe

Photo by Sandy Schaeffer

We read about them every month in the pages of this magazine. We rub shoulders with them in our schools. We team up with them to make our communities better places.

Heroes.

The single mom who, after working hard all day as a high school custodian, trudges off to the local elementary school to meet with her child's teacher, instead of staying home and putting her feet up.

The retired music teacher who spends his mornings using music to teach language to preschool children with special needs. His students often learn to sing first and then to speak.

The middle school math teacher who stays late four days a week to tutor students in geometry and algebra so someday they will be able to attend college.

The cafeteria worker who, while dishing out the food she's cooked, keeps a vigilant eye on her diabetic students so they don't eat too much sugar and starch.

"It is easy to take our unsung heroes for granted, but we must not. For they are the heart and soul of our Association." —Reg Weaver

The elementary school teacher who goes to school at nights to learn Spanish so she can communicate with her students' parents.

The special education assistant who helps the special education teacher with children with the most severe disabilities—changing their diapers when they need changing.

The science teacher whose enthusiasm and preparation makes the subject come alive in her students' minds, lighting a fire that will glow for a lifetime.

The high school teacher who starts a chess club as an outlet for his most restless, high energy students—and then hauls them off to every chess tournament in the state.

The school bus driver who every year organizes a skiing weekend for inner city kids who otherwise would never get to ski or play in the snow.

The community college instructor who teaches English as a second language to immigrants at four different campuses and spends so much time in her car that her colleagues have dubbed her "the road scholar."

Heroes every one.

It is easy to take these folks for granted, though, because they don't toot their own horn. They're everyday people, not celebrities. I like to call them "unsung heroes." In fact, they don't think of themselves as heroes at all, and when someone like me sings their praises, it kind of embarrasses them. But that doesn't stop me.

Our unsung heroes are the exception to the rule that when all is said and done, more is said than done. Their actions speak louder than words. And in a society that rewards getting rather than giving, they give of themselves for the good of others, and then they give some more.

Yes, it is easy to take our unsung heroes for granted, but we must not. For they are the heart and soul of our Association. These are the folks who, when you come to them with a problem, always say: "What are we going to do about it?"  They think in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities, solutions rather than setbacks, and dos rather than don'ts.

Of course I am aware that a hero is often defined as somebody who does something dangerous to help somebody else. The firefighter who rushes into a burning building to save a child is definitely a hero. For me, however, the burn unit nurse who tenderly and skillfully cares for that firefighter's wounds through his long and agonizing recovery also qualifies as a hero. And so, too, do the many public school and college employees and retired and student educators I have had the privilege of meeting and knowing as president of NEA.

As educators and Association members, we are in the hope business, and these unsung heroes of ours, above all else, give us hope even during the times when hope seems ready to freeze over.

Unsung heroes of NEA, I am your number one fan!

NEA President Reg Weaver

]]>http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0505/people.htmlhttp://www.nea.org/neatoday/0505/people.htmlWed, 27 Apr 2005 04:00:00 GMT

People

The Making of a Star

Win or lose, Anwar Robinson is an "American Idol" to his students and colleagues at Edison Middle School in West Orange, New Jersey.

Photo courtesy of American Idol

Anwar Robinson was a hit at Edison Middle School long before the rest of America discovered him on TV's red-hot American Idol. The soft-spoken vocalist and school choir director is lauded there for his teaching as much as his talent.

In case you haven't been glued to your television, Idol is the top-rated reality series in which singers compete for a recording contract with a major label. Robinson beat the odds by making it past the initial cut of 100,000 hopefuls to become one of the 12 finalists who ended up as household names—whether or not they take the top prize. As NEA Today went to press, eight contestants were left and Robinson was still standing. He was eliminated from the competition shortly after. If it were up to his fans at Edison, Robinson would've make it all the way.

Robinson, who studied classical music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, radiates a "fresh style," says school band director Jay Gitter. "When Anwar introduces a new piece of music, he sings the song to the kids to heighten their interest. Then he'll explain what it's about and break it down so they'll get the musical elements."

Photo by AP/Marko Georgiev

"The students definitely bought into what Robinson was teaching because they could tell he was genuine," adds Joe Romano, who teaches sixth-grade band and plays trumpet. "He uses his gift and maximizes it to its full potential." Romano admits his colleague's multi-week run on the show also keeps him tuned in: "I've caught the Idol fever, too."

