People
Wade in the Water

There's nothing dull about science in Sandra Brown's classroom. In her Earth's Oceans unit, kids get a chance to investigate the local water supply.

Sandra Brown's water quality testing project is but one example of the innovative work that earned her a 1999 Presidential Award for Math and Science.

Brown, a 30-year teaching veteran who currently teaches fifth grade science at Allisonville Elementary School in Indianapolis, Indiana, takes an inquiry-based, cross-curricular approach to teaching science in her Earth's Oceans unit.

Once a year, Brown's students, in collaboration with the Marion County health Department, test water at a local pond and creek. The unit also teaches students how to dissect sharks, prepare a hyperstudio presentation, and search the Internet for information about the ecosystem.

Working on the Earth's Oceans unit gives students valuable practice researching and building Web sites, preparing Power Point reports, and creating model aquifers. In small groups, students even design and construct under-sea settlements out of Legos and Z-sand. The unit culminates with a beach party in Brown's classroom.

"We use an integrated type of science unit where you pull all of the subjects together," Brown says. "Usually our focus is on language arts and math, but the Earth's Oceans unit brings in other disciplines and draws all of them together."

The Presidential Awards for Math and Science are administered by the National Science Foundation and given to 200 K-12 teachers each year. As one of this year's winners, Brown received a Presidential citation and a $7,500 grant. Under Brown's supervision, the money will be used to improve the quality of science instruction at Allisonville Elementary.

Last spring, Brown traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept her award and, while there, she found inspiration and support from fellow Presidential scholars.

"What a wonderful honor this is,' 'says Brown. "And what a great time I had talking with teachers from across the country."

Here Kitty, There Kitty

I got a $5,000 advance for my third book, and it went straight to the vet." With her needy pets always in mind, Susan Smith of Virginia's Shenandoah County is continuing to write inspirational children's books about youngsters and their pets.

Smith, the coordinator of media services for the Shenandoah County School District, has always been fond of animals. But it was during college that she began providing shelter for stray cats. One year, she took in 22 cats that she found on campus.

"They have a way of showing up when they need help," says Smith, an NEA member. "They just seem to find me."

Today, Smith cares for over 30 cats, some since 1985. They live in a small cottage, which she's turned into a feline sanctuary.

Her collection includes cats who are elderly, deaf, one-eyed, diabetic, three-legged, or who have balance problems.

Over the years, Smith has found cats in an assortment of unlikely places, for example, at the local fast food outlet or abandoned in the snow.

"Me?" Smith laughs when asked how she rooms with 30 cats. "The cats have their own house. I live with my mother."

The cats are the inspiration for Smith's books, which send realistic messages to kids about animals and life.

Unlike many children's authors, Smith believes children deserve to read about the sad things that happen to everyone. Her publishers have not always approved, but Smith insists upon writing stories that address real hardship.

"Books need to be more realistic, because every pet has to go to heaven sometime," Smith explains. "It helps kids feel better when they know sad things happen to other people, not just them."

Between her full-time job and caring for her cats, Smith continues to be inspired by her pets.

"My unfinished book, Cat Children, is about all my cats and their unique stories," Smith says. "I think taking in all these cats has made me a better writer and given me an urge to get my books out."

In the end, however, Smith admits that it's her simple love of cats that motivates her to spend most of her paycheck for their care.

"It hurts me to see those creatures suffering," Smith said. "I think that it's my calling to help these cats."

How Can I Thank You? How 'bout a Porsche?

What do teachers often get that's shiny and red? You're thinking apple, right? But that's not the shiny, red object that Shasta (California) College instructor Larry Lease received a few months ago.

Lease, an accounting instructor of 19 years, had joked that if any of his students ever struck it rich, they could repay him with a Porsche. He never expected anyone to remember his offhand comment.

But one of his students from 14 years ago, Robert Sullivan, did remember. He gave Lease an "arena red" Porsche Boxster.

"He called me to do lunch," Lease recalls. "When we got to the parking lot, he handed me the keys and said, 'I always knew I was going to buy you that Porsche.'"

Lease hopes to encourage teachers with this story about a student who didn't forget a friend and teacher.

All the negative press teachers get, says Lease, can be discouraging.

"But periodically I get notes from students telling me what they're doing," he says, "and that's the most encouraging thing about my job."

What's next? "Since you already have a Porsche and you'll be old by the time I make it," one student quipped at the last graduation, "how about I get you a Winnebago?"

In Iowa, Journalism Really Helps Kids Get Along

"I wanted to teach English to students who hated it," says Davenport Central High journalism teacher Deb Buttleman Malcolm. "I thought journalism was the best way to do this well. Journalism can establish the relevancy of other subjects."

In her effort to expand the borders of education, Malcolm has established the student-driven Journalism All Cultural Achievement Plan and Outreach Academy with mini-grants from the Journalism Education Association, NEA, and Opportunity Iowa.

This summer's 10-day outreach program focused on local Native American heritage. Students learned basic journalistic skills during the summer camp and became a tightly knit group as well, learning to appreciate and value their differences.

"We teach primary research skills, interviewing techniques, basic caption writing, and photography," explains Malcolm. "Children, especially English-as-a-second-language learners, thrive in the journalistic setting. Journalism teaches them that we are part of families. The journalism camp gives them a family. They take care of each other."

Malcolm's outreach programs have captured national awards from NEA and the Journalism Education Association for student impact.

"It's not a matter of making the students future journalists. It's about teaching them how to relate," Malcolm says. "We teach them to use their voices, not their fists, to stand up for themselves."

Continuing a Family Tradition

The Wood family is truly an Association family. For more than 25 years, Merrill and Sara Wood have served their NEA local affiliate, California's Southwest Teachers Association, in just about every capacity.

But nothing ever stays the same, and Merrill and Sara retired this fall. They've left behind a most precious asset to continue their Association work: their daughter Laura.

Laura, a fourth grade bilingual education teacher, has just begun her third year of teaching, but she's already a building rep, serves on her local's Executive Board, and last summer served as a delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly in Chicago.

Laura knows about activism. As a child she and her sister went to parents' night at her elementary school, while her parents did double duty in a parent/teacher conference and a picket line outside the school.

"We're leaving the Association in good hands,'' say her parents. "My parents have taught me well," adds Laura. "I would encourage all young teachers to get involved.