ESP Scribe

After 100 Editorials, Dave Arnold is Just Getting Started

By Dave Arnold

Last year, I wrote an editorial about the invisible line that exists between teachers and Education Support Professionals (ESP). I mentioned how teachers will not usually cross the line to include ESP in their social events, like weddings and baby showers.

In other columns, I’ve screamed out against vouchers, seat belts on buses and rude behavior at school sporting events.

I’ve discussed in several columns the possible legacies of ESP, be it kindness, expertise, laughter or mentoring. This is my 100th editorial for the National Education Association (NEA). History will likely ignore this event. For me, it’s a milestone.

In writing Dave’s View over the last several years I have aimed to inform, educate, and inspire. Hopefully, I also elevated the spirits of ESP, teachers and others who stopped by. I hope teachers have read a column or two over the years. Often, they are mentioned.

Teaching Excellence

There’s nothing like a good teacher. I enjoyed writing in particular about the preschool teachers who change diapers as part of their routines. And about those who sometimes administer medical care to students in light of the nursing shortage in some school districts.

It is necessary and appropriate to mention teachers in my column since they are the majority of NEA’s 2.7 million members. My real audience, however, has been the almost 360,000 NEA ESP. I consider them my family and have enjoyed the opportunity to tell their stories.

On more occasions than one, I have encouraged ESP to share their perspective with a public audience. One headline to a column read: “Wanted: ESP Historians.” If we don’t tell our stories, who will?

This isn’t my last “Dave’s View.” I’m still on board, though somewhat surprised at how fast the columns have piled up.

Pen to Paper

Writing Dave’s View was not something I planned. It just happened. During my 22 years as a custodian, I have enjoyed writing poetry and an occasional letter to the editor. I never dreamed I could sustain a weekly editorial column. Part of the deal with NEA was that I would write about the ESP community, though they allowed me complete freedom to choose my topics.

Imagine that, I remember thinking, stories written about ESP, for ESP and by an ESP. Before accepting the offer from NEA, I wondered if I could handle the assignment. Where would I get story ideas? Who would I interview? Would anyone care about my point of view? After all, there’s only so much material I can draw from my job at Brownstown Elementary School in Illinois.

Someone once said, “anyone can be a great columnist for a month.” I hoped I would last that long.

Common Ground

Despite my initial anxiety, my mindset changed once I got underway. I realized that the audience that I was addressing was no different from the people who I work with each day. It became clear that the problems my local and state Associations and school districts face are basically the same as the ones ESP deal with across the country.

School budgets, trustees, mice in the basement, ESP training opportunities, livable wages, student humor, cafeteria ladies, guns on campus – are familiar to anyone working at a public school.

Grappling with issues is one thing. Writing sentences is another. Many NEA members teach English and literature. Many ESP I know are good writers. This added to my anxiety. I certainly am not an expert on the rules of grammar.

NEA editors assured me, however, that if I produced the content they would take care of transitions, punctuation, narrative coherency and other writing sensitivities. Thank God for that!

Building a Readership

I often send them a very rough stone composed of sentences, words and numbers. They perform their magic. What emerges is a polished gem.

Still, I had my doubts in the beginning. Then, one day I received a newsletter from the Illinois Education Association. It featured a copy of one of my NEA articles. The Midwest Region has also used several of my articles in their newsletters.

Also, at a state ESP conference a few years ago, a gentleman thanked me for a “how to” article I wrote about grassroots organizing. He told me how it had helped him and his Association. My state chair of the ESP council told me that she was unaware of a certain school issue until she read about it in one of my articles.

In earlier days, I had never dreamed that non-certified staff could exchange ideas and opinions as teachers always have. Well, ESP can partake in this activity at the local level in a private setting and in a public forum on a national scale.

I hope to continue doing both for a while longer.

(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois. He can be contacted at dparnold@csuol.com.)

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NEA or its affiliates.