 "We all got on the bandwagon," says principal Errol Scales, a former junior high music teacher and jazz trumpeter, "holding Anwar parties in the building every Tuesday evening, with screens set up in the auditorium to watch the competition." Scales says Robinson's celebrity has given

Edison new status: "He has put us on the map. The school is viewed in such a positive way."

Most important, Robinson's run on Idol sends a positive message to his students. During one show, Robinson announced to the audience that auditioning for Idol despite the odds proved to his students that all of us can follow our dreams.

—Mike Tucker

Left: Edison students use their cell phones to post votes for their choir director. Right: Anwar Robinson performs on American Idol.

Forging History

Pull an award-winning book from the library shelf at Edward Devotion Primary School, and odds are you'll find it was written by the librarian who checked it out for you.

Photo by Patricia McDonnell

As a massachusetts school librarian, Norman Finkelstein manages a room full of books, but what's truly remarkable is that 13 of those books were written by him. In fact, Finkelstein recently received a National Jewish Book Award for his latest work, Forged in Freedom: Shaping the Jewish American Experience.

This is the second National Jewish Book Award Finkelstein has received, among many other awards, including the Golden Kite Honor Award given to him by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in 1997 for With Heroic Truth: The Life of Edward R. Murrow.

Finkelstein's other young adult nonfiction books and biographies have exposed his readers to a variety of topics over the past 20 years, ranging from the golden age of radio to the Cuban missile crisis. "I've been fortunate," says Finkelstein. "Each of my books has allowed me to pursue a

personal interest. And I love the research part of the process—searching through the archives, poring over books, going on the Internet and learning new things—that's what I enjoy most of all. The library is the perfect laboratory for any writer."

This is Finkelstein's last year as the librarian at Edward Devotion School (K–8) in Brookline, which has a special library archive devoted to President John F. Kennedy, Devotion's most famous student. Finkelstein, who hopes to spend more time writing after retirement, plans to add even more history books to those library shelves. "Students have very little understanding or connection with history before they were born," says Finkelstein. "An understanding of the past helps them grow."

—Donna Chiu

A Diversity Pioneer Goes Green

Most gardeners dabble in a few types of plants that interest them most, spending an hour or two planting and pulling weeds when they can. Then there's Sara Flores.

Visit Flores' home in Corpus Christi, Texas, and you'll discover more than 50 different—and quite diverse—plant species, including orchids, Japanese bonsai trees, roses, cactuses, and prized Texas hibiscus. As a result, something magnificent is flourishing in her gardens every season.

"I love all my plants," says Flores. "I have quite a mixed bag growing, but I don't want to limit myself."

Flores works one full day each week tending to her plants  in addition to a little time each day. She also belongs to four different gardening groups.

"I've had a real green thumb since I was a teenager. But I taught for 39 years, and my husband, Humberto, and I have six kids…so only since retiring have I had the time I really want to spend in the garden."

Flores specialized in elementary school bilingual education and now boasts that all five of her daughters are teaching and working with Spanish-speaking students. "It's very gratifying to see them following that course," she says, adding she plans to mentor student teachers going into bilingual education.

Despite earning her Master Gardener's certificate, Flores still considers herself a student. "I'm still learning," she laughs, "my roses didn't turn out so well the other year."

—Matt Simon

Got a Tip?

Do you have an interesting story idea? Contact Sabrina Holcomb.

Leading The Way

Next Step: College?

For many high schoolers, the answer is a resounding no—and not because there's not a will; there's just not a way.

Photo by Photodisc

Around the stacks of plywood and plumbing parts at her local home-improvement store, NEA Executive Committee member Marsha Smith recently ran into a former student—wearing that bright orange apron. And no, it was not flattering, not when Smith knew the girl could have been wearing a white coat or black robe.

"She was very smart," Smith sighs. "But when she graduated from high school, she had decided not to go to college—it was going to cost too much money. She just told me that she was so sorry she hadn't gone."

These aren't easy times to be a college-bound kid—and it's not because of those Chihuahua-sized dorm rooms. It's those husky-sized tuition bills that are getting in the way. One year at a private college averaged $20,082 in 2004, and that's not counting the price of room and board. At public colleges, the average price was $5,132, up more than 10 percent from last year.

"Some parents recently told me that the only way they were going to be able to send their child to school was to refinance their house," Smith says. "What we have are students who are able to go to school and families who want to send them—but they need assistance." That's why students depend on a variety of sources to pay the bills: Mom, Dad, and frequently, especially for students from poor homes, the federal government. Unfortunately, the pace of government aid hasn't kept up with the escalating college costs—and President Bush's proposed federal budget would make it even worse for the neediest students.

The Rising Cost of College

The budget calls for an increase in funding for Pell Grants, which range in value from $400 to $4,050 and don't have to be repaid. Under Bush's proposal, the maximum ceiling would be raised by $100 a year until it reaches $4,550 in 2010. But the grants don't stretch as far as they used to, and the extra $100 won't nearly make up for the cuts that Bush also is proposing.

For example, Bush would kill the $66 million Perkins Loan program, which provided an average $1,800 to more than 673,000 students last year. At the same time, the President would wipe out Upward Bound and Talent Search, two venerable programs that help low-income kids prepare for college.

NEA leaders, including Smith, are working hard to make sure that doesn't happen. "All high school graduates should have access to higher education, regardless of their family income—no ands, buts or maybes," says NEA President Reg Weaver. "All students deserve to go as far as their talents will take them." And so this spring, as Congress works to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, the NEA and AFT are asking legislators to:

• ensure that the neediest students get sufficient federal aid;
• stabilize Pell Grant funding and restore its purchasing power;
• address working and non-traditional student needs, such as child care;
• use a variety of approaches, including direct lending, fixed-rate loan consolidations, and Perkins Loans;
• ensure that students aren't excluded because of their (or their parents') legal status;
• broaden loan forgiveness for educators in high-need public schools to include all subject areas.

It's already difficult for students of color to "buck the system" that says smarts aren't cool, says Smith, who is Black. (She still remembers her teenage son coming home from school and in a moment of insanity, saying, "What, do you want me to be smart?!" Well, yes….)

But, after you've established that smart is cool through exposure to the highly educated world—a lesson taught to Maryland kids by Smith's late mother, also a teacher, who established an annual tour of Historically Black Colleges—it's really disheartening to have to dress those kids in orange aprons because they can't afford college, Smith says.

As a secondary teacher, Smith keeps in touch with many kids who don't go on to college. "Once they reach their middle 20s, they regret it," she says. "They compare themselves to their peers who went to college and they find they're in jobs that pay less money. They always say they never knew it was going to be like this….They're struggling every day."

—Mary Ellen Flannery and Nancy Kochuk

Last Bell

Board Certified

How a novice became a master teacher with a little help from her friends.

By Julie Hutcheson-Downwind

At the time, I was teaching at a predominantly American Indian school. Most of my children were from my tribe, Ojibwe (Anishinabe). I wanted to be the best teacher I could be so I could give my students every opportunity to experience success in education. I attended many trainings and tried every new initiative, but what I was really looking for was a way to compare my teaching to that of experienced professionals teaching students of the same age in the same content area.    

Finally in my fourth year, a colleague gave me a copy of the standards for National Board Certification. I felt that they were descriptive of accomplished teaching, yet not prescriptive. Knowing that they were written by teachers in the field, I felt they were authentic and of the highest quality. I finally had a road map to follow to become the teacher I wanted to be.

There were 20 of us who went through the certification process together, eight in the early childhood group, from many different kinds of schools. We met twice a month, with the assistance of a facilitator and a group of National Board-certified teachers from the previous year. The most memorable part of the process was working with so many wonderful teachers. We didn't have release time for visiting classrooms, but we watched each other's videotapes and talked over our work. I finally had a place to share with other teachers. When people gave feedback, it was not evaluative, but "this is what I do to address a particular standard."

It was difficult. Anyone who commits to this process is taking a risk, opening themselves up to self-examination and examination by others. But I feel that teaching practice improves wherever the National Board standards are examined. It is not the final result—whether a teacher gets National Board certified—it is using the standards to guide instruction that leads to accomplished teaching.

It was hard to keep working at it with all the other demands on my time. Often, it was eight o'clock at night before I could get to my certification work, and I was tired. I was in an urban area, in one of the toughest schools.

We each put together portfolios with videotapes, student work samples, written commentaries on our lessons: what I taught and why I felt it demonstrated meeting a standard.

I still keep the standards. My book is pretty tattered at this point because I use it. Those standards have stood the test of time, and I still ask myself, am I doing this? What needs improvement? For example, the standards tell us that "play can be an important vehicle for integrating and understanding content across the curriculum." For my children, play is important. I may teach them math with games and songs because they learn best that way. The certification process made me more aware that we need to teach the material in ways that help children retain it.

There are manuals that tell us what content we need to teach, but not often how to teach it. It's in the how that the magic happens.

Almost 10 years have gone by. Many things have changed in education and my practice has evolved. But as I begin the process of renewing my National Board Certification, I still see the strength and guidance in the standards. They still provide the road map to the kind of teacher I want to be, the kind I want for my own children.

Julie Hutcheson-Downwind teaches kindergarten at her neighborhood school, John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Find more about National Board Certification at NEA Today Extra.

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Education Support Professionals (ESPs)

'We Want Some Kind of Say'

Arizona support professionals create a local from scratch. Their formula: numbers, leadership, and vision.

Photo by Saul Loeb

It's a Southern Arizona portrait: a mining town—San Manuel—with a closed mine and little to show but near-empty stores and $8-an-hour jobs. But look beyond the smokeless smokestacks of BHP Copper, once the nation's largest underground copper mine, and you'll see something truly beautiful: the Galiuro Mountains, the stands of cactus, and a rock-solid local community in which neighbors help neighbors in need.

There isn't an education support professional (ESP) in Mammoth-San Manuel Unified School District #8 who didn't feel the shock waves of BHP's abrupt shutdown in 1999, which threw some 3,000 people out of work. But this economic tsunami never washed away San Manuel's union tradition or its community spirit. Both live on in the Arizona Education Association's (AEA) newest affiliate, the Mammoth-San Manuel ESP Association (MSMESPA).

Like their resilient community, which has reinvented itself as a retirement destination, MSMESPA members have dusted themselves off and built an Association from nothing, independently of teachers. They organized last December, and by March MSMESPA was at 60 percent of potential membership and still growing.

The odds against success were high. Arizona's a right-to-work state, in which ESPs are legally "at-will" employees without the right of due process (an AEA legislative priority). Worse yet, at the beginning of each school year every San Manuel ESP must sign a "letter of intent" declaring that he or she can be terminated "with or without reason, with or without notice."

But MSMESPA members, who are fast approaching their first goal of formal school board recognition, have much going for them: guidance and training from AEA, a positive relationship with the administration, and assertive leaders with lots of vision. "We've been through a lot of insecurity in this town," says MSMESPA President Judy Dykes, a once-unemployed BHP Copper receptionist who became the school district warehouse manager. "We want to make an impact on our future, we want open communications and proper information from the district, and we want some kind of say."

Local Secretary Linda Corona, a transportation/maintenance department secretary, reiterates: "We'd like to establish a good working relationship with the superintendent and school board to make sure our members receive fair wages and working conditions."

This new NEA local affiliate is already down that road. Superintendent Ron Rickel invites MSMESPA input on concerns such as bus driver hours, and the school board now pays more attention to the issues of everybody from para-educators to cleaning staffers.

"When we show up in big numbers at school board meetings," says Corona, "things aren't voted on so easily. They take a second look!"

—Dave Winans

More ESP stories in this issue:

• NEA members mourn death of Tennessee ESP
• New Mexico ESPs testify for a living wage
• ESPs share success stories from the school year

Cover Story

May 2005 Table of Contents Cover Story Good News Features Log In and Learn NCLB Myths Taking the Hit Over the Rainbow? Departments Spotlight ESP Money Bulletin Board People Last Bell Editor's Note President's Viewpoint Up Front Leading the Way State Report Rights Watch Debate Resources Books by NEA Members Reader Services Weigh in on Debate Topics Change your address Write a letter View past issues Check out our bonus edition

Advertise in NEA Today!

	We know, we know. The year's nearly over and your head's still spinning from the loud drumbeat of demands: Test, test, test. You need improvement. Do more with less. Get with the program. More...
Students prove the grateful not dead Come out and play Small steps of Eddie So good, so good, you see! Oprah and me The power of one The light bulb goes on My own best student Chessmate! Enter stage left: a little fun, finally You're invited to... Food for thought I'm gonna learn how to fly! Hodja and his students

Edited by Mary Ellen Flannery

But guess what? You still rock—and so do your students. You told us so. From Arkansas to California, New Jersey to South Dakota, you wrote in to share your successes, your joys, your epiphanies—and they're awesome, the little ones along with the big. So take a deep breath and for a minute forget the lesson plans. Don't think about your salary, or budget woes, or the letters N-C-L-B. Instead, read on for the news stories that don't make local or national headlines. They're the victories of your colleagues, but they're ones all educators can claim.

Students Prove the Grateful Not Dead

Photo by Amber Wilkes

Gandhi said it's the simple things in life that take your breath away.

As part of a research project for my master's degree, I led my students at Mitchell Senior High School in weekly gratitude journaling.

Every Monday, the "journalers" would record their personal thanksgivings. They started off with responses such as, "I'm thankful for family and friends." But, as the school year went on, their gratitude grew more reflective and more insightful. They wrote about long runs on cold days, the crackle of fire and the melody of falling water, and the glorious imprint of the season's first snow.

My favorites? The students who appreciated "warm chocolate chip cookies when the chocolate is still melty," "the ability to make decisions and learn from them," and especially the one who wrote, "I'm thankful for being thankful."

When the experiment had concluded, I found my journalists had grown more polite than the teens in my other classes.

When I handed out Tootsie Rolls, I counted a greater percentage of "thank-yous" among my writers. And, while I don't know if they'll continue to journal, I do believe they'll continue practicing a new appreciation for the simple things in life. And, for that, I AM grateful.

—John Solberg, Psychology, Mitchell, South Dakota

Come Out and Play

Photo by Digital Vision

There was a time, maybe 50 years ago, when the schools here in tiny, rural Riceville, Iowa, had a big, energetic parent-teacher organization. According to old news stories, the group's 300 members packed the school auditorium.

But by 1990, when I graduated from Riceville High, the PTO didn't even meet anymore.

And, by 1995, when I took charge of the school's 19 first-graders at Riceville Elementary, there wasn't much interest in resurrecting one. But boy, there was a need. Our parents needed support; teachers needed supplies; and kids needed a place to play. Where the school should have had swings and slides, there was just a great big slab of concrete.

So two years ago, a small group of parents and teachers resurrected the PTO and started an energetic fund-raising campaign. With a school carnival, we quickly raised $6,000 for basketball hoops. With a monthlong penny war, we raised another $3,000. (In the last three days alone, we raised $850. Kids just got wild when they learned the losing teacher would kiss a pig.)

By last July, we had raised $40,000— enough money for an 8-foot-tall play set, complete with double slide and climbing wall. Compared to what we had, it's like the Magic Kingdom!

Now, we're turning our attention to all sorts of new projects to benefit our needier children: Math Nights, mentoring programs, and more. This year, a first-place finish in the Scholastic National Scrapbook contest netted us $2,500 worth of books to share with Riceville's kids. We're struggling with declining enrollment, declining funding, lack of teachers…we're fighting the same problems that teachers all over are fighting, but the PTO really has been a bright spot in our day.

And if you could have seen the kids when they first climbed onto their new play equipment—it was phenomenal!

—Tammi Mueller, First Grade, Riceville, Iowa

Small Steps for Eddie

Photo by Digital Vision

Eddie came to me seven years ago, in a wheelchair at the age of 14. I looked right in his eyes and knew he had the potential to walk. Right then, I made a personal goal that Eddie would walk down the aisle for his graduation.

My colleagues thought I was crazy. If it had been up to him, Eddie would have stayed right where he was. The wheelchair was a security thing for him. But we got him up and getting stronger and, within a few years of entering our MOVE program, Eddie was able to take his first few steps independently.

Once he started walking, you could just see the pride in his face—pride in the fact that he could take himself anywhere, to the market, on errands around campus. When he developed double pneumonia for the second time, the hospital nurse told me that he probably would have died if he hadn't been walking.

By 2000, he was able to walk a full lap around our football track—without his walker—and he stopped bringing his wheelchair to school altogether. And then, last year, Eddie graduated from Miller High School. Not only did he walk down the aisle, he walked up the stage ramp and sat in his assigned chair all by himself.

I sat in the audience and cried.

—Eileen Roseman, Director of MOVE

(Mobility Opportunities Via Education) program at Joaquin Miller High School in Reseda, California (Here's more information about MOVE).

So Good, So Good You See

Photo by Ozaukee Press

Last year, the staff at Thomas Jefferson Middle School just didn't have enough time to put together their annual Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast—our traditional kickoff to a month's worth of NEA's Read Across America events. But this year, I said we were going to do it, come hell or high water, and this place was hopping for a good four or five hours on February 26.

We invited both the elementary and high school kids, served green eggs and ham, painted faces, told stories, and involved the kids in a cupcake walk—when they hopped onto a paper footprint with a book title, they got a treat to take home. Then, after breakfast, we gave away 1,000 books to the kids. Their eyes just bugged out—"I can take this? Really?"

We're already committed to doing it again next year, and we've already collected about 200 to 300 new or gently used books from the community. To me, reading is one of the most important things.

—Barb Schwartz, Instructional Aide, Port Washington, Wisconsin

Oprah and Me

Photo by Sean Connelley

I was driving home from school after a long day one Friday evening, when my cell phone rang. It was a producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show—and, as you can imagine, I had to pull over. I couldn't think straight to drive!

I had sent them a pitch about my life: teacher by day, businesswoman by night. Now, I maintained my composure and answered questions about my teaching experiences—working late hours, no overtime pay, underpaid, must I go on? She made no promises, but the following Tuesday I received "the call," and—wouldn't you know it— they caught me at the beauty salon.

A few nail-biting days later a camera crew visited my classroom at McGregor Elementary School to follow my steps at work. I told them, "Everybody on Earth has a purpose; mine is to help children have a better life." My students were so excited, and I'm thankful to God that they had this opportunity to be featured on the show. And then, the following day, my best friend, who is also a teacher, and I reported to Harpo Studios at 8 a.m.

The show that day profiled five teachers at work (including other NEA members Patricia Alonso of Vermont and Stephen Flowers of Illinois). And then—surprise!—Oprah shared with us her favorite things: a trip to an Arizona spa, a state-of-the-art washing machine, a new laptop computer, and other gifts worth about $15,000 total!

I think it was my story that first caught their attention. In my application, I shared a recollection of my first day on the job, more than 25 years ago, when my little blonde-haired, blue-eyed student told me, "When they told me you were colored, I passed out." And then he actually hit the floor!

I knew then that I had to be a role model for these children, and I am. It used to be that some parents wouldn't want an African-American teacher for their children—and now they ask for me.

Oprah asked me what I did when he called me colored. I told her, "I'm just glad he called me colored." Wow! Oprah, in the flesh, whispering in my ear, "DeLores, that was so funny. You are just awesome."

—DeLores Pressley, Fourth Grade, Canton, Ohio

The Power of One

We began our year at Foothill Technology High School by focusing on these words from author Bryce Courtenay: "He had given me the power of one—one idea, one heart, one plan, one determination."

At our school, we aim to create citizens who feel empowered to make a difference in their world. To this end, all seniors complete special "hero" projects in the community. Usually, they go into it with a self-centered, "You want me to do what?" attitude. But inevitably, they look back and say, "I made a difference."

This year, after reading Courtenay's novel and then a newspaper account of South African children who can't attend school because they can't afford the $10 annual fees, each senior pledged to send one child to school.

Some sold bracelets or candy bars with messages on them. Others offered their used possessions at rummage sales. One young musician held a benefit concert. In all, our 112 students raised $3,006—enough money to send 300 South African children to school for a year.

We're so proud of this effort and blown away by the students' compassion and heart. And they're proud too. We have them come back and tell us, "I never realized how important one person was, or one gesture, until I did this project." And when they realize their own power, they keep making those contributions.

They make me cry every year.

—Melanie Lindsey English, Ventura, California

The Light Bulb Goes On

Photo by Groff Creative, Inc.

I have a student who deserves special mention.

Last year, as a sixth-grader, this child knew just a couple of words. He could write dog, cat, mom, and his own first name, and his writing was large, shaky, and totally disregarded the lines. He could read only the same words that he could write, and he was still having trouble telling what F sounded like and what M sounded like.

My instructional aide, Isabella Elbert, and I despaired. Even though he is mentally retarded, we had hoped to see more.

Then, in January we started a pilot program, the Wilson Reading System. In just three weeks, this young man, now a seventh-grader with us at Smithton Middle School, improved beyond our wildest dreams! He went from being unable to write a complete sentence to writing directions for making an origami boat: "You cut the black line, then you fold it into two halves. You take the design part on one side and fold it. Then you fold the other side. You have four rectangles…"

I had been working with phonemic awareness before, and it didn't seem to make too much of a difference. But this program presents it in a way they can understand: A, apple, ah; G, game, guh. You tap each sound off on their fingers, and we write the letter in the air or on their leg, and I think it's the kinesthetic learning that makes a difference with them.

It's just so exciting to see success in this child. He's trying, he pays attention, he's rarely in trouble. It's starting to click with him and I'm so happy.

—Nancy Brunner, Special Education, Columbia, Missouri

My Own Best Student

Photo by Kevin Whitlock

If I see my Tuslaw High School students on the street five years from now, I think they will say, "I remember when we did that project…." I know I will. I've had the best journey with my students that I could ever take.

In my 10th-grade English class for special education students, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camps, we read the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, an account of life in the camps through the eyes of a young Jewish boy. We completed reports and posters, clipped news articles, sharing information as we learned more. And then, in a culminating activity, we baked Jewish foods and hosted a guest speaker whose parents had been slave laborers at Auschwitz. The kids were just amazed—they couldn't believe something like this would happen.

One asked, "These were just regular Germans?"

I'm sitting here grading their history tests and the scores are just fantastic. The whole experience was so energizing—for them and me. Elie Wiesel said, "I am my own best student," and I love that quote. That's what this project turned out to be—for me and my students.

—Sally Graven, Special Education, Masillon, Ohio

Chessmate!

Photo by Charles Votaw

J.D. started out last year in our school-based alternative program, where I was an educational assistant, with bad grades and a worse attitude. But we talked a lot and he grew interested in my life, especially in hearing about how I was going back to school mid-life to get a college degree in education.

When I brought in my course work, he wanted to look at it. And when we played chess together, it hit me—this kid is really smart. He was always thinking three moves ahead of me! So, why was he so disrespectful? Why was he in alternative education? Why couldn't he bond with his peers?

This year, J.D. earned enough points to return to regular classes and he asked our counselor, Paula McCoach, if I could be his mentor. Every day, J.D. stops by my duty station to say hello and chat for a few minutes, and I'll give him little rewards, like a candy bar, for doing well or making good decisions. Mostly, I've just shown interest in him and his life. And now, he's in a regular classroom and on the honor roll! He participates in community activities, belongs to an after-school club that takes students to visit colleges, and he consistently demonstrates respectful and responsible behavior. There is no doubt in my mind that college will be in his future.

Our school, Pocomoke Middle School, is changing the lives of 25 students with our Learning and Mentorship Program (LAMP). Like J.D., most need a model to assist them in setting goals and changing their behavior—and pairing them with a caring adult helps them to be successful. With our help, all are making great strides!

I have a lot of respect for J.D.'s accomplishments—his life has been hard and nothing was handed to him. But I'm getting the best out of our partnership, feeling that I'm helping someone and knowing that he's going to be successful in school. He's a better person now. He can do it.

—Linda Kinhart, Instructional Aide, Girdletree, Maryland

Enter Stage Left: A Little Fun, Finally

Photo by Sandy Schaeffer

It's been so long since we did a spring play at Mill Creek Towne Elementary. When state testing came in 1991, it killed it. But our new test is given in March instead of May, and it dawned on us that we could bring the play back.

Everything from the first day of school is geared to the test. But from March to June, everything is geared to the play and the fun comes back to third grade. It's marvelous. Everybody has a part—if we have too many kids, we just write some more parts. What this does for their self-esteem!

Best of all, it just unites the school. The parents chomp at the bit to get involved with costumes, props, everything. Our art teacher is involved—last year, he had kids painting scenes like French impressionists. And, of course, our music teacher is involved because the play is a musical.

We found a company that sells music, lines, everything already integrated with our curriculum objectives. Last year, it was a science play, but it's always about oral presentation and language skills, as well as art and music. This year, the play is a riot. It's about testing! We sing "Breathing in Deep" and "Follow the Directions."

Last line, Scene One: The kids are outside, the teacher is missing, the principal is having a heart attack, and one of the kids says, "C'mon, let's face this test together. I don't want any child left behind!"

The play is wonderful, but the big deal is what the play does for you. Our kids are giving up recess for three months to work on this—but it is like the light in third grade.

—Marilyn Graber, Third Grade, Gaithersburg, Maryland

You're Invited To…

Photos by Kyle Brehm

I don't understand this, because I've never felt this way, but there are some people who are afraid to come into an elementary school! Maybe because of something that happened in their past, they feel intimidated on our campuses—by the teachers, by the principal. So, we need to coax them in, in a non-intimidating, non-frightening way, and make them feel welcome.

Last year, after attending an Effective Schools conference, I was just fired up to find that way! So we at Burlington Elementary School created "Family Fun Nights" to bring edu